Rudolph in as back up QB. Trubisky to be cut?

[feltdizz]

In his defense, wasn't he a third string player as a rookie who didn't get many reps, then poof, second year, he's the top backup, then Ben went down early in the season. (correct me if that's all wrong)

Sure, he was thrown into the fire without reps.. and IMO while he wasn’t great I also thought he wasn’t as bad as folks remember. Stiff in the pocket with terrible presence and a terrible clock but a beautiful deep ball.

The problem was underneath, he seemed be a bit slow to process.

I always felt like MR wasn’t treated fairly by fans. Maybe its because he wasn’t a yinzer type or maybe its because Ben was still on the roster.

[feltdizz]

Lol, RM was 5-3 in his 2nd season with an all world defense and top ten OL, KP was 7-5 in his first with......neither.

Mason only played 2 teams with winning records in those 5 wins and he was benched while we were losing the Bengals game. Duck won that 5th game.

Cincinnati was winless in both meetings
Miami was 0-6
Rams and Indy were the only 2 teams above .500.

combined record of all these teams was like 10-21

[whisper]

I don't think Highsmith gets close to TJ type of money. From what I'm seeing, he's more in the $14-18 mil per range. Witherspoon and MT cover $12M of that...

As a matter of pure speculation, I think they plan to re-sign him. Otherwise, they would have had OLB higher on the pecking order in this draft.

Not necessarily; had bigger fish to fry than a unit not lacking starters like OLB. OT, DT, CB all were priority over OLB. And they got drafted before it.

[WindyCitySteel]

Mason only played 2 teams with winning records in those 5 wins and he was benched while we were losing the Bengals game. Duck won that 5th game.

Cincinnati was winless in both meetings
Miami was 0-6
Rams and Indy were the only 2 teams above .500.

combined record of all these teams was like 10-21

And his Cincy win was rife with jet sweeps and wildcat flukery.

[whisper]

I don't think so.

We kept all three all of last year despite reportedly having offers for Mitch.

Yea, I'm wondering where all this assumption that we are dumping MT is coming from. Art II spoke of keeping him and Art doesn't like change.

[SteelerOfDeVille]

Not necessarily; had bigger fish to fry than a unit not lacking starters like OLB. OT, DT, CB all were priority over OLB. And they got drafted before it.

Understood, but after those spots were filled, trading down and selecting TE in the 3rd.... "meh"

[SidSmythe]

I don't see Any Benefit in keeping BOTH - Rudolph has been around the Longest - has a similar skillset as Trubisky (except the ability to run that well).
Either way - Trubisky is gone after next season and I don't think he wins anymore games than Rudolph could if needed over an extended period of time.

[Djfan]

I always felt like MR wasn’t treated fairly by fans. Maybe its because he wasn’t a yinzer type or maybe its because Ben was still on the roster.

I agree. He's not a starter, he sucks, he is a wasted roster spot, etc. I guess it makes people feel like experts or something. He will never be our starter and he knows it. But he tries hard, had good preseasons, a great public face about the situation, and keeps going.

No one wants any of the QBs on the roster to be the starter except KP8. He is the man. Let the RM hate stop.

As for the topic of getting rid of MT, it makes sense to me, as he is expensive and will most likely be gone after this year. If we can get something for him, do it. I have not heard anyone say that this is being leaked by the front office, or Tomlin wants it, etc. It's just off season fan talk. Enjoy that ride, or don't.

[Joel Buchsbaum]

Let me ask you? You did not see an improvement in Pickett's play in 2022? I saw a significant improvement in his play. His last two games were his best. That is why I am excited to watch him in 2023. I don't think I'm the only one with this assessment. I think KP has much more upside then Mason.

I believe you have a bias against KP other then his ability. Do you not like Pitt? You appear to be losing your objectivity in your evaluation of KP.

Improvement, yes. But not a much as I expected or hope for. He got concussed to easily, threw the ball very short, and the offense did not score much with him. Those are the facts. I saw it. I saw game manager type of QB. Not a franchise QB in the making, nor a top 8-15 type of talent. That is not what we need.

[Joel Buchsbaum]

Mason only played 2 teams with winning records in those 5 wins and he was benched while we were losing the Bengals game. Duck won that 5th game.

Cincinnati was winless in both meetings
Miami was 0-6
Rams and Indy were the only 2 teams above .500.

combined record of all these teams was like 10-21

How may teams did Pickett beat with a winniing record that did not play a back - up QB? I count zero wins for Pickett. At least Mason beat teams with a winning record,. But I am an objective type of fan. I am also sky high on our off season. Great free agency, draft, and rookie free agents.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

So let me get this straight:

A week ago the team was comfortable going into the season with Pickett starting, Trubisky as backup, and searching for a scrap heap number 3. Suddenly, as if by magic, Mason Rudolph became available (despite the fact that he has been sitting at home all winter without a bite), and the team is scrapping their plan and going with Rudolph as the backup, and cutting Trubisky to save some cap space?

More likely, the team was searching for #3 and didn't like what they saw, they knew that Mason didn't want to return, but they also know him well, and also know that he is still without a deal anywhere. They call him up and tell him that even though he didn't love how things ended last year, if he is interested they are still looking for a #3. He swallows his pride, knows that it is still a paycheck, and will come to camp as the third stringer and compete to backup.

[feltdizz]

So let me get this straight:

A week ago the team was comfortable going into the season with Pickett starting, Trubisky as backup, and searching for a scrap heap number 3. Suddenly, as if by magic, Mason Rudolph became available (despite the fact that he has been sitting at home all winter without a bite), and the team is scrapping their plan and going with Rudolph as the backup, and cutting Trubisky to save some cap space?

More likely, the team was searching for #3 and didn't like what they saw, they knew that Mason didn't want to return, but they also know him well, and also know that he is still without a deal anywhere. They call him up and tell him that even though he didn't love how things ended last year, if he is interested they are still looking for a #3. He swallows his pride, knows that it is still a paycheck, and will come to camp as the third stringer and compete to backup.

or Mason’s agent called around the league and found no takers and called Khan?

No idea what happened but I think our FO is fine with spending $12 to $15 mill total for 3 QB’s that all have game experience.

[feltdizz]

How may teams did Pickett beat with a winniing record that did not play a back - up QB? I count zero wins for Pickett. At least Mason beat teams with a winning record,. But I am an objective type of fan. I am also sky high on our off season. Great free agency, draft, and rookie free agents.

lmao at adding the backup QB to the question because Kenny beat the Ravens on the road.

Mason played 3 games against teams with 0 wins.. and was still benched in the last game vs the Bengals that is a W only because he started the game.

and one of those wins was against a backup QB for the Colts, lol. m

and the other win was against the Rams and Minkah had a 43 yard fumble return for a TD. One of the headlines after the game was “Steelers win IN SPITE of their offense”

I agree with you on the offseason though, we are making moves that should make us extremely competitive this year.

[Blitzer]

We should probably cut KP and go with a rookie. How many times did kp win a game against a team with a winning record who didn't have a back up qb, that was beating us 30 to nothing in the 1st half. Zero times. Not once. And I don't need to mention that kp has not one 1 single game since the end of the 2022 season. Not one

[whisper]

Understood, but after those spots were filled, trading down and selecting TE in the 3rd.... "meh"

That's because Washington is so "amazing!" They couldn't believe he was still there! He's gonna make such a difference in the rushing AND passing game. It's gonna be like night and day from the very 1st time he steps on the field. Night and day. Eric Green sans the self discipline problems!