Mason era should be over

Your boy Aikman

T. Bradshaw? (might have took more than a year)

P. Manning

are a few

 

4 time SB champ Bradshaw was benched a few times, deservingly so.

 

Hey Blast.

I do not see us as "throwing" away the season by seeing what Mason has. Remember, the Steelers had a 1st Round Grade on Mason. At this point we have to see what we have in him if they think that highly of him. Like I have said in other posts, I am not of the belief of throwing away any season. The seasons take long enough to get here as it is. I want competitive football every year from our guys. Not experimentation. However, like it our not, anytime with the "changing of the guard" short-term or permanent, there will be a section of time that will require mandatory evaluation to see what we have. Maybe in that sense it is experimentation to a degree? Hey we went through it with Ben. Man did we do well there (smile).

STEELWINDS AKA The East Side Kid

 

As far as I'm concerned, the jury is NOT out and the FO whiffed on Landry Jones Rudolph. Steelers had a much better option in Dobbs but traded him away to the jagoffs. Those saying we just dont know yet are being overly optimistic homers. We do know who Rudolph is and what kind of QB he is. Reality bites sometimes but like I've said many times before, Ben's replacement is not on the roster.

 

One nit I'll pick. He's in his second year. First year as a starter, so I get your point.

I'm one of MR's biggest critics but I don't think there's much choice but to stick with him at this point. You have to see what you have and give him every opportunity to improve, imo. The Steelers consistently claim they had him graded as a first rounder and they did trade up to get him in the third. It's also not 100% that Ben will come back and be effective or stay healthy all next year. If Rudolph can't get it done then you need to know now so you can get a capable backup at the least. (No, I don't think Duck is that guy, either.)

Having said all that as one of his biggest critics I don't see a lot that gives me optimism. Terrible footwork, gross inaccuracy, average at best arm strength. Those are things that are independent of the rest of the offense. That's all on MR. I understand that the situation he's been in is pretty crappy, but even with that he has to do better.

 

I'm close to being there with respect to MR. Not quite. But close.

 

I don't get it now you are saying we had a better option in Dobbs but you said this when we traded Dobbs:

 

It really isn't that hard to understand. I stand by what I said about Dobbs and what I said about Rudolph. Neither one of them is a starting caliber NFL QB. Dobbs is a helluva better option than Rudolph though still not great.

Yes, better option in Dobbs than rudolph. That doesn't mean I think Dobbs is a good option just better than rudolph. But good job making assumptuons.

 

Mason is bad but Dobbs is horrific lol

 

I guess to me it is hard to understand, sounds to me like now you are saying Dobbs is a better option but when we traded him you said he had hit is ceiling. It is pretty easy right now to say Dobbs is a better option over Mason after seeing what Mason has done. I went back to that thread cause I was wondering if there was anyone who was against the Dobbs trade. I will not lie I wasn't as I am a Mason guy but the thought has crossed my mind if we would be a better team right now with Dobbs......

 

Yes but we really haven't seen Dobbs in a full time roll right? Also the kid can run that might come in handy right now, lol

 

I don't know why going with Rudolph is throwing away the season. As far as playoffs or playoff run (ala Nick Foles), the Eagles had the other pieces they needed to do that, this team doesn't. Can't rely on defensive TDs to win games, and that was a large part of the 4 game winning streak. It's smoke and mirrors (Tomlin's career), this team probably should be 2-8.

 

If Ben plays out his contract, Rudolph will be a UFA at the same time.

 

IMO, Dobbs probably shouldn't have been drafted and watching him play his entire career at TN, I think he played to his peak and hit his ceiling in college. He did more with his legs and has never been an accurate passer but had some athletic WRs who frequently bailed him out on the bad throws. There was never a chance in hell that Dobbs would become Ben's replacement.

As far as Rudolph is concerned, I've never seen him as Ben's replacement either. But I felt like he had more upside than Dobbs because he was more of a pocket passer. If he could improve his accuracy and be more decisive, then maybe he could be a serviceable backup, but never saw him as a starter. Now, with what we've seen, Rudolph has even farther to go that what I thought. He has shown that he is still inaccurate, lacks poise in the pocket, gets rattled, and takes too long to make decisions, doesn't anticipate, and overthrows, underthrows, throws behind WRs. Maybe some of that can be coached up. But we are talking fundamentals and QB 101 stuff that we shouldnt be talking about for an NFL starter. On top of that, rudolph is even less mobile than Ben. At least Ben was a threat to keep the ball and at least get the 1st down or TD on the goal line. Not even an option with rudolph. So he is one dimensional - and he has shown it is a crappy one dimension at that.

I suppose I am monday morning QBing the situation with the Dobbs trade. But I dont want either of them as the starting QB here. Rudolph stinks IMO and Dobbs isn't much better, but at least he was a threat with his legs and rudolph has demonstrated that he isn't any more accurate with his arm than dobbs. So I guess I'm saying that rudolph sucks and dobbs sucks just a little bit less than rudolph.

