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Why the difference? Rudolph vs Duck

Discussion in 'Steelers Talk' started by Stone, Oct 14, 2019.

  1. SDOT

    SDOT Well-Known Member

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    Honestly, I think it's because they didn't want what happened to happen. They didn't want him to get injured and have to trout out an undrafted rookie at QB. Duck has proved them wrong. My only worry is how scared is Rudolph going to play now after that hit? Dolphins don't want to win... Do you give Rudolph an extra week off or get him ready with Dolphins? Colts defense is solid and that would be a tough game back.
     
  2. rutan74

    rutan74 Well-Known Member

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    Way way to early to tell about either. I thought Duck played OK last night but I don't think he unseats Mason.

    Look, everyone loves the back up and in this case, Duck has the cute name and story line going so it is only natural that some want him to play over Mason.

    As I have said before, I love Mason. I think he will develop into a very good if not great QB. He has all the tools that all the so called experts want to see. Whether that plays out over the years is another matter. At this stage though, Mason has earned the right to replace Ben until it is obvious he is not the man.

    Truthfully, I did not think he threw the ball any better than Mason. Right now, Mason has a QB rating over 100. Not bad for someone that has not see a lot of action. His problem will be to continually not be compared with Ben. Well, Ben would not have done this or Ben would have thrown this. This is to be expected but he will be different than Ben. Hopefully, better but maybe just as good. It will take time to really find out.

    Playing rotating QB's though just because Duck has this cool story line is not wise in my opinion. It may bring in the ratings but I don't believe it is good long term.

    Truth be told, he did pretty much what we hoped for last night. Don't lose the game. He followed the script perfectly but then we saw in the 4th that we could have played better and not so uptight but that cannot be blamed on him. That INT he threw was not wise. Yea, a rookie mistake.

    It is possible that Duck might become the man. One never knows. If Mason gets hurt again, that could be a big problem for his and the Steelers long term goals. Basically, Duck got a great defensive effort and got to start in a non hostile environment. Mason entered his game when Ben was hurt. So, Duck actually had it a bit easier in my opinion. Not that that matters a lot, but Mason has had to face 2 good defenses whereas Duck has not.

    So, long way to go. You have to go with Mason vs Miami. At this stage at least we know if Duck needs to play again, he will be able to handle it. I mean, Dobbs came in last year and played well for that one game. He held together but where is he now? Not saying Duck goes the way of Dobbs but at this point, no way he jumps past Mason.

    rutan
     
  3. troybellringer55

    troybellringer55 Well-Known Member

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    I think it has more to do with the Steelers WR not getting separation or their fear of them getting lack of separation.

    I'm really hoping it improves.

    But, they little tiny dinking passing game has worked and brought us 2 wins this season.

    I'm hoping in time to see some more down field passes.
     
  4. troybellringer55

    troybellringer55 Well-Known Member

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    Rudolph will be the starter against the Dolphins. It was said he was cleared through the protocol by neurologist and could of played against the Chargers, but since they game planned and practiced with Hodges most of the week they went with him and decided to make him inactive.
     
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  5. bigbenhotness

    bigbenhotness Well-Known Member

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  6. bleednblackngold

    bleednblackngold Well-Known Member

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    No one on here has a clue whether either of these guys will be a legit starter going forward. It's a bit ridiculous to think you can tell from one or two games. The history of the league suggests neither one of them will be more than a backup in a few years
     
  7. The Sodfather

    The Sodfather Well-Known Member

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    Hodges is a scrappy, competitive kid that gets everything he has out of his ability. Rudolph is more polished, appears to have a better arm and better over all mechanics. Honestly, a composite of the best of both of these guys would make for a pretty bad ass QB. Having said of of that, Rudolph is the starting QB for the balance of the season, and I think he'll be fine.
     
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  8. Vox Ferrum

    Vox Ferrum Well-Known Member

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    Ben's injury was starting in training camp. It was not apparent, just a lingering thing he thought he could play through. You cannot be serious judging a 2nd year guy with a couple of starts, and an undrafted rookie against a game and a half with Ben this year.
     
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  9. Roonatic

    Roonatic Well-Known Member

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    Some fans have kicked Ben to the curb.
     
  10. LambertsDentist

    LambertsDentist Well-Known Member

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    Why would you worry about Rudolph playing scared after a big hit more so than any other QB? I'm sure he's been hit just as hard before, even if it didn't cause injury.

    But if playing scared is an issue, then playing against Miami is the time to find out. As you mentioned, they want to lose so they're unlikely to hit him at all and risk a fine. If He's skittish against limited pressure THEN there's reason to worry. I think coming back against the Phins is the perfect game for his return.
     
