Article

90 In 30: Steelers 2023 Training Camp Preview Series: Mark Robinson, Quincy Roche, Mason Rudolph

By Dave Bryan

Posted on July 20, 2023 at 8:15 am

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2023 offseason practices concluded in the middle of June and next up is their annual training camp, which gets underway in late July at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. Ahead of training camp, we will preview the team’s offseason roster three players at a time for you as part of a 30-post series. This Steelers roster preview, which includes outlooks for every player, will be done alphabetically by last name to make it easy to follow.

The next three players we will preview ahead of Steelers 2023 training camp are Mark Robinson, Quincy Roche, and Mason Rudolph.

ILB Mark Robinson: As a rookie in 2022, Robinson, who was selected in the seventh round last year by the Steelers out of Mississippi, was active for just four games with two of those coming in the final two weeks. He logged just 44 defensive snaps in 2022 and 16 more on special teams. He was credited with nine total tackles in 2022 with one of those coming on special teams.

While Robinson looked like he had upside coming out of the 2022 preseason, the Steelers still chose to make him an inactive player for most of the regular season. His one season at the linebacker position in college probably played a big part in that. At the very least, the fact that he made and stayed on the 2022 roster all season as a seventh-round draft pick was an impressive feat in and of itself.

Outlook: Based on comments made by Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin this offseason, it sounds like the 2023 plan for Robinson is to continue to bring him along slowly. In short, barring injuries to fellow inside linebackers Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts, both of whom were signed this offseason as unrestricted free agents, Robinson’s 2023 defensive playing time could be severely limited. With Robinson only being a one-year linebacker at Mississippi as a converted running back, the Steelers probably don’t view him as being ready for an expanded defensive role just yet.

This summer, Robinson will surely look to convince the coaching staff that he is indeed worthy of more playing time in 2023 by making plays in practice and preseason games. Additionally, he should become a more well-rounded core special teams player throughout the remainder of the offseason. He could very well get himself into a position where he is the next man up at inside linebacker come Week One. At the very least, Robinson should make the initial 53-man roster and dress weekly for games after doing so. Robinson is a big hitter and hopefully, we at least get to see him do some of that on more than just special teams in 2023.

OLB Quincy Roche: Back in January, the Steelers were able to get Roche back in the fold again after signing him to a Reserve/Future contract. Roche, who was selected by the Steelers in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft out of Miami, spent most of his 2022 season on the practice squad of the New York Giants.

Roche played in three games for the Giants in 2022 on his way to registering two total tackles in six defensive snaps played. He also logged 28 more snaps on special teams in 2022. For his NFL career, Roche has appeared in 17 games and has registered 40 total tackles, five for loss, 2.5 sacks, one forced fumble and five quarterback hits. He’s played 407 defensive snaps, all with the Giants, and 137 more on special teams.

Outlook: The summer outlook for Roche isn’t great, especially with the Steelers adding veteran outside linebacker Markus Golden and rookie outside linebacker Nick Herbig in free agency and the 2023 NFL Draft, respectively. If the Steelers wind up keeping just four total outside linebackers on their Week One 53-man roster, it’s very doubtful that Roche will be one of them.

The best way that Roche can help his cause this summer is by making plays during the preseason on both defense and special teams. That said, he’s yet to show that he can be a big special teams asset during his limited NFL playing time. Roche will also have plenty of competition in training camp this summer in the form of younger players, so he’ll have to really earn a practice squad spot if he fails to make the initial 53-man roster.

QB Mason Rudolph: The Steelers waited Rudolph out this summer. The 2018 third-round draft pick out of Oklahoma State tested unrestricted free agency this offseason and received a very frosty reception. That resulted in him signing back with the Steelers on a one-year deal for the minimum. Last season, Rudolph dressed for only one game and that was because starting quarterback Kenny Pickett missed that contest due to a concussion. Rudolph didn’t play any offensive snaps in 2022.

For his NFL career, Rudolph has appeared in 17 total games with 10 starts. He has completed 236 of his 384 total pass attempts for 2,366 yards with 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He’s also rushed 33 times for another 89 yards in the 699 total offensive snaps that he’s played in the NFL so far.

Outlook: The outlook for Rudolph is quite simple. He should enter training camp as the third-string quarterback behind Pickett and Mitch Trubisky. The Steelers also have rookie undrafted quarterback Tanner Morgan under contract ahead of training camp and it will be interesting to see if he’s able to eat into any of Rudolph’s summer practice snaps. After all, the Steelers know plenty about Rudolph at this point so they might want to get a limited look at Morgan this summer. At least a longer look than they did last year at rookie quarterback Chris Oladokun.

When the training camp and preseason smoke finally clears, it’s hard to imagine Rudolph not making the Steelers’ 53-man roster as the third-string quarterback. Moving forward into the 2023 regular season, Rudolph will likely dress for every game as the emergency third quarterback on the weekly inactive list. The only way he plays in 2023 is if something were to happen to Pickett or Trubisky. He could wind up playing zero snaps for a second consecutive season.

Related Items:2023 Training Camp, Mark Robinson, Mason Rudolph, Quincy Roche

Steelers Depot

Recommended for you