A Message to Mason Rudolph

The point is that in 2022 Kevin Colbert announced that there would be an open competition for the job.

Yes. Everyone knew they were grooming Kenny.

Yes. Everyone who knows this organization, knew they were going to give the starting job to Trubisky, no matter what Rudolph did.

Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me.

No one knows how free agency will work out. If I were Mason I would only return if I had absolutely no other alternative.

 

Awful weather in that Detroit game to boot. To me that was a tough game to judge Rudolph on. I do admit that was definitely not one of his better games.

 

And Jared Goff, one of the QBs in the NFC Championship game, looked ten times worse than Rudolph that day. The conditions were less than ideal and Rudolph found out the day before that he’d be starting but everyone wants to beat the living crap out of him because of that game! He was about to win that game but for a couple of ill timed fumbles by his receivers.

 

Do you remember Mason running for a first down, lowering his shoulder, and knocking the cb out of the game?

 

No. I actually forgot about that.

 

Around the 8:25 mark. Mason knocked him out of the game.

 

I agree with most of that. I certainly don't think they should hand the job back to Pickett for 2024. I think the burying of Rudolph reflected what he had shown them in four seasons.

 

There was film on Rudolph from previous seasons and preseason games. They didn't do that just based on Tomlin, but your willingness to make excuses for Rudolph truly knows no bounds.

 

Nobody lying, but you are ignoring facts you don't like. Nobody wanted him to be a starter or No. 2 quarterback. If they had, he would have been gone. He came slinking back to the Steelers knowing Pickett was locked in as the starter and Trubisky would be ahead of him as the backup. He wasn't passing on the opportunity to be No. 2 elsewhere for that.

 

I am fine with the facts, but I see them far more clearly than you do. You are part of the crowd that wants to make every excuse imaginable for Rudolph's first five-plus seasons, but won't consider that some of the same factors have slowed Pickett's development.

How Pickett got hurt is irrelevant to the argument I was making. He still only got one full game with Canada gone. You are trying to divert away from that fact with the same tired argument about how Pickett got hurt. You and others are ignoring that he line didn't give Pickett time to get through all of his reads on that play against the Cardinals. Clearly, his primary options on that play were to the right and the open receivers was on the opposite side of the field. Going through those progressions takes time.

Nobody is blatantly slandering Rudolph, but we are observing his weaknesses as well as his strengths. He still has no feel for the rush around him. Far too often, he is a statue back there and he doesn't protect the ball when the rush is about to get to him. Also, he made a rushed, poor read on the interception against the Bills. He also made a poor throw. Y'all can make up that fantasy of Johnson fighting through the defender to get the ball all you like, but the reality was that Elam was in much better position when the ball was thrown. Rudolph either needed to throw it high and farther outside or not throw it at all. That is on him.

Love had two years to sit and learn, and he got a little playing time. Their ages are irrelevant. It is the pro experience, watching and playing, that matters. This isn't elementary school. It's not about giving people a chance. It is about getting the best players on the field and finding out who can develop into what they need. Love also wasn't saddled with incompetent offensive coaches and a head coach who forces him into being too conservative the way Pickett was.

Coaching matters, especially in the development of a young quarterback. The Steelers have screwed up badly with Pickett. If he can be fixed, the upside is better than you seem to realize.

 

Goff had more upside and more positives on his resume at that point than Rudolph.

Also, the second fumble was set up by a terrible decision by Rudolph. He put Freiermuth in an impossible situation for what would have been a gain of no more than a yard or two. He threw it to him behind the line of scrimmage with one defender next to him and another between him and the sideline. He had to fight just to try to get out of bounds. Rudolph should have fired that ball over his head out of bounds, but instead took a stupid risk for almost no reward.

 

Yes

Yes duh

If Mason had taken his opportunity they would not have signed Mitch

I’ll take your word on the fool part most of us saw reality

Do you mean like last year

 

The Steelers painted the picture of an open quarterback competition. The only reality most of us saw was that the Steelers were full of

This will be a different free agency from last year. What Rudolph ends up with is debatable, but there will certainly be interest this time around.

 

If I were Mason I would only return if I had absolutely no other alternative.[/QUOTE] Sorta like last year?

 

The only fact relevant to this point of contention is that Mason outplayed Kenny. Your reasoning for why is opinion, not fact.

I don’t make any excuses for Mason’s first 5 years the same way I’m not accepting excuses for Kenny. Kenny has had 25 starts in 2 seasons to show and prove while Mason has had just 13. So it’s also a fact that Mason has outplayed him given less opportunity.

