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First Call: Ex-Steelers QB finds new home; Steelers Pro Day stops suggest an eye toward front-7 prospects | TribLIVE.com
Steelers/NFL

First Call: Ex-Steelers QB finds new home; Steelers Pro Day stops suggest an eye toward front-7 prospects

Tim Benz
Tim Benz
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AP
Minnesota running back Mohamed Ibrahim (second from right) fumbles the ball as he is hit by Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell in Nov. 19 game in Minneapolis. The hit resulted in a turnover.

Tuesday’s “First Call” suggests the Pittsburgh Steelers are heavily scouting defensive front-seven prospects in the NFL draft. An ex-Steelers quarterback has a new home.

The Penguins have a Florida Panthers problem. And Duquesne’s football team better get used to playing on the road.

Eye on the Hawkeyes

Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan stopped at the Iowa Pro Day to check out some draft prospects. As Dale Lolley of Steelers.com points out, this isn’t a usual stop for the Steelers on their Pro Day tours.

A couple of Iowa players stand out as potential targets of the Steelers. One of them is highly coveted 6-foot-5, 275-pound defensive lineman Lukas Van Ness. He totaled 13 sacks over his last two years at Iowa. In the latest CBS mock draft, he is projected to go 12th overall to the Houston Texans.

Jack Campbell may be on the Steelers’ radar as well. He is projected as a second-rounder. A 6-foot-4, 249-pound linebacker, Campbell totaled 265 tackles and four interceptions over the past two years for Kirk Ferentz’s defense.

CBS also ranks Iowa’s Sam LaPorta as the third-best tight end in the draft. Kaevon Merriweather and cornerback Riley Moss are defensive backs that may be under consideration later in the draft as well.

Through the paces

Despite a standout week at the Senior Bowl, Bowling Green defensive lineman Karl Brooks was snubbed from the NFL Combine.

That didn’t stop him from getting a lot of NFL attention during the school’s Pro Day on Monday. The Athletic’s Zac Jackson said all 32 teams RSVPed for the event.

Steelers defensive line coach Karl Dunbar was the coach who put Brooks through his workout.

Brooks is a 6-foot-3, 300-pound defensive tackle. Over parts of five seasons with the Falcons, Brooks totaled 27.5 sacks.

Return trip

Josh Dobbs is back in the AFC North. The former Steelers quarterback is about to get a second tour of duty with the Cleveland Browns. That’s according to his agent Mike McCartney.

Dobbs signed a one-year, $1 million deal with the Cleveland Browns in April 2022. He was then waived on Nov. 28, 2022, after Deshaun Watson returned from suspension. From there, he went to Detroit’s practice squad and eventually wound up on the active roster of the Tennessee Titans.

In Nashville, Dobbs started two games with the Titans. Both games were losses. Dobbs was 40 of 68 for 411 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

More sports

• Penguins fall out of playoff position with loss to Senators
• Bryan Rust takes blame for Penguins loss: 'I've got to got that puck out of the zone'
• It took 7 years, but ILB Elandon Roberts finally gets to play for Steelers, coach Mike Tomlin

Panthers pounce

As the Penguins were losing to the Ottawa Senators at home Monday night, the Florida Panthers were beating the Detroit Red Wings 5-2 in Michigan.

That victory, coupled with the Penguins’ 2-1 regulation loss to the Senators, allowed the Panthers to leapfrog the Penguins into the second wild-card spot. That means, at this time, the Penguins are on the outside of the playoff bracket with 12 games remaining. They have 78 points. Florida has 79. The Panthers also have a dozen games left.

Carter Verhaeghe had two goals in the Florida win.

Aleksander Barkov had an assist. That’s his 614th point as a Panther, breaking the franchise record.

Florida has won three in a row and six of their last seven. They have picked up a point in each of their past seven games.

One upcoming challenge facing the Panthers is that five of their next seven games are on the road. The two home games in that mix will be against the New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs—two teams currently in Eastern Conference playoff position.

Road warriors

The Duquesne football team announced its schedule for 2023 on Monday. It’s pretty sparse when it comes to home games.

The Dukes open up at home on Sept. 2 against Edinboro. But from there, they only host three more games the rest of the season. They are all conference matchups against Central Connecticut State, St. Francis and Stonehill.

Like last year, the Dukes have two challenging road games early in the season against FBS teams. A year ago, those opponents were Florida State (loss, 47-7) and Hawaii (loss, 24-14). This year, they will travel to West Virginia (Sept. 9) and Coastal Carolina (Sept. 16).

They also visit Delaware on Oct. 7. The Blue Hens went to the second round of the FCS playoffs a year ago.

The Dukes were 4-7 last year, 3-4 in NEC play.

Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.

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Categories: Sports | Steelers/NFL | Breakfast With Benz | Tim Benz Columns
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