The Series of Fortunate Events That Led to Pittsburgh Drafting Mason Rudolph

Sometimes things just have a way of working out.

When it comes to the NFL Draft, there is a lot of money and time spent on scouting and evaluating each prospect and planning each pick. But there is also a lot of luck and circumstance involved.

The fact that Oklahoma State’s all-time leading passer and its all-time leading receiver found themselves on the exact same team in the exact same draft (and in consecutive picks) has to be a combination of all parts of that equation — with a heavy dose of luck.

But a look at how things shook out on Day 2 of the draft paints a clearer picture of how much the Steelers valued Rudolph and the competitive dynamic between NFL division rivals.

The Steelers owned the No. 79 pick in the third round and Mason Rudolph, who the Steelers had tabbed higher than a third round grade was very much available in the third round. The problem? Their division rival, the Cincinnati Bengals held the two picks before them at 77 and 78, and Pittsburgh apparently held the notion that the Bengals might take Rudolph.

They were right.

Marvin Lewis jokes the Steelers “had the room” bugged and were discussing drafting QB Mason Rudolph before the Pittsburgh jumped ahead of them. Payback for the Bengals stealing William Jackson III a couple years ago.

— Paxton Boyd (@paxton) April 28, 2018

Marvin Lewis said it was discussed taking a quarterback in the second round when the Steelers jumped in front of them.

— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) April 28, 2018

What’s more, the trade of Martavis Bryant that paved the way for Pittsburgh to take James Washington one round earlier, netted that No. 79 pick from Oakland. The Steelers would swap picks with Seattle to leapfrog Cincinnati at 76 and snatch Rudolph out of the Bengals’ paws.

These type of scenarios play out each year and in each draft, but for them all to come together to allow a continuation of #Rudolph2Washington is quite the coincidence. Maybe it was even meant to be.