Poll: Who should start at QB in Week 17 if Kenny Pickett is fully healthy?

Who should start at QB in Week 17 if Kenny Pickett is fully healthy?

 

Ride the hot hand.


Let Mason cook until he cannot. Rather, see to it that the Offensive Line can continue to set everything up for the Offense for Mason. Given how the Offense is set up for the run to use the pass, start from there.

 

Pickett and Trubisky have never played as well as Mason did today, he's the only QB on the roster that actually knows how to throw a football. You have to go with the hot hand

 

Rudolf time ,just hope the vast scoring improvement does not get tomlin extended . would be criminal to reward the bum and punish the hero .

 

Like I said in one of my own posts on the topic, I think Mason needs to start next game - and theoretically, the rest of the season - and I expect that he will. Keep him on a short leash, if need be, and call Kenny in if Mason stinks up the joint. But, regardless - as of right now - Mason has to be the answer going forward, until whenever that day is that he's not.

But, either way, Mitch must be given a one way ticket out of Pittsburgh at the end of the season. Steelers need to cut their losses on that, admit they made a mistake, and if Mason impresses for the rest of the season, extend his contract and force Kenny to meaningfully compete against him this off season. Retain McSorley at QB3. Spend the next draft or two building a powerful OL with a huge upgrade at Center. Draft a franchise QB in 2025 or 2026, and ride with either Mason or Kenny until then. At this point, I'd rather it be Mason, honestly, but I guess we'll just have to see.

 

Rudolph put up numbers more like Ben used to do, and the score speaks for itself. Neither Pickett or Trubisky have been able to do either of those things.

 

It is hard to argue against Mason, but that is a baaaad Bengals defense.

I doubt he plays that well the next 2 weeks.

 

I'm just gonna put this out there:

Kenny Pickett looks like a QB who's studied the work of Mitchell Trubisky.

Mason Rudolph looks like a QB who's studied the work of Ben Roethlisberger.

 

Mitch is mechanically awful and shouldn't be in the NFL. Mason's deep ball is much more complementary to the rest of the skill players on offense, but the trash o-line is a challenge for him, though he does go through progressions when he has the time. Kenny Pickett covers up a lot of our O-line deficiencies with his mobility, but is so so everywhere else, and doesn't really read the defense.

I"d split and go Mason for the Seahawks and Kenny for the Ravens and play to their strengths. If the line were a little better it would be Mason all the way.

 

At least Pickett hasn't emulated Trubisky's penchant for throwing game losing interceptions, I'll give him that much. Other than that, they're pretty much the same. At least Rudolph can complete a pass further than 10 yards

 

Rudolph.

Not because of the stats today, but because Rudolph stays in the pocket longer and goes thru progressions. Kenny doesn't step up and looks to get out of the pocket before he needs to.

 

I knew the Bengals factor would be mentioned. A counterpoint would be look at what Kenny and Mitch did against back to back 2-win teams.

 

I know mobility is good to have, but I believe Mason has better pocket awareness.

 

I'm surprised this is even a poll at this point.

Maybe I'll start one asking if the sun is hotter than the moon.

 

KP should play even though I do not believe he is the better QB. He should not lose his job just because of an injury. The guy wins games no matter how ugly the wins are.

 

I think you have to go with Mason next week. What message are you sending to the rest of the team if you bench him after that performance?

He probably won’t put up 30 next week but I think you have to give him the chance.

 

use the 3 qb backfield. they won't know who the snap is going to. of course with cole the qb's won't either. ground breaking new offensive formation. the new wave triple option. as chuck used to say with a pass 3 things can happen and 2 of them are bad. same here.

 

Play the hot hand until it's hot no mo

 

Rudolph and no question about it. You will lose the team if Pickett starts. This was better than anything Pickett has done in 24 starts. At best he is a back up. Mike Madden from Tribune agrees with me in his podcast.

 

STD and I were the only two posters that I know of who were saying starting Rudolph over Trubisky was a good move before the game and he was the best QB on the team. We got ridiculed with frequent retorts that this was a qb that lost out to Duck. They did not realize the extenuating circumstances of having being knocked out and showing good play before getting knocked out. Pickett at his best is mediocre.

 

When I went to bed I said to myself someone is going to put a thread up asking this question. Never guessed it would be you

 

You just had to be sensible After the glow wore off I thought same thing.

 

I am am also one of those posters who believed in Mason and was ridiculed about his “cement feet”. I was told I don’t know football. I’m with you, I don’t know why so many choose to ignore the after effects of a knockout concussion. Had that not happened, Duck would have never seen the field. The only issue with Mason in 2019 is that he wasn’t Ben (non-issue really). Outside of that, he played very well in 2019 prior to that knock.

 

It’s interesting that when Rudolph was out, Duck became a fan favorite with his nickname and story. When Rudolph came back, he knew he was replacing a fan favorite and that has to put additional pressure on you (if you are human). You begin to lose confidence and have doubts at first adversity in addition to recovering from a KO. Now, Rudolph has become fan favorite. Hopefully his story won’t end like Duck’s. Rudolph has an nfl arm which Duck did not.

 

Don't get me wrong, Mason Rudolph played very well. The problem is trying to really be able to identify and gauge what this performance means. The Bengals have been owned by the Steelers in two games. The Bengals coaches have no idea how to defend the Steelers, and the Steelers have found the looks that give Browning all kinds of problems and expose his weaknesses. They simply gave the look of man coverage and then came with zone, and Browing was just throwing the ball to defenders he didn't even see because he thought they were in man. He looked like a rookie in his first game tonight.

Seeing that game plan that the Bengals had on defense was even more puzzling. I know they lost Reader last week, and he was the real force on that defensive line that could really give problems in the run game. Not having him on the DL gave the offense a 2-way go because they couldn't stop the run or the pass. Whoever thought covering George Pickens in single man coverage for most of the game is going to be a pinata to the fans. The book on the Steelers is to double Pickens on every play, and they can't score points. It has worked all year. So what do the Bengals do? They let Pickens destroy them and give Rudolph all those opportunities to feel comfortable making those throws. That was a horrible game plan, and the Steelers and Mason Rudolph took full advantage.

I think this is finally the end of Mitch Trubisky as the #2, and it may be the end of him with the Steelers. The effort on the run Rudolph made for the first down near the goal line ended Mitch Trubisky ever being taken seriously again. That's how you play with heart, and that's how you play to win. There couldn't be a more stark contrast between the two quarterbacks in that moment.

Now, I know Rudolph looked really good, but the Bengals game plan and execution was atrocious. It was probably a combination of both good play by Rudolph and the Bengals just being bad.

Also, the Steelers game plan and play calling was good, and the offensive line was opening holes all game and they gave Rudolph plenty of time to throw the ball. This is what it is supposed to look like when an opponent fails to put a competent game plan together, they have the number of the opposing young QB, and the defense they are playing against has no answers for what you are doing because they miscalculated the way the Steelers would attack them, and they ignored everything that all other defenses have had success doing to shut down the offense all season.

Great job out of Mason Rudolph, the OL, and the entire team tonight. They looked like a very good NFL team that was playing for their coach and a team trying to find themselves and restore their pride. It's only one game, but they showed what could be tonight against at team that was asking for a beating. But they gave them that beating....and that's a good way to start down the right path.

Let's see where they go from here.