Following Strong Preseason Opener, Mason Rudolph Appears to Have Earned the QB2 spot in Pittsburgh

It’s tough being No. 2, just ask Mason Rudolph.

As backup QB consists, you’re simultaneously one the most important players on the roster and someone your fanbase and coaching staff hope never takes any meaningful snaps, all while being one of the most polarizing players when it comes to the court of fan opinion. A fill-in, a replacement, a bad sign.

Rudolph knows that all too well, entering his seventh NFL season and Year 2 of his second stint in Pittsburgh. He served as the main backup for one future Hall of Famer in Ben Roethlisberger and now sits behind another in Aaron Rodgers. He’s dealt with competition elsewhere in the QB room each year, and that was ramped up even more with a regime change that saw Mike McCarthy take the helm this offseason.

Coming into this offseason, Rudolph must have had questions. Will the new staff view him unfavorably as a holdover? Will there be any residual loyalty or would he have to start from scratch in their eyes? But where he had questions, he made answers.

Rudolph has done nothing but impress the new staff, specifically McCarthy during training camp, and he apparently put a bow on his roster spot last weekend.

Earlier in training camp, McCarthy commented on just how impressive the veteran looked having only previously been aware of him from afar. “I can’t tell you how pleased I am with Mason Rudolph…,” McCarthy said. “He throws it better than I ever knew.”

Then Rudolph sealed the deal as part of a trio of strong QB performances in Week 1 of the preseason to go along with rookie Drew Allar and second-year QB Will Howard. Rudolph went 10-for-11 for 93 yards and that one incompletion was an extra foot from being a TD. That was enough for McCarthy.

Mike McCarthy says Mason Rudolph has done such a good job he doesn’t need to play vs the Jets. He won’t play vs the Bills either. He’s gonna be QB2. pic.twitter.com/zmVKVn2XfX

— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) August 19, 2026

In five seasons, Rudolph is 8-5-1 in a Steelers jersey. With him once again backing up an aging franchise QB, he knows he’s only one play away from handing that clipboard to one of those young guys.

Aside from the 2024 season in Tennessee, an overtly dysfunctional situation from top to bottom, he’s spent his career under former Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin and he was in and out of the doghouse at least when it came to public opinion among Steeler fans.

It’s the type of friction that Rudolph addressed this week. He praised the new coaching situation under McCarthy while also dealing a slight back-handed jab to the former regime.

“I’m very aware that the fanbase is starved for a franchise QB,” Rudolph said, via Tim Benz. “People want to have hope for the future beyond this year. We’ve got two great QBs who are young and progressing. I really am jealous of the structure they have had and this program and this QB-grooming system the way that Coach McCarthy has done it because I feel that they have made a lot of strides. I’ll be rooting them on Friday.”

At least for now, Rudolph has earned the trust of his new head coach and the week off to let the rest of the QB pecking order play out on the field.