Mason Rudolph haters..

[Gunga_Galunga]

It’s amazing what a qb who can throw a ball downfield can do to a run game. When you don’t have that threat, you can’t run the ball.

You also need to be protected long enough to get the ball downfield. There's no question the OL has played better.

Mason has been better than I expected. He was given up for dead by the Steelers and every other team. Kudos to him for sticking with it.

He's playing like a vet, and has done a very good job of hanging in the pocket and letting plays develop. Kenny can learn watching him play.

Mason's limitations are still there, but the team has rallied around him and is playing better. You ride the hot hand and let KP watch and learn.

 

[Burgh15]

It's just 2 data points. Yes, he looks like the best QB we have right now. He has to prove that with more than 2 data points. But even if the Stillers beat Baltimore with their skeleton lineup, we'll get beat in the first round of the playoffs. Who cares? Same old Stillers.

What can we say about the 20+ data points about Kenny?

 

[jtownknowitall]

First off, I am not a hater. Second I am a Pickett guy and third, I was/am/will be a trubisky hater. Now on to my point.

I am glad for Mason. First off I am a Steeler fan and am happy for the wins and his performance. As good as it looks for Mason, I think the opposite is true for the coaching staff. They shoved that XFL caliber quarterback down our throats until they were left now choice but to start Rudolph. I have said it the last 2 years, this team needs a legit NFL OC. Now if this is the offense they insist on using moving forward, then coach catch phrase will probably stay the course with Faulkner/Sullivan.

If changes are made (which need to be) and a legit OC is brought in then I want to see how Kenny picks up a new system.

That being said to all the Kenny haters, he will compete for the job next year, the Steelers will not give up on him.

How many “legit” OCs are there in the NFL today?

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

What can we say about the 20+ data points about Kenny?

I mean, it's concerning. I'm of the personal opinion that I don't want either to be "the guy," unless Kenny gets a lot better a lot faster. I don't think it's a sin to want a truly special player back there. I look at what Lamar Jackson is doing this year... shoot, I'd take 80% of that skillset. I don't think our three guys put together are even 50% of it.

But this Mason Rudolph talk is a non-starter for me. He is an immobile log, and the next time we face a half-decent pass rush he is going through the wood chipper, sorry to say.

 

[NCanton Panther]

Wonder how many sniffing Rudy’s jock now were trashing him last year

Who would/could have been trashing him last year, he never entered a game for even 1 play last year?

That’s about as irrelevant as Joe’s multiple posts claiming how bad Rudolph has to be since he didn’t get any other FA offers last year and had to resign with the Steelers. Again, what was there to look at for another team to think about signing him when he didn’t enter a game for even 1 play last year and only played in 2 games in 2021?

Bottom line with Mason, verdict is still way way out there on whether he could be an above average starting or backup NFL QB. But it sure is nice to at least see him get another chance to prove himself one way or another. He was hands down being dumped on by just about everyone in here after having only starting 10 games in his career whereas the excuses for KP were infinite after his 24-25 fairly pedestrian opportunities.

 

[Parkview57]

You also need to be protected long enough to get the ball downfield. There's no question the OL has played better.

No question.
But, is it a result of :
1. a couple subpar defenses, (Even though the board placed undo Kudos towards Seattle last week, only to find once the game started how poor their run defense has been) 2. Better/ more confident play calling 3. The defenses having to respect the big play more because of Rudolph-Pickens. 4. All of the above ( of which 2 answers credit Rudolph in some matter).

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

Dionate Johnson reached behind his body and turned what should have been a costly interception into a great catch. Between that and the running game... I mean, where has it been all year? If you're going to defend Mason over Pickett, at least make that make sense to me. Does he do a better job of engaging the receivers and making these highly-paid professionals want to try? Does his deep threat ability keep the safeties back, allowing for better running lanes? My guess is none of the above and he just got lucky. The NFL is a weird animal these days, and players and teams look like they're on top of the world one week and then absolutely suck the next.

Mason is reminding me of that little run Washington had with Taylor Heinicke.

