Dulac: Steelers Appear To Have Some ‘Internal Division’ Regarding Starting QB

Personally, I think if you want Kenny to be your guy you need to move on from Rudolph... you can't have that controversy all year in your locker room.

 

Mason lost his job as a rookie to Duck Hodges with Randy Fichtner at OC. His only game under Canada prior to 2023 was a home tie to Detroit in Canada's first season as OC. Kenny is very luck that he plays for the Steelers, as I couldn't see too many other franchises sticking with Kenny after 24 starts and this poor of a performance. Atlanta is seemingly giving up on Desmond Ridder (who compares favorably to Pickett) in 17 starts. Many can point to Jordan Love getting some time to sit, but he's only started 18 games and is way ahead of Pickett. Sure, he sat and didn't play really for a few years but he is less experienced that Kenny as a starter. Kenny has gotten more than a fair opportunity (and likely more so than other teams would be willing to give). If he does get another opportunity he better take advantage of it, and do so quickly. He is going to have a short leash and could face benching early on if he doesn't perform out of the gate.

 

So, move on from respectable production to the league cellar? OK, seems like a good way to run a team. Kenny's QBR is what, a 37? That's near the bottom of the entire league? He's averaging .5 passing TDs a game. Yes, there is a "." in front of the #5. Plus Kenny's about as sturdy as a China doll; a stiff wind gives him a concussion.

 

Except we are talking Tomlin and Rooney here: they take 5 x, on average, to make decisions longer than any other franchise. Bull headed, stubbornness and refusal to admit mistakes is what drives them. Imagine if SF ran their team like Pgh; they'd still have Trey Lance on the team as the starter and have been sitting home after round one of the playoffs like Pgh.

 

The offseason.............

 

He didn't lose his job to Duck Hodges as a rookie. Rudolph was drafted in 2018. It was his second season in 2019.

Rudolph sat as a rookie in 2018.

In 2019 he had 8 starts. His record was 5-3. 13 TD and 9 INT, 62.2% completion percentage. He averaged 6.2 yards per attempt. (Second season)

In 2020 he appeared in 5 games with 1 start. His record was 0-1-0. 2 TD 1 INT, 58.1% completion percentage. 7.5 yards per attempt. (Third season)

In 2021 he appeared in 2 games with 1 start. His record was 0-0-1. 1 TD 1 INT, 60.3% completion percentage. 4.3 yards per attempt. Threw the ball 58 times for 277 yards. (Fourth Season)

In 2022 he saw no game action.

In 2023 he appeared in 4 games with 3 starts. His record was 3-0-0. 3 TD 0 INT, 74.3% completion percentage. 9.7 yards per attempt. (Sixth season)

Rudolph's record was 8-4-1

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/R/RudoMa00.htm

Rudolph did next to nothing in Canada's offense until after Canada was fired this season. In his fourth NFL season in 2021 he threw the ball 58 times for 277 yards and 4.3 yards per attempt (far worse than Pickett). It was in his fourth season in the NFL. If Pickett did that in his fourth season, they would have to stop people from burning down the city.

Pickett has only played 2 seasons, and it has been in that same crappy offense that Rudolph didn't do anything in. Pickett has a record of 14-10, with a couple losses coming in games when the backup came in for him and the team having a chance to win. Rudolph's record before this season was 5-4-1.

Rudolph appeared to improve and blossom in his sixth year, and after Canada was gone. That's a whole bunch of training camps, practices, off season training with quarterback gurus, preseason games, film study, and actual game time over 6 years. Rudolph had lots of reps and more experience in the offense and playbook than Pickett. It's not like Rudolph was banished to a small, dark room and wasn't allowed to learn football like everyone else for 6 seasons.

That's what's so puzzling about those of you on the Mason Rudolph train. You act like he was denied a chance, when in reality he wasn't very good whenever he got a chance to play until this past season. Many of you also act like Rudolph has been this good since he was drafted. He was not. Many can't seem to admit that Rudolph improved over his 6 seasons, because to admit that would concede that there is a pretty good chance that Pickett can get better, and he has a lot of time to do it before he reaches his 6th season.

I'm happy for Mason Rudolph. I hope he has a chance to play somewhere. I just want everyone to understand that he really didn't show anything close to the level of play in his first 5 seasons that he had in 2023. No Matt Canada and some extra experience and work got him there. The same may happen with Kenny Pickett with a higher ceiling.

The number of starts does matter, but 4 more years of camps, watching film, all while learning and working on his craft matters a lot. 4 more years of seasoning is huge when it comes to the understanding of the game.

 

& those of us "on the mason rudolph train" would just like you to admit that if Rudolph & Pickett are the 2 options heading into next season,,, then CLEARLY Rudolph should be starting & Kenny can get those same reps & opportunities to grow that you claim mason got,,,, from the bench....

 

Now that’s hilarious

Mason didn’t get any opportunities

You do come up with some funny bull****

 

Everything I said in my post above says otherwise. I show real stats and state an opinion based on those stats and what my eyes see. If the Steelers sign Rudolph and start him, I'll support him and hope he plays well. I won't badmouth him, insult him, and call him names like so many of you do with Pickett. It's not enough for you to think Pickett isn't good. You have to act like Pickett is banging your girlfriend.

