Rudolph is mobile enough

It’s his noodle lollipop arm strength on ten yard outs that concerns me. Throws a decent lob deep ball but that’s about it in his passing tree. I think he will be the starter and we will be wishing Ben was back by week 3.

 

Most analysts have been saying this QB class is weak from a top end/first round talent since the middle of October. Pretty much all these guys are project types that are a risk unless you draft them rd 3 or later and get lucky.

 

I do think we have a good shot at the NFC South but we will lose to the Eagles. I believe the 70 Steelers were the last to win in Philly.

 

Pickett is an exception. Question his upside if you wish, but he is about as polished as you are going to get coming out of college.

 

You are welcome.

To be fair, you have been pushing Willis hard for quite a while. I think he would be a huge mistake, even more so if they trade up to get him. I would put him last among those guys. He had some really crappy games against very low-level competition, too many of them. I actually think the Kordell Stewart comparisons aren't exactly right. Willis may actually be a more dynamic runner, and he seems to have a better pocket presence. It is the concerns about accuracy and processing speed that get me. Those two things, along with arm strength, are the most important factors in evaluating a quarterback.

That is why I like Pickett. He has proven he can be accurate in a full route tree, including making throws under pressure. He showed the ability to read what defenses were giving him and go through progressions as a senior. Unlike Rudolph, he has an NFL arm. He is also mobile, tough, and has a bit of swagger to him.

 

that is what we pay the defense for. i don't care how we get wins as long as we get them.

 

Then again, any QB that is constantly under pressure is going to make what appears to be poor decisions. With the speed of the game at the NFL level the most veteran QB is going to make some ill-advised throws. Against our defense in the mid-2000's I remember seeing even Manning and Brady have bad games when we were ready for them and under constant pressure. Manning never ran with any amount of finesse, often times considered to have "happy feet" when under pressure.

 

Just don't understand why the Rudolph/ James Washington connection wasn't fruitful?
That should have been go to.

 

Rudolph always play like his hands are handcuffed. I’m not sure the coaches do it because he’s inexperienced or they do it because they know his limitations

 

Only 75%?! Hmm.. thought you would go a higher number. I was thinking 80% myself.

 

He looked rather slow on that highlight. Took a while to cross the field. He is mobile in the most basic sense of the word, but not good enough to make up for subpar passing (to this point). Maybe he is hungry to prove himself and working his tail off right now. We can only hope. He seems like (my opinion) the type of player that thinks he is better than he is. Ego, but not in the pro-bowl, back-up-my-attitude-with-all-pro-play kind of way.

Is there an overlooked college QB, one that maybe missed most of last season with injury or small college type, that we could take a flier on mid round in the draft? I mean, it's not often, but we all know where Tom Brady was drafted. We need great scouting. Maybe a future pro-bowler playing rugby in New Zealand? Dunno. LOL

 

I don't have a huge problem with Corral. How often did Pickett even play in poor weather this past season? I'm not sure it was enough to claim that he hasn't done well in those moments.

 

as i said in the draft section. i wouldn't be opposed to colbert double dipping in this draft. 1st and 4th for a qb. pickett/purdy or howell/purdy or some form of this type of draft. get two quality players at a great position of need for 5 and 4 years and only on rookie deals. learning the system together. none are signed past this year amongst mason or haskins. we are going to need depth anyway. why not good young depth?

 

He was raised in New Jersey, he should be used to playing in inclimate weather. Then he played
in our wonderful Western Pa weather lol. This is the least of my concern. Plus he has moxie and guts and brains
to overcome many obstacles. Surround him with some talent, he will do just fine.

 

This class just doesn't have the Lawerance or Burrows in it.
Some folks regurgitate talking heads trash..
There is always a 'good' QB in a Draft.