 

[Parkview57]

he just got lucky.

Pickett has won 7 games in this league with only 5 TD passes, while scoring less than 24 points in 5 of those games and never over 26 points.
If you believe in Luck in this league, that would be the prime example of luck.

I don't believe in luck here, it is hard to win in the NFL, you are what your record says you are. Which is why no one should give up on Pickett.

 

[VolPanther]

Did he impress anyone that much? Like, you'd be comfortable rolling with him as the starter in the future? I'll pass on that.

Right does no one recognize the dominant run game yesterday made throwing the ball much easier I mean for 90% of the season we were in 3rd and 7 or more and people tee'd off and were in Kenny's face after 2 seconds. I am not saying Kenny has played well by any means but give any QB a 200 yard run day and the passing will become significantly easier. They have been abysmal at running the ball most of this year and that has made throwing even more of a challenge. I am not ready to give up on Kenny if we can solidify the run game and actually stay out of 3rd and longs every series.

 

[WillyDavis33]

Not sure I was a hatter but there was a reason why the coaching staff made him 3rd string but then again we played a QB who could not throw a freakin football. I am just happy we are winning! 10-7 may get us into the playoffs and getting to that dance is an accomplishment.

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

Pickett has won 7 games in this league with only 5 TD passes, while scoring less than 24 points in 5 of those games and never over 26 points.
If you believe in Luck in this league, that would be the prime example of luck.

I don't believe in luck here, it is hard to win in the NFL, you are what your record says you are. Which is why no one should give up on Pickett.

Well I'm going by the eye test and upside, too. I'm just not seeing Mason do anything special. Pickett doesn't exactly do anything tangibly special, either, but he can move better and has more zip on his balls.

 

[h2p_5150]

Giving Rudolph credit for the run game is nonsense. Seattle has a really bad run defense. They get ran over every week, whether the mighty Rudolph is under center or not.

He is clearly better than Pickett though. It's a low bar to clear, but instead of spinning around and bailing the pocket he throws it in the area of a playmaker so they have a chance. Pickett has no idea that is even an option.

 

[Pitt2009]

They all suck lmao

They weren’t elite but I’d hardly say they sucked. Flacco and Dalton were top 10ish QBs in the league for a few years. Flacco’s 2012 postseason was one of the best ever for a QB.

 

[Parkview57]

Not sure I was a hatter but there was a reason why the coaching staff made him 3rd string but then again we played a QB who could not throw a freakin football.

The reason that he was the 3rd stringer was because the Coaching staff was hugely wrong about Trubisky, so your argument that he is not good because the staff chose someone else is illogical

 

[h2p_5150]

Well I'm going by the eye test and upside, too. I'm just not seeing Mason do anything special. Pickett doesn't exactly do anything tangibly special, either, but he can move better and has more zip on his balls.

I'd rather have Pickett agaisnt a good defense I guess. But his playstyle allows terrible defenses to look decent by virtue of running into sacks and what not. Rudolph will die agaisnt strong pass rushes in a way Kenny won't. Neither should be the Steelers starter next year.

 

[Parkview57]

I'm just not seeing Mason do anything special.

I disagree, here is why. ("Special" being a relative term in this argument)
He seems to be able to throw a stronger long to mid range pass, on time to catchable spots, hence the bigger Pickens numbers. Standing better in the pocket, and reading the field seem to open up a lot more offense.

 

[gary2]

Chris Hoke seems to think Rudolph is the only variable for success. He is wrong. Canada is gone. More importantly Tomlin has changed.Passing late in half from deep ahead 21. Going for it4th and medium, 0-0 in first quarter. Throwing on 1st down, up 7, less than 2 minutes left.

There is no way we lose to Cleveland 10-13 with Pickett at QB if Tomlin coached that game as he has coached the last 2 games.Tomlin finally quit "living in his fears".

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

I'd rather have Pickett agaisnt a good defense I guess. But his playstyle allows terrible defenses to look decent by virtue of running into sacks and what not. Rudolph will die agaisnt strong pass rushes in a way Kenny won't. Neither should be the Steelers starter next year.

