Dennis Dixon

Bruce Arians said Ben Roethlisberger, Byron Leftwich and Dennis Dixon have all gotten the same amount of work. The Steelers, he said, are focused more on what the quarterbacks do with the repetitions they get — not which players they are taking them with this early in camp.

Leftwich and Dixon are a study in contrasts. The former as a classic dropback passer; the latter excelled running a spread offense in college.

If Leftwich does emerge as the starter for the first month of the season, the Steelers may also explore ways of getting Dixon on the field in certain situations.

Arians is no fan of the 6-foot-3, 209-pound Dixon running a lot. He reiterated yesterday that he won't use Dixon in a wildcat formation because it would make the third-year man too susceptible to injury.

But Arians did not rule out using Dixon as a change-of-pace quarterback if Leftwich is the starter because of Dixon's running ability.

"If he's your No. 2 quarterback, now you may take some risks that you wouldn't take with him as your starter," Arians said of Dixon.

With no Wildcat potential for Dixon, he has very limited fantasy value unless he beats out Leftwich for the #1 QB spot (until Big Ben returns).