In this draft, you are going to have to scout it hard. The Steelers are doing just that.
What I think will happen is that they will go with Mason Rudolf and pick up maybe a Sam Howell.
I can't see them making any of the trades most talked about. Especially now that Jimmy G is sidelined till Summer.
Maybe they grab one of the Vets.
But I think they focus on other needs (OL, ILB, DB)
And sign a Punter. (lol)

 

It may be a little of both. Unfortunately, Ben's offense was not a plug and play. Even when we did have a good O-line, Ben still liked to stand back and move around (as we all know and have heard "Holds the ball too long.") However, one area we were plug and play was RB as was evidenced with LeVeon Bell and the transition to James Connor. I think Connor's decline was also the beginning of the decline of our Line. He had his limitations, but key point was L.Bell didn't do it all alone as he would like to believe.

 

You have to leave for a percentage some who won’t care one way or another.

 

Yep there's nothing on his throws whasoever. He's hardly played but the org has seen enough, there's no doubt about that. If he'd have been seen as the succesor to 7, then there would be no talk of drafting a QB early. This is not Rodgers wating around for Favre to retire, it is simp,y the case that the Steelers have several option and none of them are good enough and they know it.

Ya got 3 QB's ya got none.

 

i agree with a lot of this blast and this is mostly what i am getting at when i say double dip. go with mason and see before you scrap it all. add a howell or willis or pickett or whichever one is there at 20 that they like. draft a corner and an ILB early 2-3 and see then if another of these tier 2 guys are around in the 4th. purdy, zappe, kelly. if you then see mason isn't the guy you try to move him or just let him go after this year and you have two that are in your system for 5 and 4 years. in that time you will be able to see who sticks. you still need backup qb's down the road so these guys will at least be trained in the offense. maybe your 1st rounder doesn't cut it then your 4th rounder becomes your new mason until you draft a new one. use the money we have for witherspoon, get a vet offensive tackle to help with the young offensive line we have been building. many holes can be closed this way.

witherspoon helps close a hole and sutton closes the hole in the slot if you add a good corner out of a loaded corner draft. add to bush with johnson and a top draft pick. you have added already to your qb room for the near future. you have shored up the offensive line. you then fill in around this as needed. sign DJ, sign minkah, let the dead money play out for a couple of years. it's going to always be an ongoing process to fill certain spots but just don't try to force just one player to have to be counted on too highly. bush. have a couple of pieces in place to move in without killing a whole side of the ball for several years.

 

After watching this clip of Rudolph's Steeler highlights, I say this is good enough reason to focus on building the line. Hopefully, Canada's offense is designed for Rudolph, and he can excel behind an upgraded O-Line.

 

Rudolph to me just throws too slow. Even Ben with a bad arm throws faster. Just screams to get picked off

 

Just beef up the O line. With a running game and deep ball from mason, add in our defense and we should win some ball games. Fill the rest of the pieces later and compete

 

I just measured my right hand from tip of pinky to tip of thumb, spread as much as I could. Guess what it is? 8.5". I stand 5'8" and have what I'd call slightly smaller than average hands, but close to average. I can't really grip an NFL sized football with confidence. I can just, JUST barely grip it fully so that when I turn my hand over with it, it doesn't just fall out to the ground. I have to squeeze it hard to do so. Back when I used to throw alot, I felt the ball slipping from my grip on every 4 or 5 throws. If the ball got wet, and thus a little leather slimy, I couldn't grip it at all.

I had a great arm mind you, but when we played flag football socially after college, we used one of those rubber coated balls that was ultra grippy and only then did I feel somewhat comfortable. Full disclosure, I never wore any kind of glove, so can't speak to the improvement it may have made.

I am guessing the gloves he wears are stick em gloves, and might help quite a bit. That said, I'd have to say 9" hand spread is probably the minimum you want in a QB to prevent the "slip" during a pass or run, at least once or twice a game, resulting in no-contact fumbles or interceptions. He certainly will not be able to pump-fake without us holding our breath.

As I recall Jared Goff had very small hands. This sounds close to Goff. I haven't heard of him having fumbling issues, but he isn't a great passing QB either. Just close range solid.