Dynamic Dixon intrigues Steelers

[lamberts-lost-tooth]

Dynamic Dixon intrigues Steelers
By Scott Brown
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, April 30, 2008

He piled up 368 yards of total offense and accounted for four touchdowns. He led Oregon to a 39-7 shellacking of Michigan in front of more than 100,000 fans as well as a national TV audience.
Dennis Dixon thrust himself into the Heisman Trophy race with that performance last September -- and into the consciousness of Steelers director of football operations Kevin Colbert.

"The first thing I thought about was Vince Young," said Colbert, who saw Dixon play extensively for the first time against Michigan. "He was winning that game by himself."

The Steelers, who took Dixon in the fifth round of the NFL Draft on Sunday, won't ask the 23-year-old quarterback to win any games in the near future. They are optimistic that eventually he can back up Ben Roethlisberger, a role the 33-year-old Charlie Batch has filled so capably, and get on the field in select situations.

It is, however, too early for the Steelers to know if they uncovered a late-round gem in Dixon -- or whether they stumbled onto another Omar Jacobs (the fifth-round pick in 2006 never made the team).

Making it all the more difficult for the Steelers to assess what they have in Dixon: He is still recovering from the major knee injury that ended his senior season.

The 6-3 1/2, 206-pounder will be limited in the minicamp practices that start Friday and run through Sunday. But Dixon, who had surgery on his left knee in December, said he is "ahead of schedule" in his rehabilitation.

The Steelers, meanwhile, felt good enough about the reports they got from their medical personnel regarding Dixon that they didn't hesitate to take him with the 156th pick of the draft.

Had Dixon not torn his ACL, he would have been selected much earlier.

He is a gifted athlete and polished passer -- Dixon completed almost 68 percent of his passes last season -- and he had been one of the frontrunners for the Heisman before going down late in the season.

"He has great physical talent," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "He can run, he has a strong arm, and he is coming to a great situation where he can grow behind two people like Ben and Charlie."


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Draft picks by the numbers
Here are the jersey numbers for the seven players the Steelers drafted last weekend:

2 -- QB Dennis Dixon

14 -- WR Limas Sweed

29 -- S Ryan Mundy

34 -- RB Rashard Mendenhall

53 -- LB Bruce Davis

55 -- LB Mike Humpal

66 -- OT Tony Hills

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt.../s_564939.html

[Galax Steeler]

I hope dixon does well and learns the system so he can back up ben when charlie retires he will also be good on some trick plays as well.

[Steeldude]

Originally Posted by galax steeler

I hope dixon does well and learns the system so he can back up ben when charlie retires he will also be good on some trick plays as well.

gee joy, another kordell experiment when will people learn?

[stlrtruck]

Originally Posted by Steeldude

gee joy, another kordell experiment when will people learn?

Kordell did not embrace his role on the Steelers roster. And he attempted to prove to everyone, including himself that he was a traditional NFL QB. Truth of the matter is that Kordell was not, therefore he failed.

If Dixon embraces whatever role the Steelers have for him, and he relies on his true athletic ability then he has a better chance of success than Kordell did.

It's not an experiment, he's a draft pick at QB that has talents that could benefit this team in a different way.

[DACEB]

I'm not sure how I feel about this pick. I suppose it could go in a few directions.

First, isn't this kid signed by the Braves to play baseball?

Second, will he actually embrace a slash role? Not many college QBs are ready or willing to take on that role in the pros, unless they have no other options. This kid has other options.

Third, would be him coming in willing to learn behind Ben and Batch, and willing to do whatever is neccessary to help the team win in that slash role.

This kid would be a great backup with his athleticism, I'm just not sure he will be willing to do all that we would like to see him do. Hopefully he prefers football to baseball and is truly a team player. I'm just not so sure.

[rbryan]

Put all the lipstick you want on this pig, it's still a waste of a pick. There were several OL,DL prospects available that may have actually contributed somewhere down the road. Dixon will be long gone in two years and the only reason he lasts till then is because he'll be on injured reserve this year.

BTW, you can forget about the notion that this guy is the next slash.

[BlastFurnace]

Originally Posted by rbryan

Put all the lipstick you want on this pig, it's still a waste of a pick. There were several OL,DL prospects available that may have actually contributed somewhere down the road. Dixon will be long gone in two years and the only reason he lasts till then is because he'll be on injured reserve this year.

BTW, you can forget about the notion that this guy is the next slash.

A complete waste of a pick. Noll had his Mark Malone, Cowher had his Kordell,....I have nightmares that Ben will get injured due to our terrible OL and then....Tomlin will have his Dennis Dixon experiment.

We needed D'lineman, not a backup QB with a torn up knee whose main asset is his legs.

[Steeldude]

Originally Posted by stlrtruck

Kordell did not embrace his role on the Steelers roster. And he attempted to prove to everyone, including himself that he was a traditional NFL QB. Truth of the matter is that Kordell was not, therefore he failed.

If Dixon embraces whatever role the Steelers have for him, and he relies on his true athletic ability then he has a better chance of success than Kordell did.

It's not an experiment, he's a draft pick at QB that has talents that could benefit this team in a different way.

you mean kordell proved he was a QB who could not throw accurately, read defenses or understand a dumb-down playbook. no one told kordell to stay in the pocket. cowher was quoted saying nobody has told him he couldn't run.

putting dixon in as a possible future starting QB would be another extremely dumb move by the steelers. the kordell experiment cost the steelers dearly.

[revefsreleets]

KS was the Steelers QB because he was relatively inexpensive before the Rooney's had stadium cash to play with. Ben is proof what big money nets...Dixon won't be Stewart II. He can either play QB or he can't, and if it's discovered he can't at this level (that's my hunch) then we see what else he can do. Not a waste of a pick because of his sheer level of talent and athletic gifts.

[Jeremy]

Originally Posted by rbryan

Put all the lipstick you want on this pig, it's still a waste of a pick. There were several OL,DL prospects available that may have actually contributed somewhere down the road. Dixon will be long gone in two years and the only reason he lasts till then is because he'll be on injured reserve this year.

BTW, you can forget about the notion that this guy is the next slash.

You know.....there are about half a dozen guys on this board who post the same thing time and time again.

The people who are down on Dixon have never seen him play.