Pretty much agree with this. I'm willing to give Kenny like another half season to see if he can cook a bit, but mentally he's a mess. If he's not a completely different player by the beginning of next season, then he needs to be a backup for a few years and strive for a resurgence later down the line.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

I loved that the Steelers drafted Kenny , what a story , but it’s hard to argue against what you see . With Kenny running the show despite winning 7 games this year did anyone really think that this was a professional level offense ?

Kenny looked great in the preseason , but something changed once the games started counting .

Canadas gone , but aren’t they still running his offense ? There’s only been one change and we all know what it is .

Ask the wide receivers who they want in there !

The O line looked great yesterday, but are defenses playing differently knowing that with Mason the Steelers are willing to throw the ball down the field and actually use the middle of the field .

Mason still has a lot of rust to wear off and despite that he’s had the two best days at qb since Big Ben .

Whatever BS they tell you where your drafted has a lot to do with how much you’re favorited.

What did or what didn’t they see that they ( Tomlin , OC , Qb coach ) were so reluctant to put him in and stay with Kenny and then Tub…..

 

[pittbb80]

It’s amazing what a qb who can throw a ball downfield can do to a run game. When you don’t have that threat, you can’t run the ball.

Or maybe the Seahawks run defense just blows

eattle's run-defense struggles have been a glaring issue for much of the season. The team has allowed 162 rushing yards or more in five of its past six games, and has allowed the third-most rushing yards in the league ahead of only Denver and Arizona with 2,146 yards allowed.

 

[WillyDavis33]

The reason that he was the 3rd stringer was because the Coaching staff was hugely wrong about Trubisky, so your argument that he is not good because the staff chose someone else is illogical

Please reread my post and look for the BUT. BUT is an important word in my post and cannot be overlooked! My premise that the staff could have been wrong is implied with BUT

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

And this board is filled with them. Now what’s your excuse?

Just curious how you play this one. Are we still bring in 2019? Just trying to figure out how we move the goal posts after the latest outing where he threw for 275


I’ll hang up and listen.

Rudolph has the hot hand and should be the starter right now. You have a true open competition next year. The funny thing is quite a few people loving on Rudolph now were trashing him earlier in his career.

 

[pittbb80]

Rudy has hung in the pocket better than KP for sure. But he also has rarely faced the jail breaks that KP faced that lead to all qbs having happy feet. Regardless he’s earned the right to finish out the season.

There’s no doubt that one of Kps weaknesses is he tends to bail too soon. But in his final season at Pitt when he had better protection and legit wr threats he hung in the pocket a lot better. Same in preseason when. He had all day to throw Ending the season this year is probably good as he’ll have competition next year

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

Rudy has hung in the pocket better than KP for sure. But he also has rarely faced the jail breaks that KP faced that lead to all qbs having happy feet. Regardless he’s earned the right to finish out the season.

There’s no doubt that one of Kps weaknesses is he tends to bail too soon. But in his final season at Pitt when he had better protection and legit wr threats he hung in the pocket a lot better. Same in preseason when. He had all day to throw Ending the season this year is probably good as he’ll have competition next year

I mean it's possible that Rudolph does things us laymen don't understand better, such as setting protections, making hot reads, etc. I'm honestly open-minded to that being the case. But I still don't understand why anyone would want him to be the QB of the future. He is quite limited in what he can do.

 

[DruidTM]

Pickett haters seem to be seeing something quite different from everyone else

Yesterday game ball to Harris

Last week was Pickens coming out party ….game ball to him

Rudolph played good.. that’s it…, not a knock… it’s reality.

Where were either of the two above factors present all year? Plus clearly the line looks better to a degree.

 

[pittbb80]

I mean it's possible that Rudolph does things us laymen don't understand better, such as setting protections, making hot reads, etc. I'm honestly open-minded to that being the case. But I still don't understand why anyone would want him to be the QB of the future. He is quite limited in what he can do.

