The Steelers’ improving quarterback depth could open up doors of opportunity

With Week 1 of the 2018 NFL Preseason in the books for the Pittsburgh Steelers, there was a lot to sift through after the 31-14 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.

One of the nuggets recovered is improved depth at quarterback for the Black-and-gold.

Ben Roethlisberger is the entrenched starter, Landry Jones seems to be the inevitable No. 2, and Joshua Dobbs and Mason Rudolph will likely battle for the third and final spot on the quarterback depth chart.

After the game Thursday night, it became apparent how, even with Dobbs’ shortcomings, he shows promise as both a runner and thrower. Is Dobbs a future starter in the NFL? No, but he certainly might be a quality No. 2 for a long time in the league.

Watching Dobbs play during the second quarter, it was clear he's better than a lot of quarterbacks currently employed in the NFL. This got me thinking.

If the Steelers aren’t going to keep four quarterbacks, which is likely, they will be parting ways with one of their signal-callers. The odds-on favorite to be given his release is Dobbs, and if there's a position which might have trade value, it could just be quarterback.

After watching Nate Sudfeld and Joe Callahan for the Eagles, there was no doubt in my mind there might be a suitor for Dobbs’ talents. However, for this to even become a possibility, there would first need to be a team suffering an injury at quarterback. Secondly, Dobbs would have to continue to improve his play throughout the preseason.

Dobbs will have plenty of opportunities to show his capabilities and, if the Steelers are already sold on Landry Jones being the primary backup quarterback, you might as well put Dobbs on display as possible trade fodder.

This is the point where fans ask what type of return the Steelers might get for Dobbs. We aren’t talking about a starter, but possibly a valuable veteran backup to help solidify one of many positions of need, especially the offensive line. If the team could somehow swing a backup offensive tackle for Dobbs, it would be a trade well worth it.

It's still early and a lot can change, but if the writing is on the wall for Jones and Rudolph to fill out the top-3, the Steelers would be wise to make some calls to see if anyone is interested in a backup quarterback with lots of potential.

Is this likely to happen? Probably not, but if the Steelers were looking to make a trade, the quarterback position might be one of the best places they could offer value to get value.