Hot Take of the Day: Mason Rudolph was Better than Brandon Weeden

I don’t often get too controversial, but I’m being told that putting Mason Rudolph ahead of Brandon Weeden as the best quarterback in Oklahoma State history has quite a bit of spice to it.

I could base this off hypothetical, saying if you plop Rudolph into the 2011 offense, records would be set that might never get touched. I could point out that Weeden had better offensive line play and a more consistent running game to help him. But instead I’ll point to some stone-cold facts.

So if you could bite your tongue for just a moment, I’ll set my case as to why Rudolph > Weeden.

I’d also like to preface this with the fact that Weeden was awesome. I don’t want any of this to bedowngrade his career as the second-best QB in OSU history. Ed. note: I do not approve this message. (KP)

First, let’s take a look at some career numbers side by side:

	Weeden	Rudolph
Pass Attempts	1,103	1,447
Completions	767	915
Yards	9,260	13,618
Touchdowns	75	92
Interceptions	27	26

Now, I can hear you hollering, “YEAH, BUT RUDOLPH PLAYED IN 39 GAMES AND WEEDEN ONLY PLAYED IN 30!”

And that’s true, so let’s look at some deeper percentages.

	Weeden	Rudolph
Completion Percentage	69.5	63.2
Pass Efficiency	157.6	159.7
Yards Per Attempt	8.4	9.4
Yards Per Completion	12.1	14.9
Yards Per Game	298.7	324.2
Total Offense Per Game	293.9	324.9
Total Offense Per Play	7.98	8.16

Now I imagine the argument shifts to, “OK, SO? WEEDEN’S 2011 SEASON IS WAY BETTER THAN ANYTHING RUDOLPH EVEN DONE DID!”

Well then let’s stack up Weeden’s senior season vs. Rudolph’s senior season.

	Weeden	Rudolph
Attempts	565	489
Completions	409	318
Yards	4,727	4,904
Touchdowns	37	37
Interceptions	13	9
Completion Percentage	72.4	63.4
Pass Efficiency	159.7	170.6
Yards Per Attempt	8.4	10
Yards Per Completion	10.4	15.4
Yards Per Game	363.6	377.2
Total TDs	38	47
Total Offense Per Game	355.8	379.9
Total Offense Per Play	7.95	8.98

So what that’s telling us is that Rudolph threw for more yards, the same amount of touchdowns despite throwing the ball 91 fewer times. He also had fewer interceptions. And Rudolph also ran for 10 TDs to Weeden’s one.

Presented with these facts, I’m sure some of you are really boiling now. “YOU JUST DON’T GET IT. YEAH, NUMBERS ARE COOL AND ALL, BUT WEEDEN WON GAMES AND RUDOLPH DIDN’T.”

Yes, Brandon Weeden won a BCS Bowl game and a Big 12 title while Rudolph didn’t. That’s also a fact. Another fact is that Weeden went 23-3 as a starter and Rudolph went 32-8.

And I said above I won’t make the argument of putting Rudolph on the 2011 team, but I will point out that in Weeden’s junior and senior seasons (2010 and 2011), OSU allowed a combined 22 sacks.

In Rudolph’s junior and senior seasons (2016 and 2017) OSU allowed a combined 56 sacks. Just a measly 34-sack difference.

So, there’s my argument laid out with statistical evidence to support it. And, like I said, both QBs are all-time greats at OSU, but if in some weird post-pandemic world I am the captain of some schoolyard team with the option of choosing either, give me Rudolph and go long.