It’s possible. But my point is until they play a legit defense it’s all speculation. Hes had the benefit of coming in two games after Canada was dumped and playing against awful defenses.

I think Rudy for sure can be a decent back up when given decent protection.

As far as next year they for sure need to bring in another vet or spend a draft pick on a lower development guy. The best thing they can do for any qb is to further improve the OL and draft or acquire another legit wr. Drops is far too inconsistent

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

That’s about as irrelevant as Joe’s multiple posts claiming how bad Rudolph has to be since he didn’t get any other FA offers last year and had to resign with the Steelers. Again, what was there to look at for another team to think about signing him when he didn’t enter a game for even 1 play last year and only played in 2 games in 2021?

The sad thing is that you are just dumb enough to think that that is the only thing that any team in the NFL knew about Rudolph last off season.

 

[Usuallyunusual-partdeux]

Anyone who says moves the goal posts is a female. JMO
After every game, every fan has to rank the QBs. I can't stand reading message boards let alone listen to sports radio anymore. Everyone is correct and knew it all along.

Oh My Goodness!!!!! I thought it was just me. These idiots annoy me so much!

 

[Pitt79]

And this board is filled with them. Now what’s your excuse?

Just curious how you play this one. Are we still bring in 2019? Just trying to figure out how we move the goal posts after the latest outing where he threw for 275


I’ll hang up and listen.

I still don't think a lot of him, from previous years he was never great. At this point, I'd still say the jury is out, but if he can play the way he has for like 10 out of 12 games, I'd be ok with him being the starter for a while. At first, I thought Kenny would be better than him, but now, I seriously don't believe in Kenny at all. Sorry to the Kenny Pitt Homers, but Rudolph is playing with the same bad playbook and bad O line way better than Kenny has, he probably would have thrown a TD pass or 2 if he wasn't constrained by the weak, gutless, play scared "Steelers Way", I'd give him a shot to start over Kenny next summer if he's not somewhere else. definitely should start next week and playoffs if there are any.

 

[Pitt79]

Did he impress anyone that much? Like, you'd be comfortable rolling with him as the starter in the future? I'll pass on that.

No, but I'm not comfortable rolling with Kenny in the future, are you? If yes, why?

 

[Burgh15]

Giving Rudolph credit for the run game is nonsense. Seattle has a really bad run defense. They get ran over every week, whether the mighty Rudolph is under center or not.

He is clearly better than Pickett though. It's a low bar to clear, but instead of spinning around and bailing the pocket he throws it in the area of a playmaker so they have a chance. Pickett has no idea that is even an option.

The big difference was when the run game was clicking, Rudolph capitalized and made the defense pay when they got aggressive against the run. We haven't seen that for several years. There were pockets that Pickett would've got happy feet and Mason stood there and delivered. I agree the bar has been set so low that Mason looks better than what he is, but you also can't argue with the offensive production with him. The Steelers couldn't even luck into those types of games the past two seasons.

 

[Pitt79]

Taking a victory lap on Mason Rudolph right now is hardly the intellectual take.

Neither would arguing that Kenny is THE FUTURE, as he has shown even less, but he is from Pitt, so...

 

[lilspainishflea]

1. No one hated Mason Rudolph. Mason played really badly - basically even with a UDFA - the last time he was given a shot. Then he sat on the bench as a 3rd stringer and 31 teams passed on making him anything more than that. His current play with unforeseeable based on how he had previously performed and how the Steelers and all other teams evaluated him.
2. As well as Mason is playing, Kenny was basically doing the exact same thing in his 1.5 games without Canada. 1 was even against the same opponent. Seriously, their numbers were almost identical. Mason had 1 great throw, a few missed reads, an underthrown deep ball to Pickens, and one that Diontae climbed the ladder for. Very much looked like the up and down reps we've seen from Kenny. The difference is the running game went for 6 yards per play instead of 3. And for all the "Mason is scoring more" well he has 2 total TD passes in 2 games. That sounds a lot like Kenny. Mason doesn't get credit for rushing touchdowns.
3. The fact of the matter is that the entire team is playing better. Pickens got called out and he's playing out of his mind. The OL is actually blocking people. Dionate isn't running backwards or running the wrong routes.
4. I'm fine playing Mason in week 18. Kenny isn't 100%. He didn't practice as a full participant and the team didn't want to throw him in when he didn't get reps. Makes sense. Mason played well and they want to give him another chance. Makes sense.
5. I'm a Steelers fan. I am rooting for Mason. I'd love it if all the people who claimed to be Steelers fans but who have talked shit on Kenny for 2 years could say the same thing.