  11. turtle

    turtle

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    You won't hear me complaining, or picking one over the other...I think this is a good situation to have. Starter is out and two of the backups have played well in limited action. This will do nothing but improve them both or really separate one from the other. I think its a win-win, especially at the QB spot. Really the only thing hindering either of them will be the damn OC.
     
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  12. Thigpen82

    Thigpen82 Bitter optimist

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    Agree.

    In the OC's defence, there have been a few plays where Rudolph had a guy further downfield but took the short option instead. The plays were opening out, just then the injury happened.

    On Hodge's interception I don't think he had any shorter options (haven't looked at the replay mind) so had to either tuck and run or hope that with the amount of time he had, someone was getting free. Bad choice, but bad play design IMO. (Happy to be corrected once I get round to re-watching, though).
     
  13. NY STEELERFAN

    NY STEELERFAN Well-Known Member

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    I agree with this but remember a few years back when Ben got off to that slow start, we all thought he was done then. And then we played the Jagoffs and he threw 5 int's and talked about retirement........and what happened after that? BB went off and had a very good season, BB the last few years took a few games to get going and the same could have been said this year. We will never know but considering he has done it before I tend to believe he would do it again. I am not a BB superfan as I have been one that spoke out against him this off season, but I am going off what he has done in the past. JMO :smiley1:
     
  14. NY STEELERFAN

    NY STEELERFAN Well-Known Member

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    I didn't read this whole post but I see some here are against your statement. I agree 100% with it and if you go back through the threads you will see many others have asked the same question. Why aren't they letting MR throw downfield, when are they gonna take the handcuffs off him? People can say it depends on the opponent fine but you still let the guy take a chance or two and that didn't happen.

    Thanks for posting the yardage cause I was wondering myself what kind of stats MR had in college. The announcers talk about how many yards duck had and I have read a lot about it as well. It isn't like MR didn't throw a ton heck he had over 13k. I don't know who the starter will be but if it is MR I would like to see them give him the same options to throw it deep like they did duck. jmo
     
  15. LambertsDentist

    LambertsDentist Well-Known Member

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    I know this is blasphemy but Tomlin and Fich made the right move in handcuffing Rudolph.

    Throwing deep means the QB holding onto the ball longer, increasing his chance of injury. They knew that the next man up was an undrafted free agent rookie and they lived in their fears as was prudent. They had to protect Rudolph to try keeping Duck of the field. Hodges was (and still is) too unknown to be trusted. This is nothing against Hodges, but trusting an undrafted rookie QB who only played against 3rd stringers in the preseason isn't usually the most successful move.

    I'm not a big fan of our coaching staff but I try to be fair. In this case handcuffing MR was the smart move. Still, after defending Tomlin and Fichtner I must now do penance and say 10 Hail Cowhers.
     
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  16. Busman

    Busman

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    duck blind lol
     
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  17. NY STEELERFAN

    NY STEELERFAN Well-Known Member

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    I get what your saying and what you mean but why then would we come right out on the opening drive with duck going deep to Juju? Using the way you are thinking it is even more of a no no with lynch as the back up to duck right?

    I am not throwing blame or trying to dump on the coaching staff but Imo they are pulling the reigns back on MR a lot more than duck no?
     
  18. LambertsDentist

    LambertsDentist Well-Known Member

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    With Rudolph there was a hope of w
    Come on man! Tomlin was right to protect Rudolph. Do you really think he'd do the right thing twice?
     
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  19. The Glory Days

    The Glory Days Well-Known Member

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    I can see your point, and I won't disagree. But I'm on the fence here. There's so much that went in to their decision. You have to consider the opposing defense before deciding how to gameplan for your qb. That in and of itself makes how they should handle MR and Duck different. MR got to benefit from a wildcat-heavy gameplan that came out of nowhere. Whether they were trying to protect him or just play to their strengths is anyone's guess. The fact that Duck came out flying (sorry, couldn't resist) made it look to the naked eye that he was more confident and capable of leading a more vertical game.

    It really really looks that way. But I think I remember MR saying he could have pushed the ball more, as if he was playing tentative. But this coaching staff's history shows that they truly do play in their fears and are likely to pull back on the reigns of a young qb.
     
  20. NY STEELERFAN

    NY STEELERFAN Well-Known Member

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    Good point.........
     
  21. Hawaii 5-0

    Hawaii 5-0 Well-Known Member

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    [​IMG]
     
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  22. Steel Hog

    Steel Hog Well-Known Member

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    I believe we have two pretty damn good QBs out there that are just getting started. They have both shown really good potential and I don't see a lot of difference in my confidence between the two. They will need more time to get comfortable with the game speed and other optics needed to get things like timing and familiarity with the receivers down better. If we can survive this maturation process for a few more games and the opposition game planning doesn't impact them negatively too much, we can get some more wins against quality opponents. I hope.
     
  23. Steel Hog

    Steel Hog Well-Known Member

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    That's what they said about Ben.
     

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