Mason Rudolph was supposed to prove he could excel if Aaron Rodgers went down. Instead, the Steelers QB finished the preseason with interceptions in back-to-back outings. In the eyes of Ramon Foster and Charlie Batch, this may have opened the door for Skylar Thompson to replace Rudolph as the primary backup.
“He’s gotta be a guy who’s poised whenever his number’s called, especially with his familiarity to this team,” Foster said of Rudolph via KDKA’s Extra Point show. “To be honest, he’s having a guy, Skylar Thompson, albeit it’s preseason, outplay him. And that’s just the truth. This is a black-and-white league when it comes down to how you are evaluated. And I think he’s made it a little tough on himself.”
While Rudolph threw interceptions in each of the last two games, Thompson was outstanding every time he saw the field this preseason. He went 11-for-13 for 153 yards and a touchdown tonight against the Panthers, including a 53-yard bomb to Scotty Miller to add points to the board with 12 seconds remaining in the first half.
Here is the interception from Rudolph at the beginning of the second quarter.
“I agree with Ramon with everything that he said about Skylar Thompson,” Batch said on KDKA’s post-game show. “I do believe that he is in the conversation for that potential backup job based off his play.”
It wasn’t just tonight. Thompson’s combined preseason stat line is 41-for-56 (73.2 percent) for 498 yards, two TDs and an interception.
Here is Thompon’s TD pass to Lance McCutcheon from tonight.
To be fair, Rudolph has been going against better competition in most games with the starters. And his stat line isn’t that ugly outside the interceptions. He went a combined 18-for-23 (78.3 percent) for 166 yards, two TDs, and two INTs in three preseason games. But outside the very first drive of the preseason against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Rudolph did not put together any impressive drives.
Rudolph doesn’t have experience in Arthur Smith’s offense, but he is familiar with Mike Tomlin and the organization. There are higher expectations for Rudolph, and he didn’t decisively live up to that in the preseason. Remember that he was the Steelers’ QB1 while Rodgers was still making up his mind.
Like Rudolph, Thompson has some NFL starting experience with the Miami Dolphins. And they each have one playoff start to their name. Mike Tomlin pointed that out after the Steelers’ 19-10 win over the Panthers.
“He’s got playing experience,” Tomlin said of Thompson via the team YouTube channel. “This guy started games in Miami, and I think that experience shows. And we’re talking regular-season games.”
Rudolph still probably has the inside track to QB2. The Steelers played him first in every preseason game for a reason, and Tomlin has a high level of comfort with Rudolph from their past experience together.
Thompson’s performance was at least enough to make the Steelers think about whether they want to cut him on Tuesday when they trim the roster to 53. If they send Will Howard to IR/designated to return, then Thompson could find his way onto the roster for the beginning portion of the season. If Rodgers were to get hurt, he’d be a good third option to have around.