Maybe you should refute what I posted instead of just demanding that I agree with you. Just more of the "poor Mason never got a chance" crap I've been reading since he started playing. Getting punked by Duck Hodges when it was there for the taking is as good a shot as you can get in the NFL. Some of you just refuse to understand that.

Maybe someday Rudolph will play enough NFL football as a starter that defenses will actually develop a book on how to defend him like they do with any quarterback that plays a significant amount of snaps as a starter. Imagine the fun we can have then. Here's a hint.....his play will most likely regress when they tailor defenses to stopping him like they do with all starting quarterbacks. That's how football works.

I think you saw some of that in the playoffs last season. I think you also saw some of that in 2019 when he was benched. Once they took away his fastball, he didn't have another pitch.

Let's see how the other teams in the NFL feel about Mason Rudolph. With your expert eye and enthusiasm for your Rudolph evaluation, every team in the league should be clamoring for a shot at getting the most underrated quarterback in football according to you. He should get about 20 offers from teams in free agency and sign a big money deal to play somewhere as a starter.

There are lots of experts all around the NFL that determine what a player's value is. I guess we'll find out how much talent and upside Rudolph has from all those experts in the NFL during free agency.

 

I wouldn’t be surprised if there is division. I’m sure there was frustration with Mitch before MR took over just by recalling the Pickens meltdown and quotes by a few players. So it would be reasonable to think a number of players want the Steelers to resign MR and give him a shot to start over Kenny. It’s really in MR hands whether he wants to return. Ultimately it’s not that big of a story. Whoever wins the training camp battle the players will get behind. If Kenny sucks the coaches will switch to Mason (if he’s with the team) before things get out of hand

 

Ah huh. Hmmm, I see.

 

Total time in the league matters, too. That's why some of Rudolph's faithful are being ridiculous when they try to ignore that he has been in the league for six years.

The issue with Ridder is he wasn't all that productive and he didn't take care of the ball, throwing as many interceptions as touchdowns. At least Pickett took care of the ball and came through late in games. Atlanta is also going through ahead coaching change, so the scenario is different from the Steelers.

 

There's a Youtube site that starts every Steelers news with "What the Steelers just did shakes up the NFL!" or some variation. then it's some AI generated regul;ar personell issue.

 

Let's not forget that he had no offers last offseason so he came back

 

yes he came back and when saw the field again did well.

i would try to re-sign rudolph and see where it goes. the fields talk to me is a head scratcher. we have a first rounder that is so,so, so why add another? mason would leave us with two guys that won ten games. add a later draft pick or even mid round guy to keep in the pipeline and see where we go. we have other spots to fix. bringing in a guy to mentor another is not a good decision in my view. we have enough coaching to handle that. we have brought in and kept enough guys with success in the passing game to see if we need to look further after this year. we have a run game that is nfl ready. a couple of tweeks on the line, fix some defensive problems and see where this core goes. no sense in trying to blow it all up.

 

Is that what I said? Reading is hard... I was implying that Kenny would get the same opportunities from the bench that Mason got.. He could develop into a successful Qb which he is not at this time...

 

They will 100% try to sign Rudolph

Art already said so

It will just depend on his new market value which has certainly gone up since last year

No one will know until after March 13 although I don’t see them waiting until mid May to make a move

 

I'm finally done reading your novella in which you completely avoid the OBVIOUS, which is Rudolph is CLEARLY better... If your eyes are telling you something different, then I don't know what to say to that??? Clearly there's some other agenda at play... If you claim that's bad mouthing Pickett whatever... I was saying Pickett could develop from the bench just like Rudolph did & you're rambling something about fn duck Hodges...

 

Ask @Formerscribe for help with your reading and writing

He can help he teaches lots of kids

If I remember correctly he’s schooled you before

 

yea i hope they do. i don't think he will come at a huge price or we just don't do it then. somebody will sign him this year if not us since he has some better film now but i don't think it will get stupid. i think he would have a good situation here.

kenny needs some things fixed. he's not a bad qb but i do believe he was thrown in to early and maybe not even too early but with the mess that was canada there was no bringing along that took place. this situation for him should be a much better learning capable place now.

play the best we have and know we have someone like mason who seems to have a better command of the offense. if there is a struggle at some point then we go with the next man up who has nfl knowledge as a starter in pickett if he doesn't outright win the job. he needs to not mope around and embrace learning if that is the case.

i believe we have some good coaches to teach far more now then we did last year with all the pressure that was going on with canada. with mitch and canada gone these two can build on some success in a calmer atmosphere.

 

With all due respect, that's a gross exaggeration. Pickett has displayed his moxy with numerous 4th quarter wins. If that's not playing well when we need it I don't know what is.

 

Lobos are doing well in CBB

Hope to watch them in the tournament

 

yes kenny had his moments late in games but..... he also was very flat for 3 qtrs. in many a game too. they were hard to watch at times. we need to see a consistent string of games. first round or not he has to show he's worth the effort. nobody likes to be benched but he's young and needs to grasp on to learning what was keeping him on that bench first. it was like the movie groundhog day for much of the year.

 

Ill settle this argument… KFP & Mason both suck, if they are our starters , it will be 8 straight yrs without a playoff win.
In all reality, neither would be a starter by choice on any other team, except for Steelers.