There are often training camp battles for positions on the depth chart to see which young players might supplant older veterans as the roster develops year after year.
One of the many battles on the Steelers' roster will be for the spot behind quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Landry Jones has the lead with his four years of experience, but his lack of production in multiple opportunities to replace Roethlisberger over the years has left many questions as to his standing with the team.
Jones' challenger is the Steelers' fifth-round draft pick, Joshua Dobbs from Tennessee.
Jones started in two games last season against one of the best defenses in the Patriots and one of the worst in the Browns. While he has that experience on his side, his development path has been a lot longer than expected.
What Jones faced in his first few years was a combination of confidence issues and the natural learning curve of an NFL quarterback. But in his replacement spots, the questions about his confidence have slowly trickled away.
A perfect example of Jones' early confidence issues came in his failures in routine parts of his game, like when he fumbled his first-ever snap in preseason football, or when he would sit back in the pocket and not be confident in what he read in his progressions.
The regular season Patriots game was a sign that Jones had at least worked his way through the question of confidence in his game. Even when the coverage was there, Jones made his reads and was not too shy to take his shot.
Watch how Jones keeps his eyes to the middle of the field at the start of the play in order to prevent the safeties in zone coverage from drifting towards his real target, Darrius Heyward-Bey in the right corner of the end zone:
Jones takes his shot with the one-on-one opportunity but doesn't read how well the cornerback has played the route. Though the result is only an incompletion, these were attempts that Jones would previously be reluctant to try, hindering the offense.
In 2016, Jones maintained a completion percentage over 60% in both of his starts, throwing four touchdowns and two interceptions. That came from his rise in confidence and comfort in the offensive scheme.
Plays like this came as a result of more consistency of Jones' ability to read the defense and take his shot down the field:
That being said, Jones still has plenty of inconsistencies in his game that make him unreliable. While his confidence has made strides, he still has problems with his accuracy:
Jones stares down his target and overshoots his man into a crowded space. His next challenge will be improving his accuracy.
Jones' advantages are that he has developed confidence and comfort in the scheme to take shots into tight windows and test defenses down the field. He knows enough of the playbook and has developed a working relationship with the receivers in the system, both of which go a long way.
Dobbs' learning curve could be the biggest obstacle in his road to replacing Jones in the depth chart. He has one offseason to learn a playbook of which Jones still doesn't seem to have a strong command after four seasons with the team.
But where Jones' early struggles with confidence slowed him down, Dobbs has an opportunity to apply what he does know of the playbook while playing aggressively and challenging defenses with his arm and his feet.
Where Dobbs has to apply his football knowledge is taking his chances down the field. When watching him in college, Dobbs displayed the ability to go through progressions and manipulate defenders.
Watch this play when he froze the safety and freed up his receiver for a chance at a deep ball:
The Steelers have several deep threat receivers in Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant, Sammie Coates and Darrius Heyward-Bey. Dobbs' arm strength and style favor taking deep shots to the speedsters in the receiving corps.
If Dobbs can succeed with this kind of risk-taking in the Steelers offense, he can open himself up to being a playmaker in the preseason and show a higher ceiling than what Jones has done.
But with those risks will come the failures that one can expect from a rookie. Dobbs showed plenty of times his shots down the field were dangerous as well. He threw 27 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in his senior season. Most of those interceptions came from him being overly aggressive and taking chances into tight windows for his deep-threat receiver, Josh Malone.
That came back to bite him when he threw into coverage in the second overtime against Texas A&M:
Dobbs' decisions on when to take these kinds of risks will be something to watch in the preseason. But what could also catapult Dobbs above Jones is his athleticism. Jones is not a mobile quarterback in the least and relies on his offensive line to maintain a solid pocket to work in the backfield.
Dobbs throws on the run, isn't afraid to scramble for yards and even runs quarterback draws. Not only is he fast enough to pick up solid yards, but he is able to put on moves to evade defenders:
When these two players take their reps in camp, Jones will have the edge of knowing what to look for and not having to go through the normal rookie struggles that can plague young quarterbacks. But Dobbs appears to have the tools to challenge Jones should he grasp enough of the playbook and play with the confidence to take the risks needed to make big plays.
Training camp will give Dobbs the opportunity to make mistakes and learn the Steelers' offense while also developing connections with the receivers on the lower part of the depth chart whom he'll most likely have to work with in preseason games.
Those games could be Dobbs' best chance to vault into the second spot on the depth chart at quarterback, or at least put him in position to make that move next season. We'll be keeping a close watch on both Jones and Dobbs in preseason and revisit their progress as their opportunities arise.