Mason Rudolph started the Steelers’ first preseason game, and minus one play, he impressed his former teammate, QB Ben Roethlisberger. Now the host of the Footbahlin’ podcast, Roethlisberger talked about Rudolph’s start on Saturday. Though he didn’t play much in Aaron Rodgers’ absence, he looked the part Pittsburgh wants him to play.
“I thought he played really well”, Roethlisberger said of Rudolph, praising his touchdown pass to TE Darnell Washington in particular. “Great ball down the seam. It’s great when you’ve got a guy that’s 7-8 running down the seam. You can throw that ball as high as you want. Mason put a good ball over the linebacker’s head. Great throw, great spot”.
I’m assuming Roethlisberger is aware that Washington is not pushing eight feet tall and exaggerated for effect. Either way, Mason Rudolph, like all quarterbacks, love throwing to a guy Washington’s size who can catch.
Rudolph and the Steelers’ starters played 15 snaps, with Rudolph dropping back 11 times. He went 9-of-10 passing, with the incompletion being a drop by RB Kaleb Johnson. Including his 19-yard touchdown to Washington, he threw for 84 yards with no interceptions, taking one coverage sack.
“I thought he did exactly what you would want to see, what you hope to see from your backup quarterback”, Roethlisberger said of Rudolph, who served as Roethlisberger’s backup for years. “I feel like he probably solidified himself as the 2, if there was any question”.
The Steelers selected Mason Rudolph in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Infamously, Roethlisberger struggled to make sense of the move by a team in a Super Bowl window. At the time, Landry Jones was still his backup, and they had drafted Joshua Dobbs a year earlier. He and Rudolph probably didn’t have the greatest relationship, but I also suspect aspects have been greatly exaggerated. Whatever their personal relationship, Roethlisberger paid respect to him professionally.
“I thought he was efficient with the ball”, he said of Rudolph. “He threw the ball down the field. I think as a team, you like seeing that, because that give you confidence going into the season that if something were to happen, that you have a guy that you’re confident can go in there”.
Many fans believe Rudolph is capable of being a starting quarterback. Some in the media even question whether he isn’t better than Aaron Rodgers is in 2025. The Steelers will not be starting Rudolph over Rodgers any time soon, however, so his fans may want to pay close attention to the preseason.
