ESPN Names Mason Rudolph Top 75 CFB Player, Top 10 In Big 12

ESPN has begun rolling out its top players for the 2016 college football season, and Mason Rudolph has been getting some love. The Mothership had Rudolph ranked No. 74 nationally and No. 7 in the Big 12.

Nationally, 32 writers were asked to rank their top 100 on a scale of 1-10. Rudolph scored a 7.19, good for 74th place. He was just ahead of O.J. Howard for Alabama and just behind KD Cannon for Baylor. Here’s what they said.

He took over the Cowboys’ offense late in 2014 and blossomed last season as a sophomore. Rudolph directed OSU to 10 consecutive wins as a sophomore — including a Week 10 upset of fellow unbeaten TCU in which he threw five touchdowns without an interception. His 9.1 yards per completion is an OSU career record.

The folks covering the Big 12 for ESPN had a different perception. They ranked Rudolph No. 7, three spots ahead of Cannon but just behind Seth Russell.

All he’s done since taking over as Oklahoma State’s starting quarterback is win. Rudolph is 12-3 as a starter and has thrown for 4,623 yards since his November 2014 debut, fifth most among all active FBS quarterbacks. He’s everything you’d want in a prototypical future NFL quarterback and one of the game’s best deep-ball passers. Rudolph’s 40 completions of 20-plus air yards last season were second only to Jared Goff among Power 5 quarterbacks. The Cowboys are loaded with talented skill players, and Rudolph makes them better.

The Jared Goff comp. Hooo boy. The accolades keep racking up for No. 2 as the season edges ever closer.