 

For me I see things a little different, I thought Mason could be Ben's replacement. I am starting to come off that boat but I am not ready to give up yet. There are a lot of factors I am trying to take into account. Many of these have been talked about a lot here but injuries is a big deal. Coaching is another, and I am talking about Fitchner not Tomlin. Fitch stinks and I know this has been said before but the play calling is so different between Mason and Duck. Fitch let Duck air it out right from the start and my opinion on the play call for Mason is for some reason Fitch don't/won't trust him.

Now you bring up a point that I wanna hit on why I am so down on Mason, his accuracy. The fact that he is throwing behind guys concerns me. Now is it the oline being bad and the pressure is getting to him, IDK. Another thing is I have heard some of the guys on sirius talk about the time it is taking Mason to process his reads. This has me worried but one thing that I do believe others have mentioned in the off season @thesteeldeal is the lack of a QB coach. This might work for Ben but definitely is not working for Mason. One thing I was watching very closely Thursday was the communication between Ben and Mason. I am not saying this as a slam on Ben or anything but imo Ben needs to step up with Mason. Now before anyone jumps on this hear me out, I get Mason is saying Ben is a big help. However every time I saw Mason Ben was not around, sorry I feel Ben needs to be in his back pocket. They showed Mason on the bench and there he was with Fitch, no Ben. They show him on the sideline for a TO no Ben, not slamming Ben but Ben has a ton to offer and without a QB coach Ben could be filling the role while Fitch is doing his OC duties. Sorry if this opinion makes some mad but look around the league when a star QB goes down you see communication with the back up. Mason needs all the help he can get and that is showing right now.

I have said I am ready for Mason to sit down but I am not ready to give up on him. We are playing with guys that were on the street not long ago. Maybe a change will spark Mason, maybe he needs more time to heal IDK but it can't hurt right now jmo

 

Brees had a severe shoulder injury that required surgery, so SD offered him a 2mill backup contract because they wasnt even sure he would play again facing a long rehab in the off season, so his untimely injury cost him a starting contract but of course they were already paying rivers starting money...

https://www.boltsfromtheblue.com/2010/2/8/1301176/why-did-the-chargers-let-drew

 

It’s also well known that Peterson adapted the O to fit Foles’s strengths. I don’t see the ability in our OC to do that. Everyone says the OL strength is pass blocking. Could of fooled me especially Thursday. No QB is gonna look good dealing with that kind of pressure. Factor in the loss and underperforming of what weapons he has and I don’t know how anyone is surprised by the results.

Hodges is not the guy and I see no benefit in benching MR. There are 6 games left not 10 where you can see maybe he needs a chance to clear his head. He has 10 days to get starter reps in practice and figure things out. What do you do give Hodges his reps for 10 days and then go back to MR for Cleveland?
More than what it may feel like to MR to get benched it would say a helluva lot more about what the coaching staff thinks of him moving forward if they decide to sit him. I just don’t feel it’s a 1 game situation at this point. Either he gets the chance to improve or they should start looking for another QB for the future now. I for one am not gonna be enticed by the prospects of making the playoffs and play musical chairs with the QBs....

 

Fair enough and I do see your points about Fichtner and Ben. I guess at the end of the day I'm even more convinced that Ben's replacement isn't on the roster. Probably sound like a broken record on that point, but the QB situation is pretty damn bleak at the moment. Especially knowing that father time and injuries have caught up with Ben. We are definitely "on the clock" with Ben and the FO needs to get serious about a viable starting QB of the future.

 

When healthy, sure. When's that going to be? They can barely field 53 as it is.
Playoffs (let alone a playoff run) isn't realistic. No defense in history could carry this offense (despite the QB, considering the current choices)
The problems are way deeper than QB right now. Offensively (and beyond), Its bad all over.
It's smoke and mirrors, Tomlin got you again.

If they sit him now and Ben comes back and plays 2 seasons, when are they going to see what Rudolph has? (as you said above)

 

He's not just behind, he's all over the place. Behind, high, under thrown, etc. And it happens when he has plenty of time. The guy, at least right now, couldn't hit water falling out of a boat.

The INT he threw Thursday when trying to pass to Jones may have been one of the most atrocious throws I've ever seen a NFL QB make. He had great protection, he had perfectly clear throwing lane, he had no one in direct line of sight, Jones was completely clear of the defender, and MR threw it at least a yard and a half behind him. Jones had no chance to even get a hand on it. There was absolutely no mitigating circumstances there. It's a throw that every and any QB in the league probably makes. MR couldn't even give his guy a chance to touch the ball much less catch it.

 

I agree and I am not sticking up for Mason but he is the most pressure QB in the NFL right now. With that said while things look open or not pressured this young QB don't see that. He is so use to getting hit/pressured that he is trying to get the ball out quick, not an excuse but I can understand this. Like I said I agree with you and this is why I am getting down on Mason.