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Cris Collinsworth Praises Mason Rudolph’s Progression as Steelers QB

Rudolph is trending up and could be Pittsburgh’s QB2.

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Mason Rudolph showed up to Pittsburgh last season a rookie quarterback looking to secure the backup gig to a legend. Instead, he was relegated to third-team duties as he had trouble beating out Joshua Dobbs for QB2.

Rudolph’s second season in the Steel City is off to a vastly different start. He has made progression as a passer and decision-maker, and he’s taking preseason snaps ahead of Dobbs and proving himself worthy of that reshuffle.

On Sunday night, Cris Collinsworth, the owner of Pro Football Focus and the legendary voice of Sunday Night Football, sung Rudolph’s praises. If anyone knows about progression, it’s Collinsworth and his analytical team that strenuously track such things.

“I’ve got to give Mason Rudolph a pretty high grade so far,” said Collinsworth of his outing Sunday in which he went 6-for-9 for 75 yards, one touchdown and one pick. “When you come in as a rookie, it’s everything you can do to spit the play call out, much less get to the line of scrimmage. You’re used to seeing fairly simple coverages in college because they can only practice and meet for 20 hours a week. You get up here and you see the nuances, the disguises, the blitzes, and you’re still trying to remember the plays. Usually I don’t start judging quarterbacks until at least a couple years down the road because they have to understand what they’re calling first, and what they’re seeing second.”

 

Rudolph and Dobbs are pretty deadlocked in the competition to earn the backup job to Big Ben, but the former OSU product has had a competent enough preseason to warrant a leg up in the battle. While both have split reps, and coach Mike Tomlin has maintained that it’s dead-even, Sunday’s performance may have given Rudolph some separation as he showed himself to be the more able passer.

Rudolph’s first pass was picture perfect, as he dropped a deep ball over James Washington’s shoulder in the end zone for a 41-yard touchdown and 15-0 lead.

It was the kind of pass that proved Rudolph has made great strides since his rookie season. It doesn’t hurt that he has a history with Washington, his teammate at Oklahoma State, or that the second-year receiver has 40-plus-yard catches in each of the first three preseason games.

Rudolph finished 6 of 9 for 75 yards but wasn’t able to maintain the momentum from his strong start. The question is whether he did enough to move past Dobbs. The Steelers certainly hope so, considering they gave Rudolph a first-round draft grade and invested a third-round pick in him.

In the fourth quarter, Dobbs rolled left and threw a pass that tipped off Gentry’s hands and was intercepted. It was Dobbs’ second red-zone interception in the past two games, a bad sign for a quarterback trying to keep his backup job. [Trib Live]

With the Colts suddenly in the market for a backup quarterback — and with such a premium being placed on backup quarterbacks in general — the loser of the backup job in Pittsburgh could potentially be on the move. If we’re going to see more Rudolph2Washington action like we did Sunday, Rudolph may need to have a strong finish to preseason camp before roster cuts take place Saturday.

 

 

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