Rudolph to start against Seattle.

I watched all of the games with Rudolph and one notable is the dude is not afraid. Even before he is about to get hammered he is still scanning the field looking for a play. WOW

 

Right. I made mention of his pocket presence and you're right, he definitely seemed to go through his progressions. The thing is though, I felt that changed after the concussion. He seemed to be holding on to the ball too long instead of stepping up or leaving the pocket, like you see him do pre-concussion.
I do think he looked more comfortable in the pocket last week against the Bengals.

 

I totally agree with you. He looked poised and confident. Not so jumpy. Something has changed about how he plays the game. We will indeed know more after the Seattle game. I dont think the Steelers have won in Seattle in 40 plus years.

 

I said his play gave me hope that he had potential to be Ben’s Replacement and statistics bear me out. Those were his first few games in the nfl and he did pretty well. You forgot to mention his Cincinnati outing where he went 24/28 for 229 yard with again 2 TD and a quarterback rating of 124.6. His qb rating at Seattle was 92.4 and San Fran was 81.4. Even in his worst game at San Fran, he had TD pass of 76 yards and 39 yards. Against Ravens before he got hurt, he was 13/20 for 131 yards and one TD and QB rating of 100.2. In total before his injury, he went 63/94 for 646 yards 7 touchdown and 2 interceptions with passer rating of 102.53. I bet that’s right up there with most elite qb’s and these were his first few games playing in some of the most difficult places to play for Steelers (San Fran and Seattle). Ben Rothlisberger career qb rating was only 93.5 and Tom Brady is 97.2. He already had three games with 2 TD's in about his first few games before he got knocked out. So yeah, I had good reason to be optimistic before he got hurt and statistics bear me out.

 

I'm hoping it opens up for Muth and DJ,

Pretty amazing. Some article was on my FB feed and there were the regular comments, MR never got a chance, MR was given plenty of opportunities, whatever the feelings he displayed some good attributes...in one game. Like you if he has another good or even decent game where his mistakes are not the cause for a loss, I think some GM's will take notice and he might get offers next year, simply because the back up QB situation was so relevant this year.

 

Did you honestly just compare Rudolphs QB rating after 3 games to Ben and Tom Brady for their career? Seriously?
Well by all means then, what in the hell have the Steelers been doing this whole time? They should have been making all of their decisions off of Rudolphs quarterback rating after 3 games. Maybe we should delve into his play post concussion. Christ man, I want Mason to succeed as much as the next guy but you're going a little overboard here.

 

Forgettable? All of those quarterbacks are etched into my memory forever, just for the wrong reasons, lol.

I read an article this week in the PPG and the author (forget who…maybe Dulac) said Mason was Neil O’Donnell. I can see that. NOD was good enough to get us to a Super Bowl.

 

Didn’t know whether to give you a “winner” or “informative” on this but nice job laying down some facts. It’s amazing to me how critical folks want to be of Rudolph and write him off for that first tumultuous season where he sustained a major concussion and another blow to the head during Garret’s attempted murder. Do people not realize that Rudolph was a couple of years younger than Pickett is now and really showed more promise in his starts than Pickett has overall in his starts. I’m not giving up on Pickett, but I’m not nearly as optimistic about him as I was this time last year.

Another thing that gets me is that there are these who feel as though Pickett should step right back into the starting role even though he’s done nothing to earn that at this point. It’s not like it’s Ben coming back after an injury. Pickett was hanging by a thread after the Browns game and it’s my understanding that Tomlin was ready to bench him in favor of Mitch. I’m hopeful that Mason can resurrect both his career and the Steelers season over the next couple of weeks. I’m finally excited about watching the Steelers play after two seasons of blah.

 

I would have agreed with this statement had they decided to roll with Mason going into the '22-'23 season. Instead, they drafted Kenny and sunk their future(good or bad) into him.
As it stands, the Steelers would have to recommit to Mason as their future and I just don't see that happening. Now, the remainder of this season very much plays into that if he plays well and something crazy happens in the playoffs. At the very least, they can try and keep him going into next year to push Kenny and maybe even beat him out of it's meant to be.

 

There's a big difference between "writing Rudolph off" and being realistic about his play to start the 2019 season.
I have a terrible memory. Many of the things people bring up on here. I have to go look up to be sure of because I don't remember. Everyone remembers things differently. Yes, tiggs presented stats but painted the picture of Mason's play much differently than it really happened. All of the visual evidence is right there. He played solid but did NOT win those games on his own. He showed some promise to be sure, that much I can't argue. The problem lies with his play after the concussion. He was very much a different player.

Now, he was much more like pre-concussion Mason last Sunday and I can acknowledge that. I genuinely hope he builds on that. However, let's not act like the world is against him just because some of us are trying to be realistic about what he really was to start his career.

