Rookie quarterback excelling at camp
Hodges put up record passing numbers while playing for FCS Samford
Devlin Hodges was called “Duck” at Samford College because he hunted ducks and was a champion caller. At Steelers training camp, he is hunting a job that probably doesn’t exist but is hearing his name called more often to take his shot.
Mike Tomlin calls Hodges “Duck Dynasty,” after the reality TV show, and he is eager to take a look at the free- agent quarterback who has opened the eyes of the coaching staff with his accuracy and decisionmaking.
“The moments out here haven’t been too big for him,” Tomlin said Wednesday at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. “Obviously, the confines of a stadium are different. He’s been deserving of the opportunity. I’m sure he’ll get it this week or next.”
Hodges is expected to get that opportunity Friday night when the Steelers open their preseason against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Heinz Field.
One thing is certain: Ben Roethlisberger will not play against the Buccaneers. If recent history holds true, he is not expected to do so until the
One thing is certain: Ben Roethlisberger will not play against the Buccaneers. If recent history holds true, he is not expected to do so until the third preseason game in Tennessee.
Hodges is the fourth quarterback on a team that historically has kept
three on the 53- man roster. His chances of unseating Dobbs or Rudolph for a roster spot are as slim as trying to hunt ducks with a pea shooter. Then again, not many thought the Steelers would release backup Landry Jones a year ago in favor of the two young quarterbacks.
“We liked him in the rookie minicamp and he actually did a really nice job,” offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner said. “We started increasing his reps out here and it hasn’t been too big for him.”
At Samford, Hodges broke Steve McNair’s NCAA Football Championship Subdivision record for career passing yards, throwing for 14,584 yards and 111 touchdowns while completing 69.1 percent of his attempts ( 1,896).
He was named Southern Conference offensive player of the year three years in a row and won the 2018 Walter Payton Award, the FCS equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.
Hodges has displayed that ability to complete passes and make quick decisions at training camp. As such, he keeps getting more opportunities to work with some front- line players.
“He’s not the all- time leading yardage passer in history in I- AA for no reason,” Fichtner said. “He obviously throws a lot of completions. He’s been working primarily with the third group and just this week we started to allot a few more reps to see some real action in playing in a non- JVtype game and see where he can go.”
Like most quarterbacks coming out of college these days, Hodges has had to adjust to calling the plays in the huddle and working under center — something he said he never did at Samford.
“The biggest thing for me has been calling plays in the huddle, something I’m not used to,” Hodges said. “I’ve adjusted well to that. Sometimes I try to slow down. You need to be quick but not in a hurry. When I was in college, it was let’s go fast.”
Said Fichtner: “Having to execute run checks, playing under- center football, taking snaps, things we take for granted these college quarterbacks don’t do anymore. They get here and, all of a sudden, when they are under center, hell, I’m worried they aren’t even going to get the darn snap.
“He’s done good in that so we keep giving him a little more and see what he can do. I told the other guys, we know there’s an open competition for the No. 2 spot for sure. They’ve all known that. But that doesn’t exclude every quarterback that’s here, and they all understand that.”