Daily Bullets (Sept. 19): Texas Missing Some Players Against OSU, (A) Monetary Result of Betting on the Pokes

Daton Fix started his bid for a world title last night at midnight – seems like a big deal. 

Bullets Rundown

• Rudolph inspiring confidence in Pittsburgh
• Texas missing some DBs for OSU/Texas
• Result of betting on OSU

OSU Bullets

• This bit of news that broke over the weekend from the Pittsburgh Steelers tells you everything you need to know about their thoughts on Mason Rudolph.

The Steelers are not as pessimistic. After the Roethlisberger news broke, they traded away their first-round pick in the 2020 draft to the tanking Dolphins for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. If the Steelers are as bad as FiveThirtyEight and Vegas suggest, that could be a top-10 pick, or even a top-five pick. Pittsburgh must like what it has in Rudolph, otherwise, it would’ve held on to the pick. [The Ringer]

It was a really fun article to read – an optimistic take on Rudolph’s fit and potential in Pittsburgh. But believing an 0-2 team won’t end up drafting in the top-ten speaks volumes about their confidence in this team.

Also – is there really a better succession planning opportunity than this for the Steelers? Sure you wouldn’t have traded Josh Dobbs and had a more solid backup but it’s hard to bench Big Ben to see what you have in Rudolph – so having an opportunity to see if you need to keep drafting QBs or see if you’ve got the answer on the roster (and on the second year of his rookie deal) is a great situation.

• Two Texas defensive backs have been counted out for this weekends game against the Pokes.

Not even halfway through the week, and the Texas Longhorns have already ruled two important defensive backs OUT for this coming Saturday’s game against Oklahoma State.

On Monday, head coach Tom Herman announced that the Longhorns will be without safety B.J. Foster and defensive back DeMarvion Overshown for their Big 12 opener. [Longhorns Wire]

Foster has been the starter at the nickelback spot while Overshawn has figured into the two-deep at safety.

Texas has thrown some interesting (and successful) defensive strategies at OSU in recent years – playing 25 yards off of James Washington and stopping a fledgling run game with four in the box a couple of years ago comes to mind – but taking out the key fifth defensive back could throw a wrench in some plans.

• I’m not a betting man (nor am I implicitly advocating for it) but apparently betting on the Pokes over the last few years could have made for a small fortune. 

The (very) rough math on this is that if you would have bet $100,000 on OSU to cover every game since the start of the 2010 season, you would be sitting pretty in 2019 with well over $2 million. [PFB]

Not bad at all.

• Oklahoma (OU & OSU) quarterbacks are finally starting to infiltrate the NFL

• The case for Mason Rudolph in Pittsburgh

• A startling change in the run game success since 2015:

Running Game Renaissance:

In 2015, #okstate's leading rusher was Chris Carson.
He had 517 yards and 4 TDs in 12 games (4 yards per carry and 43.1 yards per game)
In 2019, Chuba Hubbard has 521 yards and 7 TDs THROUGH THREE GAMES (7.9 yards per carry and 173.7 yards per game)

— Kyle Cox (@KyleCoxPFB) September 19, 2019

Non-OSU Bullets

• Touching article about an immigrant dad and how he served his family – some faith-based comments but a good read for all

• The power of asking questions – I was struck by his comments on why we don’t ask questions