Dwayne Haskins will get to face a first-team defense, but rookie running back Najee Harris won’t when the Pittsburgh Steelers conclude the preseason schedule Friday night against the Carolina Panthers.
Coach Mike Tomlin announced Wednesday that Haskins, the former first-round draft pick of Washington in 2019, will start at quarterback against the Panthers.
“Carolina is going to play its regulars quite a bit,” Tomlin said. “There won’t be a lot of speculation. Those guys will get an opportunity to pit their skills and preparedness and techniques against varsity (competition). It’s an exciting opportunity.”
Ben Roethlisberger and backup quarterback Mason Rudolph will not play in the game, Tomlin said. Josh Dobbs will replace Haskins at some point, but Tomlin isn’t sure at what stage of the game that will take place.
After saying at the beginning of the preseason that Harris would play in all four tuneup games, Tomlin has changed his mind. He will rest Harris ahead of the season opener Sept. 12 at Buffalo. Benny Snell Jr. will start and play extensively after missing the first three preseason games with an injury. Entering camp, Snell was expected to be Harris’ backup.
“He’ll get an opportunity to participate in the early stages of the game and do things featured runners do and prove his health and things of that nature,” Tomlin said.
Rookie seventh-rounder Tre Norwood will play the slot corner for the first time in a preseason game. Norwood had been working at free safety as Minkah Fitzpatrick’s backup.
“He has been trained and has been learning the nickel the whole time,” Tomlin said. “He’ll get an opportunity to take snaps there.”
Tomlin said he is interested to see how the competition at punter and long snapper concludes. Rookie Pressley Harvin is trying to unseat veteran Jordan Berry at punter, and Chartiers Valley graduate Christian Kuntz is trying to win the snapping job from veteran Kam Canaday.
“Those guys will get an opportunity to put an exclamation point on their efforts,” Tomlin said.
Joe Rutter is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .
