The future of Mason Rudoph?

What Cobert said yesterday about Rudolph on a radio show:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...steelers-comfortable-with-backup-qb-situation

 

I’m comfortable with Rudolph as a backup also. Just not so much as a starter

 

No, I don't believe he will fade away. He has right here in Pittsburgh THE prime example of why he can become great. Terry Bradshaw! Brad in 1970-73 was going through his very own football purgatory. He did not give up. Instead he became all-pro and a HOFer. Mason still has a future in Pittburgh. He can be reborn as was Bradshaw.

 

Bradshaw had far greater physical ability.

But I agree. I’m not writing him off just yet.

 

Bradshaw had no offensive coordinator. Bradshaw had zero QB coaching at the nfl level as well,. He came from a small school that allowed him to simply fall back and throw the ball depending entirely on his ability. He didn't have a QB coach until 72 I believe. Babe Parilli. So Terry never got the coaching on fundementals and game planning that Mason Rudolph got as a rookie. Again in college he simply improvised and had the talent to get away with it at that level. Not trying to pick a fight with you but Terry faced a completely different set of circumstances that Mason Rudolph never faced. Mason Rudolph doesn't have the arm strength or footwork to be a starting QB. That may never change. We need to find us a starting QB somewhere because we don't have one past Big Ben

 

Except for one key issue; Bradshaw had talent, physical ability, and good decision making in critical moments; MR is tall.

You will write Ben off with zero evidence to indicate he is done but you will hang onto MR with zero evidence he has what it takes.

 

I don't get why people base their opinion of MR on how he performed in games as opposed to his fundamentals. I get that a guy with terrible fundamentals can beat the odds once in a blue moon but his performance in games where a multitude of contributing factors could influence the outcome simply doesn't matter to me. That fact that he has poor fundamentals after three years of high school, four years of college, and two years in the NFL (9 years total) tell me everything I need to know to say no-thank you.

 

Do you really think he put up the numbers he did at OK ST by having bad fundamentals? Now I know the conference he played in is known to favor Offense and the Defense is usually weak but he can only play against who is across from him every week. He had gotten better and better every year. Do you think poor fundamentals would allow for his progression? Like a few of us have stated he was thrust into a very unfavorable situation and was performing as well as one could expect given the circumstances, until the concussion. He also wasn’t given much help before ,during or after his initiation into the NFL.

Now you can say he is slow on his reads right now and lacks above average mobility ( although he has shown times where he was more than adequate) but that is not fundamentals. You also have to remember he hadn’t taken a snap under Center in college and that’s a transition on its own. There are factors that may be too big of a obstacle for him to overcome as far as being a above average NFL QB,but it won’t be because of fundamentals. I don’t know many QBs if any that could of had a successful season if they had faced as much turmoil and adversity that MR did...
https://fanbuzz.com/nfl/mason-rudolph-steelers/

 

Yep to all of this.


Sometimes, it does take a tweak in order for a player to maximize their abilities. Who knows?! Maybe Matt Canada will help Mason more than many of us believe; Chase Claypool the same.

 

Wasn't Samuels the QB that whipped the tanking Bengals?

 

Find one post where I have done this.

 

Yes he could have put those numbers up with bad fundamentals. Just like Duck could put up the numbers he did at his college level with a noodle arm. If you look at the top 10 all time NCAA leaders in passing yards, not one had a significant NFL career. The jury is still out on Baker Mayfield, Case keenum had some moments. MR is ranked number 11, so college yardage does not equate to NFL success. I like the kid, hope he does well, but comparing college stats to NFL is meaningless.

 

Sort of answered your question there.

 

Didn’t say college stats equate to the NFL and arm strength isn’t a fundamental.

 

OK, I will digress from that. You did equate putting up numbers in college with fundamentals. I would say fundamentals are an essential part of having a good NFL career. Now go look at the list of the top 40 all time NCAA passing yards. Only about 6 even stand out, Rivers, Derrick Carr, Keenan, and Mayfield. I am not in a place to suggest all 40 had fundamentals, but the greater majority had little to no success in the NFL.

 

I gave up on him until Canada came in

 

Agreed. He was completely mismanaged last year by a clueless OC. He was brought back a week to early after his first concussion, and was not brought back in for week 16 against the Jets.

There was no reason in the world that Mason should not have started against the Jets!

 

Well ok. I'm glad there are folks here that haven't given up on him. i'm not one of those but that's ok. We all have our own opinion. His fundamentals are atrocious. His footwork in the pocket is non existent and his arm strength is sub par. I don't know how you overcome that at this level. Maybe canada can help him I don't know. But if Ben goes down again we are up against the same level of play next year that he evidenced this year. I'm hoping he makes a liar of me as no true steelers fan wants to see a player fail just to prove him right. I do not think you will EVER see him play like a starting NFL QB, ever. But we're not getting anyone else so we're betting our shekels on MR. Let's hope Ben don't go down for two more years

 

we will have the same clueless OC going into this year as well

 

Mason as the #2 -

Mason as the starter -

 

I think where we aren’t aligning is if you listen to @Stone criticism of MR he constantly alludes to him throwing a “wobble “ ball as he likes to put it. IMO that’s hugely over exaggerated. He wouldn’t of been able to rack up the passing yards he did in college and he wouldn’t of become one of the most accurate deep ball passers in all of college if that was the case. Now throwing a spiral takes some degree of fundamentals. Arm angle, release point, footwork etc...
If you want to point to footwork in the pocket as far as stepping up and sliding I would agree he has work to do. Don’t forget like I mentioned he had never taken a snap under center in college and very well may have never taken one in HS. There is going to be a adjustment period for that. It doesn’t happen overnight. Like a few others have said he has gotten 3rd string snaps in his first 2 years. He had no designated QB coach last year which is the year a player is supposed to make a big jump and then he was thrust into starting when he wasn’t properly prepared along the way.

He was also playing well considering his limited preparation and experience. I believe he had 8TDs to 2INTs before being concussed and then having his disaster game against Cleveland. I don’t know what more anyone could expect from a QB who went through everything he did including a terrible performance by the OL and a weak at best performance from his OC. I agree there is work to do but other than getting better in the pocket(again inexperience) there are “fundamentals” there to work with. Judging him and writing him off as many are doing based on what happened last year is premature IMO. We should then write off a lot of more experienced guys on the team based on their performance last year as well. It wasn’t good by anyone on offense really....jmo

 

Spoken like a true Ben hater

No, I think he racked up numbers in college because he had the fastest wide receiver in college and they hooked up on a ****load of go routes.

Nobody can argue that he wasn't given much help because Futchner was a complete gluehead but that doesn't explain why he throws from his back foot when he isn't under pressure, and why he doesn't spin the ball....his ball flutters like a one winged duck, and why the majority of his crossing routes are severely off target.

Watch his college highlights, he tilts his torso back and throws from his back foot. I'll make you a friendly wager that we have seen what MR has to offer. I hope I lose.

 

You have clearly stated that his arm is going to fall off, his bones are brittle, and he will not survive........have you not?