Dixon just another in long line for Pittsburgh

By Robert Rousseau  |   Monday, August 11, 2008  |  Comments( 4 )

Pittsburgh Steelers
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The Pittsburgh Steelers are certainly known for being a great drafting franchise, but sometimes it seems absurd. The Steelers are consistently capable of filling in gaps when veteran players leave during free agency for big contracts elsewhere. And historically, there is one particular kind of player whom the Steelers tend to covet in the draft. Specifically, we're referring to dual-threat quarterbacks -- the passers who many don't think are cut out for the pros.

Amazingly, it seems that the rest of the NFL hasn’t fully caught on yet, at least not to the same extent. After all, if the other 31 teams had, then the Steelers never would have been able to pick up Kordell Stewart in the second round of the 1995 draft, Hines Ward in the third round in '98 (he sometimes plays QB), and Antwaan Randle El in the second round of 2002.

What’s more, Pittsburgh would not have gotten former Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon in the fifth round of April's draft. Prior to suffering a torn ACL that destroyed his team's national title hopes, Dixon was a Heisman Trophy candidate who had the Ducks vying for a BCS championship last season.

"The first thing I thought about was Vince Young," said Kevin Colbert, the Steelers' director of football operations, after seeing Dixon torch Michigan in 2007 for 368 total yards and four touchdowns. "He was winning that game by himself."

On Friday night during the Steelers' 16-10 preseason victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, Dixon played much more than expected. Along the way, he completed 6-of-9 passes for 30 yards, doing a solid job and hooking up with another rookie, second-round wideout Limas Sweed.

The reason Dixon played more than expected was because backup quarterback Charlie Batch broke his collarbone during the contest. Though the Steelers are now looking for a veteran QB, don’t be shocked if the injury means that Dixon will see even more time this preseason.

Further, though Pittsburgh considers Dixon a quarterback first, it also wouldn’t be completely surprising to see him play some receiver before his career is over. A guy with Dixon’s athletic ability and drive -- beyond his football resume, he was also an accomplished baseball player who was drafted -- won’t be happy with only a few plays per game sitting behind superstar Ben Roethlisberger. He’ll want to contribute more.

It seems Dixon is just another in a long line of dual-threat quarterbacks whom the Steelers have used to their advantage.

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About Robert Rousseau

Robert Rousseau is a sports writer that has been published in a variety of print and online venues. He’s been writing for RealFootball365.com for almost three years now. When Rousseau isn’t writing about college football he tends to be penning mixed martial arts pieces for MMAFighting.com or ...
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