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Mason Rudolph Shows Out vs Jaguars, Did Steelers Fans Write Him Off Too Soon??
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The first preseason game overreactions around the league are wild. -
No. He still needs clean pockets to be effective and he got that last night. But many NFL games have muddy pockets and that's where he struggles.
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Go back and watch the first two drives. Mason was getting the ball out fast. He looked really good. He had a clean pocket but he only needed 2 seconds.
He did look bad on that sack. He could have thrown it away. He got greedy. Did Jacksonville have their 2nd teamers on D.
All said it's just preseason. Let's see how he does next week.Comment
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He cant because he has a major flaw in his game and that is lack of mobility and lack of the ability to navigate the pocket. Its just the preseason and it isnt like Rudolph hasnt got the chance to start in the regular season, and no team viewed him as a starter.Comment
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i doubt it....Pickett looked great in preseason too......Rudolph to me is just a nice backup QB to have. Kinda like Charlie Batch.Comment
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Good chance old man Rodgers will get knocked out with an injury and Rudolph will be next up.Comment
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Mason Rudolph again proves to be among NFL's most reliable backups
Monday, Aug. 11, 2025
Steelers fans went into the preseason hoping that sixth-round draft pick Will Howard would breathe life into their imagined status of him being a long-term hope at quarterback.
He didn’t, and won’t.
Howard’s broken finger will likely sideline him for the entire exhibition campaign.
Instead, the citizens got a reminder of something they’ve been unwilling to accept: Mason Rudolph is a good quarterback.
Rudolph went 9 for 10 for 84 yards, a touchdown and a quarterback rating of 135.0 in the Steelers’ 31-25 preseason victory at Jacksonville on Saturday.
It’s not the stuff legends are made of. Not like Shedeur Sanders’ overhyped pro debut for Cleveland on Friday.
But it’s further proof of Rudolph’s capability and a reminder of how well he played when he went 3-0 at the end of the 2023 season to squeak the Steelers into the postseason. (He lost the playoff game. Of course. Mike Tomlin was coaching.)
Rudolph is one of the NFL’s most reliable backups.
Howard should hope he has a similar career. (He won’t.)
Rudolph has been handicapped in the eyes of Steelers fans by two incidents:
• Cleveland’s Myles Garrett swung Rudolph’s helmet at him during a 2019 altercation. A fabricated racial narrative accompanied.
• Rudolph was concussed vs. Baltimore in 2020, then looked goofy in the aftermath when his facemask was cut off. Rudolph resembled The Great Gazoo from “The Flintstones” TV cartoon. That gave rise to the fabricated narrative that Duck Hodges was an NFL quarterback.
Those episodes made Rudolph appear weak, and are remembered more than his successes.
But now Steelers fans need to give him a chance.
Aaron Rodgers is 41 and unlikely to be available for all 17 games. Even if Rodgers avoids cataclysmic injury, it’s easy to imagine Rudolph starting several times.
It should be less difficult to root for Rudolph now that he looks like Josh Brolin in “No Country for Old Men.”
It’s easy to sum up Rudolph: He’s competent.
That’s all the backup quarterback needs to be.
Third-string hopeful Skylar Thompson had a big game at Jacksonville, albeit playing with/against guys who will be bagging groceries inside a month.
Thompson was 20 for 28 for 233 yards, three touchdowns and a quarterback rating of 132.0.
If Howard had performed like that, Pittsburgh would be orgasmic. In the town’s mind, Howard would be a candidate to start now. You’d hear shouts for Howard to play upon Rodgers’ first incompletion, never mind an interception: “GIVE THE KID A CHANCE!”
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