In closing, we all want the same damn thing so Go Mason!!

 

Well we all know how well Tomlin is at evaluating quarterback play.

Look, Mike Tomlin is a defensive guy. He brought in and stuck with one of the worst offensive coordinators we’ve seen in the NFL in recent memory then drafted a shiny new toy in Pickett in an attempt to find his next franchise quarterback. That’s okay, I liked the pick at the time even though the jury is still out on whether or not Kenny is that guy. There’s probably 10 jurors who say no but there are still a couple of holdouts so it’s a hung jury at this point. I feel kinda sorry for both Mason and Kenny for coming to an organization with a head coach who knows little about developing a young quarterback and who rode the coattails of the Steelers second best quarterback in history for a decade and a half. He was also too stubborn to bring in a competent offensive coordinator to aid in the development of the young quarterbacks on his team. To me, that’s head coaching malpractice!

 

Yes I did to prove my point on what had initially given me hope about Mason. We all agree his play post concussion was bad. Some of you are so desperate to protect Pickett, that you don’t know what you are arguing about. Are you arguing that he shouldn’t be starting against Seattle? Some of us feel that perhaps he should have been put in earlier than just going on with Trubisky. I am giving a reason why there might be hope after Cincinnati game in which he flashed pre concussion form. Time will tell.

 

Agree on all counts.

 

Yep…go Mason. I feel as though I’m being realistic as well. I don’t expect him to be Bradshaw or Ben, but I think with the right coaching in the right system he can be Neil O’Donnell with a better deep ball.

 

And there it is, the "protect Pickett" nonsense. Not once did I even mention Pickett. Our debate has strictly been about Mason's 3 game stretch in 2019. Nothing more.
With regards to who should start against Seattle, I have said it in multiple threads but will repeat it here: I think Mason should start. I think he showed enough against the Bengals and should get the chance to prove he can continue that.

Moving forward with regards to the QB position, my stance on that remains fluid depending on how things play out this season.

 

Sorry Metalman… I confused you with another poster (former scribe). I have played competitive sports and sort of understand sports psychology a bit. I think Rudolph came back too soon to take his job back from Duck, who had become a fan favorite. Then he started pressing, became tentative of making mistakes, developed bad habits. I am not sure if we had a qb coach to mentor him. Then he became victim of his fears… thinking that he could lose his job to Duck… and he did. Hope he keeps that baggage away in his next start now that there are expectations

 

And then he got beat on the head

 

Fichtner was the QB coach in 2019 and OC. With Fichtner being Roethlisberger's buddy, and Roethlisberger being anti-Rudolph, I would imagine Rudolph worked in an uncomfortable environment. Fichtner had his hands full in trying to be OC and develop two QBs.

 

I agree with all of this.

 

lots of idiots around, that is for sure!!!

 

Rudolph's 12 starts have been spread out over six years. If you can't see why that matters, there is no reason to take your opinion on this seriously.

No, there is no evidence to suggest the Steelers were or are more behind Rudolph than Pickett. The guy was rightfully buried at No. 3, put in the work when he got his shot. It was a nice moment and they were happy for him. The rest is your imagination. The same is true of your silly attempts to read Tomlin's mind on the subject.

I'm not upset at all about the current decision. I almost immediately wrote that Rudolph should start this week. Pickett isn't 100 percent and he has been sitting for weeks. When your starter hasn't been great, you stick with the guy who just played well, but you do it with a very short leash. If Rudolph starts slowly, Pickett should be in there. If Rudolph somehow became a franchise quarterback starting now, I'd be thrilled. Unlike you, I understand how unlikely that is.

A friend of mine offered a great analogy. It's like going with the hot goaltender. That doesn't mean he is your guy long term, but it makes sense in the moment. Pittsburgh sports fans should understand. We saw it twice with Matt Murray.

 

It did, but the positive sample in 2019 before the concussion was very small and the only strong performance for a full game came against a terrible Bengals defense.

 

hopefully Rudolph will give us hope and a (shiny NEW YEAR) and keep our playoff chances alive.

 

I know more about concussions than you do. I know from personal experience and research. I find it particularly amusing to watch you make excuse after excuse for Rudolph's first five-plus seasons in the league, including losing his starting job to Duck Hodges, while ignoring very similar issues Pickett has faced in his first two seasons. He has suffered two concussions, coming back much more quickly than Rudolph did both times. He had a terrible offensive coordinator, a poor offensive line, and a coaching staff seemingly telling him to avoid turnovers at all costs. You went on about circumstances driving Rudolph into bad habits, but you want to ignore that happening to Pickett. You are the one getting emotional about this and it is clouding your judgment.