Mason Rudolph Throws Perfect TD Pass, Outperforms Dobbs in Preseason Finale

It would be hard to justify putting Mason Rudolph behind Josh Dobbs on the Steelers depth chart.

Rudolph shined again Thursday night in Pittsburgh’s 25-19 loss to Carolina. The second-year former Oklahoma State standout finished 7-for-11 with 125 yards and this beauty of a ball to Johnny Holton:

.@Rudolph2Mason with his own DIME ?

He finds @Johnno_uc3 for the @steelers TD!

?: #PITvsCAR on NFL Network (or check local listings) pic.twitter.com/cCwPQv4zaQ

— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) August 30, 2019

Rudolph quarterbacked the Steelers for three drives Thursday night: a touchdown, a field goal and a missed field goal. Josh Dobbs, who Rudolph is in competition with to be Pittsburgh’s QB2, had two drives of work, coming up empty on both. Dobbs finished 3-for-5 with 21 yards.

With the preseason now concluded, here is how Rudolph’s stats compared to Dobbs’:

It seems quite clear who should be Ben Roethlisberger’s backup, but Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has made no announcement on the matter.

“That’s a coaching decision,” Rudolph said after the game. “I don’t have any say in that. I try to control what I can control with OTAs and offseason workouts and training camp. It’s been a long offseason. I tried to put my best foot forward, and we’ll see what the coaches think. Not my decision.”