 

[Pitt79]

They all suck lmao

They're all likely to have far better careers than KP, sorry, but I've lost all confidence in him. when he comes back, I'd like to see a couple consecutive games as good as Rudolph's last 2.

 

[mlvnsmly]

You also need to be protected long enough to get the ball downfield. There's no question the OL has played better.

Mason has been better than I expected. He was given up for dead by the Steelers and every other team. Kudos to him for sticking with it.

He's playing like a vet, and has done a very good job of hanging in the pocket and letting plays develop. Kenny can learn watching him play.

Mason's limitations are still there, but the team has rallied around him and is playing better. You ride the hot hand and let KP watch and learn.

Kenny was asked what he has learned from the sidelines and his response was "nothing".

 

[Usuallyunusual-partdeux]

I kinda hope Kenny uses this as motivation. Maybe he needed this wake up call to salvage his career whether it be here or elsewhere. Everyone here wrote off James Conner and he has done well in Arizona and it seems they appreciate him there.

 

[BFo8]

1. No one hated Mason Rudolph. Mason played really badly - basically even with a UDFA - the last time he was given a shot. Then he sat on the bench as a 3rd stringer and 31 teams passed on making him anything more than that. His current play with unforeseeable based on how he had previously performed and how the Steelers and all other teams evaluated him.
2. As well as Mason is playing, Kenny was basically doing the exact same thing in his 1.5 games without Canada. 1 was even against the same opponent. Seriously, their numbers were almost identical. Mason had 1 great throw, a few missed reads, an underthrown deep ball to Pickens, and one that Diontae climbed the ladder for. Very much looked like the up and down reps we've seen from Kenny. The different is the running game went for 6 yards per play instead of 3. And for all the "Mason is scoring more" well he has 2 total TD passes in 2 games. That sounds a lot like Kenny. Mason doesn't get credit for rushing touchdowns.
3. The fact of the matter is that the entire team is playing better. Pickens got called out and he's playing out of his mind. The OL is actually blocking people. Dionate isn't running backwards or running the wrong routes.
4. I'm fine playing Mason in week 18. Kenny isn't 100%. He didn't practice as a full participant and the team didn't want to throw him in when he didn't get reps. Makes sense. Mason played well and they want to give him another chance. Makes sense.
5. I'm a Steelers fan. I am rooting for Mason. I'd love it if all the people who claimed to be Steelers fans but who have talked shit on Kenny for 2 years could say the same thing.

As to your #1 and Rudolph playing very, very badly the numbers don’t really show that. It’s much more that he had the unfortunate task of following Roethlisberger, anything less than very good QB play was going to be panned.

As a starter Rudolph has a higher winning percentage than Pickett and much better numbers. There’s no real way around that, the stats are what they are. For any excuse someone can come up with for Pickett’s poor performance thus far a counterpoint can be made to excuse Rudolph’s failings.

What it means is that neither of them are very good as your long term starter if your goal is to consistently make the playoffs and have a shot to win a couple games when you do. The QB that can be capable of that isn’t yet on the roster, hopefully he is by 2025.

 

[Burgh15]

Tomlin is sticking with Rudolph. He also said Pickett was cleared to play last week but dress him because of lack of reps.

 

[str61166]

This could just be BS but most Steelers fans hate Pickett so will choose to believe it anyway I guess.

 

[Burgh15]

I see people in the replies saying Kaboly sorta said this on the radio. Did anyone listen to the segment?