My Problem With Tomlin's QB Depth Chart

Oh, and Trubisky doesn't run into trouble??? LoL.
I hate running Qbs, but....here's something that May interests You.
As a Steeler longest runs.
Mason: 26 yards
KFP: 23 yards
Trubisky: 9 yards.

 

Mitch is really bad

 

The problem with Tomlin’s depth chart is the players that are on it.

 

Yes, but if you recall he was the super signing in some spring league! I think it folded before he ever played, but at least he has that, lmao.

 

Landry Jones was doomed for failure in the Black & Gold anyway since he was named after Tom Landry, the Cowboys HOF coach. Nothing influenced by the Cowboys can ever succeed as a Pittsburgh Steeler. That’s my theory on why Tomlin is struggling. When Bradshaw was rightly critical of him a few years ago and called him more cheerleader than coach, Tomlin revealed that he was a Cowboys fan and favored Hollywood Henderson over Bradshaw. Rooney should have fired him that day!

 

My wife, son, daughter-in-law and I froze our rear ends off watching the magnificent Landry Jones play a few years ago. It was the last game of the regular season and the Steelers had already secured the no.2 seed so most of the starters were rested, including Ben. It was NYE, and 11 degrees at kickoff, the coldest game in Heinz Field history. We won thanks in large part to a big day by JJSS who returned a kickoff for a TD and had a good day receiving. After we thawed out, my wife threatened to leave me for a Miami Dolphins fan, lol. Thankfully she didn’t and our marriage is now at 32 years and counting.

 

First, Mason Rudolph hasn't played live football since 2021. He is not the answer at QB. At least not in Pittsburgh. What does MR do well as an NFL QB? He has around a 75% on target rate with his throws. His 'pocket time' is around 2.5secs so he also hasn't taken many sacks. But he's well below league average on yards per pass attempt. Check down Charlie. Remember that?

Second, Mitch Trubisky is the epitome of inconsistency. He does make some NFL WOW plays, and then turns around and does something completely dumb and bone-headed. Trubisky is around 80% on target with his throws and is almost on the NFL average for yards per attempt. His average pocket time is less than 2.5secs, yet he takes an above league average number of sacks.

Third, Kenny Picket is still in rookie status, IMO. He just completed his 16th start last week. That said, his numbers do not get better. KP's on target throws is around 70%. Making him the least accurate of the 3. His pocket time is around 2.5secs, yet he has been sacked 38 times.(in 16 games) His yards per pass attempt is just below the league average though, so you could say he's been asked to do more as a rookie.

The one problem this offense doesn't have is a QB controversy. Play the rookie and pray he learns and gets better. Because the backup situation is not good enough to rely on.

 

Mason played well up until the knock-out concussion he suffered against the Ravens. Duck didn't beat him out because he was so bad, he beat him out because he most likely should have been out longer than 1-2 games. Duck played poorly and Mason came in for a series or two before being injured and Duck had to go back in. Mason is a lot better than many are reluctant to admit.

 

May I remind you the Steelers let him explore opportunities
This past off season, not any of the 31 other teams made him an offer to play for them.
What is wrong with you people?

 

That doesnt mean a thing. Kurt Warner was playing arena football. Brady was a sixth round pick, and Montana was a mid round pick and those two are far the best qb's the game has seen. That Purdy guy who tore the Steelers a new ******* at start of the season was picked last in the draft. The scouting department of different teams gets its intelligence from the same source and its a herd mentality.

 

Go back to face book.

 

You know, I just remembered making this post sometime back, and - while it didn't age perfectly, it still aged pretty damn well enough.

It's funny to look back and see people actually defending Mitch being the designated QB2. Some of us were pointing out that Mason would have been a far better choice all along. And I think I was more or less correct in diagnosing Mitch as being a worse version of Kenny, but otherwise functionally identical. It would also appear as though I was doubly spot on in calling Tomlin out for not making Mason QB2. If I had a Nickel now every time I've heard a Steelers fan lament that we'd be I'm the playoffs now if only Tomlin had gone with Mason as QB2 to begin with - or at lesst far sooner - I'd probably own a McMansion or two.

The only thing I didn't entirely realize at the time was just how much better Mason would look as a starter compared to Kenny. A lot of the things I and others lightly faulted him on have either been greatly improved upon since his last outings -or- they've actually become assets to the offense, such as, his alleged statuesque passing presence looking more now like a guy who's actuallt strong enough to stand firm in the pocket, even when surrounded, and not constantly bailing on pockets ala Kenny. I always thought complaints about Mason's mobility were overblown, at least to some degree, seeing as how he had racked up some big yards in the past while running the ball himself when necessary. He's not an agile acrobat by any means, but when it comes to barreling out of the pocket and turning nothing into something with a pretty good scamper, Mason's definitely got a sort of mid-career Ben Roethlisberger-vibe going on. Ben wasn't considered super mobile either, but he certainly wasn't by any means a statue (or at least not until late in his career anyway).

But yeah - I just wanted to say that some of us folks around here had it basically right all along in our assessments of Mitch and Mason. In just this thread alone, I was criticized and dismissed by more than a few people here for being a Mason fanboy or whatever just bc I felt he was objectively the best backup, with stats to back it up, but as it would turn out, I was correct.

Anyway - happy new year!

 

Yes you're right. But before you lick yourself too much, all three of them suck. Mason just has sucked less than the other two guys in the last two games.

 

I don't really fully agree with that, obviously, but I also don't entirely discount your assessment. That said, I don't think we can really say that with any certainty unless we properly test how far Mason can take us. Not just in this year, but hopefully in the next, as well, if we manage to retain him. I think his ceiling might very well be much higher than you think - but you can call me out on it if that's ever proven to not be the case. I think it would take at least half a season, though, before we could really begin to fairly appreciate whether he's better or worse than is currently believed.

 

I'm not really that surprised by that, Rudolph is a better athlete than people give him credit for

 

This

 

I mean, whatever one thinks of Mason as a longterm QB option for Pittsburgh, I think it's pretty hard to refute that Tomlin made a mistake in not, at the very least, going to Mason sooner. I guess all things are as they are for a reason and perhaps throwing Mason in earlier in the Pats game without a full week of prep and first team reps might have led to a subpar result, which might have, in turn, hurt his confidence in the games to follow. Still, if we want to rewind it much further back, it's clear that re-signing Mitch was an immense error - and it's one that we're still technically paying for. Dude literally is Kenny, but worse.

 

You are correct. All 3 suck and should be arrested for impersonating a qb, but Mason has by far looked the best in the last 2 games. That being said, it isnt saying much. Flacco, a month ago was eating bon bons on his couch and still has more td passes than Larry, Moe and Curly combined. Let that sink in.

 

I want you to be right, really I do. I just look at Rudolph with a large dose of skepticism. He has had other opportunities and hasn't really shined when he had his chance. Out of the three, he appears to give the steelers the best shot to win. Time will tell but I can't help but feel like we are in a time warp from the post Bradshaw 80's with the likes of Cliff Stoudt, Mark Malone, David Woodley, Scott Campbell, Todd Blackledge, Steve Bono. Man, I really miss Big Ben.