Mason Rudolph is officially the starting quarterback in Pittsburgh. Not just because of injury this time, as Mike Tomlin officially announced that the Steelers are sticking with Rudolph despite Kenny Pickett being healthy enough to return. His play and the offense’s performance with him at the helm have warranted the starting nod.
Last week, in the 34-11 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, he had a nice stat line of 17-of-27 for 290 yards and two touchdowns, but Pro Football Focus gave him a 65.0 overall grade. He missed a couple throws in that game, one to a wide-open Diontae Johnson for example, and that probably hurt his grade a bit. There were also a lot of yards after the catch. George Pickens had multiple catch-short, run-long plays that buoyed Rudolph’s overall stats.
That is not the case this week, however, as PFF gave him the highest grade of any Steelers player in the game. He received an 87.6 overall grade, including an 86.9 passing grade. Rudolph finished the game with 18 completions on 24 attempts for 274 passing yards. He also chipped in another five yards on the ground as the Steelers had him QB sneak in short-yardage situations multiple times. The running game did much of the heavy lifting against the Seahawks, but Rudolph managed to create splash with five explosive passing plays of 20 yards or more. This was the highest score PFF has given Rudolph in his career.
It was the second-highest grade the outlet has given to a Steelers quarterback this season after Kenny Pickett’s Week 12 win over the Bengals. Pickett received an elite grade of 91.6 overall in that game, including a 91.8 passing grade.
Another statistics platform found Rudolph’s play impressive with a 17.2 completion percentage over expected (CPOE). Next Gen Stats had him down for nine completions on nine attempts on out-breaking routes. He was perfect targeting his receivers on those routes.
The Steelers now move into preparing for their final game of the season against the AFC’s top-seeded team in the Baltimore Ravens. They will likely be resting players with a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs already secured. Should Rudolph win that game and make it out healthy, he has a real chance to start a playoff game for the Steelers.
