Daily Bullets (May 1)

Ste(e)ling Hearts

Details around Mason Rudolph’s slide into Pittsburgh finds him accepted with open arms.

Pittsburgh traded up three spots from the pick they traded for Martavis Bryant to get Rudolph. They made him the franchise’s highest-selected quarterback since (Ben) Roethlisberger himself.

This was not something that Roethlisberger needed to be consulted on. He is merely expected to understand it.

The Steelers selected Oklahoma State quarterback Mason Rudolph in the third round of Friday’s NFL Draft.

He will, (Pittsburgh offensive coordinator) Fichtner said. The quarterback likes to see competition and Fichtner noted that he is above the fight for three quarterback spots that Rudolph will join, however more heavily favored than Joshua Dobbs was a year ago.

“The transition to the professional game is not going to be as big an extreme,” Fichtner said of Rudolph. “He’s been exposed to a lot of the concepts and the passes and the types of things he’ll have to do. Where he’ll catch up will have to be the complexity of defenses and those types of things. [PennLive]

Commentary around the simplicity of OSU’s offense is rebuffed here by the professional coordinator. Between the elation of finding him on the board in the third, an ideal successful mentor, and one of the most stable franchises, it’s hard to imagine a more ideal scenario for a well-deserving guy.

The Pittsburgh Steelers got themselves a good QB in Mason Rudolph pic.twitter.com/b1ngdyTzsU

— PFF College (@PFF_College) April 29, 2018

Break or Be Broken

It appears the Jim Knowles-era will deviate from the “bend but don’t break” ethos of the last couple of folks who sat in the chair before.

But occasionally, the mentality of the defense Jim Knowles is trying to create at OSU flashed before the announced crowd of 20,000 in Boone Pickens Stadium.

Moments like this: On the first drive for the starters on defense, safety Kenneth Edison-McGruder leveled backup quarterback John Kolar. It probably wasn’t the most well-received play by the Oklahoma State coaching staff, seeing as no one ever likes to see their quarterback get hit, but it embodied the buzzword for Knowles’ defense this spring.

Aggression.

“It’s more of a get-after-them, go-get-them. We’re not going to let anybody be comfortable and sit back and pick what they want to do,” cornerback A.J. Green said. “So I like the aggressiveness.” [TulsaWorld]

While it may be logical to assume that an offense will flame out int the process of driving the length of the field, getting after an offense could lead to a higher number of short drives… and long scores. Either way, a change in scheme and possibly even mentality is why Cornell was brought in.

OSU and NCAA Notes

Found a list of where Big 12 players have landed as undrafted free agents….Let’s hope Heinz Field continues it’s magic for Mason Rudolph and James Washington….Pretty interesting to look back at too-early mock drafts from a year ago (spoiler: Rudolph fell)….Taylor Cornelius is looking forward to his opportunity to compete….Cowboys Baseball in Tulsa taking on ORU tonight

H/t to Phillip unearthing this gem.

Looking at the 25 Power 5 teams w/lowest number of #NFLDraft picks over last 5 yrs, there are 4 that have won 58%+ of their games during this time: @DukeFOOTBALL @NUFBFamily @KStateFB and @CowboyFB. #KState and #Pokes are only two over 60% and Oklahoma St. is only one over 70%.

— SportSourceAnalytics (@SportSourceA) April 30, 2018

Cowboys taking over the ‘Burgh.

Welcome to the Burgh boys! #GoPokes @james_james28 @Rudolph2Mason @steelers @Pirates

— Jordy Mercer (@jordy_mercer) April 29, 2018

A nice short-term boost for Cowboy Baseball

More good news for #okstate baseball: While the Cowboys are playing Iowa in a nonconference series, the two teams closest to OSU in the Big 12 standings, Texas and Texas Tech, are matched up this weekend in Lubbock. A 2-1 series either way would help the Cowboys.

— Nathan Ruiz (@NathanSRuiz) April 30, 2018

Cowgirls got an all-timer on their hands.

With a strong finish, @vshippy33 can become the first #Big12SB player since at least 2005 to finish top three in the league in both hits and walks.

The last time Shippy did it, she was named Co-Big 12 Player of the Year. #okstate pic.twitter.com/uUVsoRn1cn

— Cowgirl Softball (@CowgirlSB) April 30, 2018

What You Missed on PFB

• Four-star receiver from OKC names the Pokes in his top dozen
• Watch Gundy’s talk after the 2018 spring game
• Pokes landed a 2020 defensive back commitment last night 
• Grab ten thoughts from the NFL Draft
• Five Media Things was good – featuring free journalism and Cowboy Baseball rolling

Other Stuff I’m Reading

• Zach Lowe on Russell Westbrook and the Thunder’s dilemma is fantastic
• Just finished this heartbreaker on the lower-class’ eviction situation – an eye opener