No, how he got himself hurt is not irrelevant. You’re saying that his struggles were because of the OC and that play is evidence that it wasn’t. Your excuses don’t fly and you’re even being dishonest.The play was fine and the only person who failed to execute was Kenny. The line gave plenty of time, Kenny was just incompetent. Once Austin sprinted across the formation without a defender running with him it should’ve been obvious that the D was in zone and that Austin had a free release to the flat. Austin was the primary read not whatever Kenny was looking at to his right. Kenny didn’t go thru any progressions, he inexplicably looked to his right then bailed from the pocket when it wasn’t there. He did that with and without Canada.

^^^Clean pocket with a wide open receiver who literally had a free release. What in the world is Kenny looking at to the right?

^^^Still has a good pocket with Austin still wide open waving his hands but Kenny panics and looks to scramble due to some slight pressure on the right which is neutralized.

To me the importance of this play is that it illustrates Kenny’s lack of understanding of his own offensive concepts. There’s no excuse for missing on that play.

He still outplayed Kenny. You can go on and on about all of the flaws you perceive Mason as having and it still won’t discount the fact that he played better than Kenny. This is the fact that you don’t want to deal with.

Look, you’re the one who initially made the Pickett-Love comparison. It was a stupid comparison that obviously didn’t favor Kenny. I explain why the comparison doesn’t make Kenny look good, and now you want to make excuses and discredit your own comparison It was an invalid comparison that you shouldn’t have made in the first place.

The screw up seems to have been plugging him as the starter so soon. The flaws that Kenny has are all his own though. It’s not the Steelers fault that he can’t read defenses, doesn’t have poise in the pocket, and is inaccurate with many of his throws. Coaching matters, but guess what matters more? Talent and football IQ. 25 starts in and there’s still major questions about the basics(reading the field, standing in the pocket, and being consistently accurate). Upside? You seem to think throwing for 200+ years no tds while the team scores 16 points is sufficient upside. I don’t.

 

Sorta like last year?[/QUOTE]

No. This year Rudolph is coming off 4 games off solid quarterback play. Last year he was not.

 

Those 4 consecutive games might be the best 4 game stretch we’ve seen since 2018



/edit turndown you forgot the opening tag. That’s why your quote didn’t work. [ Quote ]

 

Sorta like last year?[/QUOTE]
The Steelers probably value Mason more than the other 31 teams do.

 

Pickett doesn't get through his reads because he is a slow processor not because the OL doesn't protect. And he struggles with presnap reads which then causes him to have to 'guess' where the open man might be. Sure, more experience and he might get better. But he also might not because, well, some QBs just never do.

 

He played one meaningful game in 2021 after one day of preparation. It was played in awful conditions. He played none in 2022. There wasn’t enough information about him. Preseason isn’t meaningful. Now that there is 4 games of film on him, response will be different. As a president of Pickett’s fan club, you go through laughable gymnastics to downplay Rudolph’s achievements and prop up Pickett’s play. Prediction - your boy won’t be starting for Steelers in 2025. Besides the fans, Diontae and Pickens will revolt. They will blame Pickett for their below average statistics… and in their mind they will blame him for their decreased value in the market.

 

You acknowledge that the whole “open competition” talk was just tongue in cheek with the real writing already on the wall, yet you still pretend that Mason was somehow fooled. MR is a professional of at least reasonable intelligence, he knew that they didn’t draft Kenny first round and pay Mitch what they paid him just to have an open competition. At the same time, how would it have looked to just determine the depth chart at qb before training camp?

I don’t get your position as a Steelers fan. You seem to be rooting for Mason to dis the Steelers based on emotion and hurt feelings. The NFL is a business, Mason understands that. Returning to the Steelers could very well be what’s in his personal best interest depending on how things go. He knows the team, already has chemistry with his teammates, knows the coaches, has been in the city for 5-6 years, and etc. Even if you’re rooting for Mason personally above the Steelers for whatever reasons, why not allow room for that?

The Steelers drafted him, took him back last year when no other teams really wanted him as 1-2, then gave him a shot to showcase his worth and show that he can play. Tomlin could’ve easily went back to Kenny for the Seahawks and the Ravens.

 

http://thesteelersfans.com/forums/threads/the-wonderlic-and-kenny-pickett.32615/

 

No. This year Rudolph is coming off 4 games off solid quarterback play. Last year he was not.[/QUOTE]
Nobody was saying he did not have 4 solid games, what I was referring to was not one of the 31 other teams
were interested in him? That is all. he and his agent may have better luck this FA season with other teams.

 

No one knows what the interest level in Mason is going to be. No one knows what type of money Rudolph is looking for.

Your comment "sorta like last year" is false. Last year nobody was interested in Rudolph. Why would they be? This year Mason is coming off a 4 game stretch of exceptional QB play. Completely different circumstances. Completely different off-season. So no, not sorta like last year.