It’s a talking point. It will always be a talking point.
In theory, this should not even be a question. With the Pittsburgh Steelers set to play the Bills in Buffalo on Sunday, there should be no questions about the quarterback position for Pittsburgh.
They need to stick with the man who brought them here.
What Mason Rudolph has done is nothing short of spectacular. He was the driving force in saving the Steelers season, and now has led them to a playoff spot that just a little over three weeks ago, looked well out of reach.
Once relegated to the emergency quarterback role, and then skipped over in favor of Mitch Trubisky, the Steelers turned to Rudolph out of pure desperation.
Mitch had malfunctioned so badly that even Mike Tomlin, who refused to even open up competition the week prior, inserted him late into a blowout loss to the Colts in Indianapolis.
The rest is history.
Rudolph has led the team to three straight wins, and in his first two contests, helped the offense score 30+ points in back to back weeks for the first time since the 2020 season.
In three starts this season, Rudolph has completed 74.65% of his passes, thrown for 716 yards and 3 touchdowns (no picks), and recorded an outstanding 120.4 rating.
Per CBS, Rudolph has the same amount of games (three) with with a passer rating of 110+ as league stars Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert, and Rudolph has only played in three games.
The offense has experienced a revival under him that no on saw coming. Whether that has to due with him as a person or as a player, that’s not a pure coincidence. He has gotten players like George Pickens, a player who has been criticized earlier in the year for effort, to buy all the way in.
Mason’s ability to get Pickens the ball has definitely been a catalyst in that. Rudolph’s prized trait coming into action was his deep ball, and for a player like Pickens, that is exactly where he makes his money.
Over the first two games Rudolph started, Pickens averaged 163 receiving yards on 7.5 catches. He was targeted 15 times overall between those two games. But here is the real kicker: even though Pickens was not involved in the passing game at all in Baltimore, he was still engaged in the game and clearly happy on the sidelines.
In past games (with both Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky at QB), a very different Pickens would present himself to cameras lurking around during the game. He would (rightfully) be upset about his lack of involvement.
How do you know he has bought in now? Pickens wasn’t even targeted in the Ravens game, and yet not a single person is restarting the attitude/effort conversation around Pickens.
Before Rudolph came in, people in this town peddled a theory that he flat out did not want to be here, and was actively trying to force a trade out of Pittsburgh. Where are those people now? What have they to say?
For the record, I have said in the past that Pickens’ lack of effort on some plays in unacceptable, such as that infamous Jaylen Warren run in the Colts game. However, I also said that the Steelers needed to let Pickens determine his own fate.
Back on December 21st, I wrote that the only way to properly figure out what to do with George Pickens was to throw him the ball. Constantly. If his attitude is still a problem, then maybe it’s time to move on.
The verdict is in, folks. When Pickens is properly deployed in the offense, he is happy as can be. Imagine that.
The early targets were enough to even sustain him for a game where he did not see a single pass thrown his way.
Aside from that, Rudolph has clearly taken time to learn and grow within the game with all that time watching from the sidelines.
One of his biggest criticisms from when we saw him in 2019 was his lack of pocket presence. Now, you could change that to one of his biggest strengths.
There is no better play to showcase this than his throw (ironically) to Pickens.
This is something that 2019 Mason would not have done, and also something that both other QBs on the current roster could not have done.
Pickett spins out of the pocket and/or gets sacked; Trubisky probably throws a pick.
Rudolph has been calm under pressure, both literally and figuratively. After a home game to an unusually supportive crowd, Rudolph had to go on the road to Seattle and Baltimore, two of the harder places to play in the NFL for road teams.
Despite all that, Rudolph is 3-0, and the new face of a Steelers lineup that is looking for its first playoff win since the 2016 season.
Here is the only real standing point from those who do not want Rudolph to start: the Ravens game wasn’t great.
True, Rudolph by far had his least impressive day, statistically speaking, in Baltimore. Mason went 18/20 for 152 yards, 1 touchdown, and no picks.
It was a huge step down from a yardage perspective, and a lost fumble at the end of the first half was a bad mishap.
Ironically, however, that game was a very Pickett-like stat line (minus the fumble). Pickett averaged 172.5 passing yards a game, and 0.5 touchdowns per game this year.
Rudolph was also playing in anything but ideal weather conditions. A constant downpour made for one of the muckiest games the Steelers played in years. I know, he still needs to perform, but based on what we have seen so far from Rudolph, that was by far the “worst.”
And if that is the “worst” we can get from Rudolph, then you have to stick with him.
The debate for Pickett could have been made back before the Seattle game from a development perspective. Pickett has not been good, but to his credit, he did look better after offensive coordinator Matt Canada was fired.
At the time, I would have replied that with such little time left, the development process would not have been long enough anyways, you had to go with the hot hand.
That was Rudolph then, and it still is now.
Mason Rudolph has taken you this far. The season lives or dies with him.
(Featured photo from Getty Images)
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