Would this season have gone differently?

Would this season have gone differently if Mason Rudolph had started from the beginning?

A lot of people on here felt like he had won the job in camp. Mason isn't mobile, but he does push the ball down the field, and works the middle better than Kenny or Mitch.

It's possible that George Pickens would have benefited from playing with Mason.

Thoughts?

 

I think Pickens would've benefitted from having Mason but for DJ it would've been about the same. The season in general would've been either equal to what we are now or worse.

 

Not likely especially if TJ was out most the season still and Matt Canada still coordinating offense into the ground.

On Mason specifically, camp is one thing but an actual fast paced competitive regular season game has no substitute and it's only place you get to see what players are really made of. We've seen him be really mediocre at best although he does seem to randomly throw perfect beautiful passes every once and a while. Even if it's granted he would be better than when we last saw him due to experience I still think we are looking at the same record maybe 1 more loss and prob a handful more sacks.

 

I think it’s certainly a possibility that we would have done better. But I just feel like our problems run deeper than the quarterback position. Not sure that it would’ve equated to more than another win or two. I believe the bigger issue is the play of our offensive and defensive lines.

 

A lot of things contributed to the season going differently..... Rudolph being the starter is the least of them.....
Tuitt's sudden retirement
Najee reporting to camp at 250 lbs, which I'm positive, led to his foot injury.
Diontae Johnson's hold in, which stunted his ability to develop a rapport with his 2 new QB's.......
TJ Watt's untimely week 1 injury, among so many others...
We've seen more than enough of Rudolph to know he wasn't the QB of the future, and so did the coaches and F.O..,. In fact, when Coach Tomlin was asked about Mason's lack of work with the 1's, his response was "we already know what we have in Mason Rudolph"... That statement meant a lot more than many people think

 

I was at training camp, and I didn't see Mason win.
I was a bit disappointed in him as I thought maybe he would.
Also, the problem early on was the offensive line which was not blocking well at all.
So, I would think, the result would nearly be the same.

I think in all honesty, the outlook was pretty good at that time.
I think most rational people knew that losing a Franchise QB is not easy to overcome and that probably this team would not a threat.
There were a lot of changes and some of the changes that looked good on paper, did not look good on the field.
Some have worked and it turns out QB isn't the worst when Kenny is on the field. Mitch is a disaster.

When the season is over, they have to figure out:
- How to not get ran over on Defense (they are not dead last, but they are dreadful) More aggression is needed.
- Tool up the offense (OT, OL Depth) - Keep Kenny's uni clean, run the ball consistently, finish drives
* I'm not going into coaching, that's a big can of worms.

 

You're kidding right? Rudolph couldn't even win the back up spot but all of sudden our season would be better if he started? At least with Pickett we could see some development. We already know Rudolphs ceiling and it isn't being an NFL starting QB. BTW- Don't be surprised if KP starts this week, Rudolph is BU again and Trubisky stays home where he should be.

 

Rudolph sucks it wouldn’t have made any difference. He’s had opportunities over the years and have done nothing with them. Was he treated fairly when they picked a starting QB this year? Probably not but they don’t owe him anything because he’s not a long term answer.

 

Would najee and tj not gotten hurt? I think thats bigger than our qb play. Kenny has potential, but at the moment any qb we start is in the bottom 1/4 of the league.

 

I am curious as to what Tomlin does as far as finishing out the season, regarding QB.

In my plan, Kenny finishes out the season. To be real, it is a valuable learning experience.
Playing Mason really does nothing; It doesn't help trade value, he will be a UFA, we're not going to make the playoffs.
Playing Mitch really does nothing; He is not going to get any better and his trade value is nil. Very disappointing on Mitch's part.

 

Those people were wrong. Rudolph did not win the job in camp. If you want to argue that he deserved more of a shot during the preseason games, fine, but people need to stop thinking about those practice statistics from the first week or so of training camp, a time when Rudolph's years with the team gave him a huge advantage. Once that went a way, so did any edge he had in production.

 

I'm not sure about the bit with Harris's foot, though it's possible. His injury was certainly a big part of the team's problem early in the season.

Tuitt retiring and Watt getting hurt were devastating. The Steelers planned around having an elite defense to cover for an offense that was going to need time to get its act together. I believe they would have had that with Watt and Tuitt. That would have given them two outstanding pass rushers in spots where they have gotten very little pressure this season. Tuitt was also a dominant run defender. Watt, when healthy, is a big help there as well. They still would have had some issues, but give them 13 weeks of a healthy Watt and Tuitt and the Steelers would likely be headed back to the playoffs. I don't think they would be a contender to get far after that, but losing those two had a much bigger impact than not starting Mason Rudolph. (I can't believe I even have to post that.)

 

You are forgetting the biggest reason as to why the Steelers are not a real contender however. Injuries happen to every team developing depth is a huge part of a coaching staffs role, one that is a miserable failure.

 

Yes

We would be a crappy team and calling for Tomlin to put Mitch in

 

Not sure why so many people refer to Tuitts retirement as being a nail in the coffin for the defense. Anyone who thought Tuitt was going to play again is delusional AF. Once again, a failure by the coaching staff to not be prepared for that inevitability.

 

I think they knew. Only so much you can do to replace a guy like Tuitt. They drafted Leal, traded up for Loudermilk last year, and did sign Larry O. It ain't much, but they tried.

 

Complaining would have happened even if Ben was here. There were calls to put Rudolph in last year.

 

Mason balls out in practice and then looks terrible in games.

 

Rudolph is a system QB. I would bet a large amount of money that if he was in SF or Baltimore he'd be a good QB right now. He really needs a strong running game and to run lots of play action. He can't just sit back there and throw darts all game long, he's not good enough to do that.

I really don't think our system is one that helps Mason out nor do i think our coaches put him in a position to succeed. Not every QB is Tom Brady. Some guys really need to be in the right system that utilizes their strengths and hides their weaknesses.

I'd love to see Rudolph get a chance with another team that builds around him, just to see what he can do. Our coaches are too clueless to figure it out

 

maybe THIS season would have, but we were destined for .500 or so +/-. He is NOT the future - or any teams future, IMO - so we threw caution to the wind and went w Kenny. losing TJ basically ended the season.

 

Mason wouldn’t have changed anything.

The season was lost when Tomlin didn’t start Pickett against the Jets. Losing to the Jets broke the locker room. Jets rode that momentum to win 4 straight. 5 out of next 6.

Bills game could’ve been a lot closer. Dolphins was winnable. Same with 2nd Bengals game and Ravens.

 

The difference is that he is willing to work the middle, or at least he is more willing than Mitch or Kenny. It's not so much that he is better at it.

 

True, but Tuitt didn't play at all last season. So there has been plenty of time to adjust. I mean, 2020 was a great year for Tuitt but I don't recall him getting recognized as the best at his position. Not even on his own team.