Last Saturday was QB Mason Rudolph’s first opportunity to get on the field in a meaningful game in over two years. Of course, by then it didn’t really matter, but it set the stage for this week. Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin announced that he would start over Mitch Trubisky in their next game, barring a miraculous recovery from starter Kenny Pickett.
He can no doubt relate to Trubisky, having once been benched himself. He started eight games in 2019 as a second-year player following Ben Roethlisberger’s season-ending elbow injury. In the middle of that, he was benched as he struggled, in favor of then-rookie college free agent Devlin Hodges. Speaking to reporters yesterday, he explained how he is better now than he was then, and how those trials were a part of it.
“I’ve had a fair share [of adversity] and I think it’s made me better”, he said, via the team’s website. “It’s made me a better person. I think of some of the things that happened in ’19 and it was quite a lot. But I’m grateful for that. I think it’s made me a better man and a better leader, and it makes you more battle-tested”.
Nobody on the offensive side of the ball has seen more Steelers football up close than Rudolph at this point. Along with Chukwuma Okorafor, he is the longest-tenured player outside of K Chris Boswell and a couple defenders. So he knows what he’s talking about. And he knows what he personally has been through to get where he is now.
“Experience and reps and years of film and years of learning. You’re always trying to grow and develop”, he said in explaining how he believes he has gotten better since 2019. “I think [quarterbacks coach] Mike Sullivan, having him for my third season now and being in a room with a guy who’s done it at a high level for a long time and learning everything I can about the game of football”.
As you might recall, the Steelers opted not to hire a designated quarterbacks coach in 2018, the year Rudolph was drafted, after promoting Randy Fichtner to offensive coordinator. He served that dual role for two years before the team hired Matt Canada as quarterbacks coach. He was promoted to offensive coordinator the following year and Sullivan was hired as quarterbacks coach.
“I’m a bit more relaxed and calm and understand the game”, he said. “I know it’s cliché, but I think it has slowed down, and you gain confidence from every practice rep”.
And now he’s actually getting reps. It’s no secret that the third-string quarterback will get virtually none at all throughout the regular season outside of the scout team. But will all of these experiences over the intervening years lead to a better performance?
Prior to this season, Rudolph had completed 236-of-384 pass attempts (61.5 percent) for 2,366 yards with 16 touchdowns to 11 interceptions, averaging 6.2 yards per pass attempt and a quarterback rating of 80.9. He has a 5-4-1 record as a starter.
