Dionate Johnson says he hopes Mason Rudolph is the Steelers starting QB next season

https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.c...h-is-the-steelers-starting-qb-next-season-nfl

 

Wow bet that doesn’t make Kenny feel too great

 

Yeah, DJ won't be getting many targets if Kenny ends up being the starter next year

 

Mason deserves a shot to compete in camp. Kenny’s time here feels like it’s close to over.

 

I think the players are behind Mason. The coaches are going to stick with Kenny.

Of course Pickens and DJ want Mason to keep the job. I'm sure it's nice to actually catch passes more than 3 yards down the field.

 

I love it!! The players know whom they want at the wheel.

 

I mean Tomlin made him a team captain his 2nd year and did nothing to earn it then played the way he did. I think his teammates probably feel some kind of way about that. Then as a team captain he doesn’t show up for final media day. I think that put a nail in his coffin.

 

Boom. Who didn't know that. When a guy catches 1 TD in 19 starts from Pickett, then turns around and catches 5 TD's in 7 games with Not-Pickett throwing him the ball, what do you think his stance is going to be? You saw the frustration from DJ and Pickens after a year and a half of misery with Kenny throwing them the ball. Then Mason comes in, throws some nice balls, scores some points, and all of it vanished. Even Pickens took a 0 target game in stride. It was a different feeling.

I sincerely hope that if Mason is brought back he starts in AT LEAST a competition with Pickett (though I do believe that he should start ahead of Pickett based solely on performance). I'm not convinced it will happen, but here's to hoping.

 

Kenny's play on the field obviously didn't make DJ (or Pickens for that matter) feel too great either.

 

I understand where he's coming from, but I have to question the wisdom of sharing his thoughts on the subject with the sporting world.

 

I don’t think the players feel great on how’s he’s acted since being benched. He’s pretty much pouted for 4 weeks and they are over it. All season they’ve had to answer questions about “how great is Kenny?”. Then he goes out, plays like that and skips last media day as a captain. They are over him.

 

One of the beat writers, Jeff Hathorne, was asked about Pickett refusing to answer questions before he left for the off-season. His take was basically no matter what he would have said, he wasn't going to come out of it looking good. If he says he doesn't know if he's the starter next year, people will spin as if he doesn't want to be. If he says he is the starter, people will think he's being cocky. I think he should have addressed the press, but if Hathorne is right, I can understand it. What I would have said is that if the organization tabs me as the starter at OTA's, then I'll do whatever needs to be done to keep the job. If they stage an open competition for the job, I'll fight like hell for it.

 

You go the route of I'm going to focus every day to become better, study film, work on my mechanics and my understanding what defenses are trying to do, etc, etc. It is a pretty easy vanilla thing to do. Whatever the Pittsburgh Steelers ask me to do I will put 100% effort into that. But DJ saying that is exactly the crap Najee is referring to. Tomlin lost the players I think going with Kenny as long as he has and then Mitch and then they saw Rudolph and are probably wondering wtf.

 

This is why Steelers won't bring back Rudolph. If they do, there will be serious issues to let Pickett start.

 

You may be right, shades is like with Pickett...

 

Then Steeler Fans might be like....

 

Rudolph isn't coming back without at least a chance to compete for the job.

 

To this point, Pickett has done very little to prove he deserves the starting job next year. However, trusting Rudolph over him for the last 4 games of the season is very different than trusting him to be "the guy" and give the Steelers a realistic shot at a championship. Maybe I'm wrong, it's been known to happen from time to time.
Until the QB situation gets fixed, it will be more of the same thing we've seen for a number of seasons.

 

So what, DJ is a moron and his opinion changes week by week. This team is a clown show.

 

All this tells me is that the Offense likes Mason a helluva lot more than Pickett. Pickett has to improve; no ifs, ands or buts about it. Thing is, how much time will he have left; doubly so if Mason resigns again?!

 

100% Correct. A guy who was pushed back for 4 years on the bench making $1 mil this year was your best player bar none in the playoff game, the leader, no one else showed up, and the #1 reason they even reached the playoffs. That's your team captain. That's the best player on the team, Mason Rudolph.
Where are all the other guys making a lot more claiming to be leaders?! Tomlin?

 

Mason might be the Steelers best quarterback, but Watt might have something to say about being the team's best player.

 

DJ has never been the sharpest tool in the shed, but at least he's smart enough to know who the best QB on the team is. That's more than I can say for the "genius" Tomlin

 

Kenny hopes DJ stops running backwards next year when he catches the ball