New Steelers QB Dwayne Haskins Learning Tricks of the Trade from Vet Ben Roethlisberger

PITTSBURGH — When Dwayne Haskins signed with the Steelers, it was clear he would have a lot to prove to not only fans but everybody in the Steelers organization. However, the physical talent was there. With Haskins coming into the fray and having a strong training camp thus far, he is turning a lot of heads.

Another boon of coming to Pittsburgh is that Haskins gets to learn from Ben Roethlisberger. Anytime a quarterback can extract wisdom from a future Hall of Famer there is a great opportunity. As such, Haskins, who grew up watching Roethlisberger, is taking as many notes from him as he can.

“I grew up watching Ben so it’s great to see how he operates,” Haskins said. “I try to learn as much as I can from guys like Alex Smith before and take something from guys who are very seasoned veterans. Every time I can hear a nugget that he says, every time he makes a check, every time he talks to the receiver about a detail, I just try to learn as much as I can from him.”

As Haskins goes through his maturation process, specifically with his mental reads, he is beginning to lean on Roethlisberger for help. Haskins wants to know the exact science that Roethlisberger puts out on the field to try and master Matt Canada’s offense.

“Now, it’s just playing to play and understanding adjustments, highlighting a certain player against a certain defender and understanding how Ben does things in picking out matchups and executing plays,” Haskins said. “It’s getting into a groove of doing that. So, I went from getting to know my guys to now making the most of my plays.”

Haskins certainly wants to push Mason Rudolph to be Roethlisberger’s backup. More importantly, Haskins would love to be the next starter after Roethlisberger. That is a role that he has felt has been open to him since he put on a Steelers uniform. With some of Roethlisberger’s guidance, Haskins hopes he can reach that goal.