Report: Mason Rudolph Named the Pittsburgh Steelers No. 2 QB

After plenty of hard work and some marked improvement since he was drafted roughly a year and a half ago, Mason Rudolph is one step closer to seeing the field in an actual NFL game.

On Friday, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that Rudolph had usurped Josh Dobbs for the job of Ben Roethlisberger’s backup and is set to hold the clipboard when the action starts next week.

“This OTAs and offseason workouts and training camp, it’s been a long season without football,” Rudolph told Steelers.com. “It’s a long offseason but I thought I’d try to put my best foot forward and see what the coaches think.”

Rudolph did just that putting together an impressive preseason. He amassed 368 yards, four TDs and one interception while sharing reps with three other passers. He completed 65.1 percent of his passes and turned in a passer rating of 113.3.

He capped that off on Thursday night with his 7-for-11 outing throwing for 125 yards and this perfect TD pass. That performance seemed to have cemented his spot at No. 2.

As a rookie, Rudolph spent all of 2018 behind Josh Dobbs and never saw action in a regular season game. Dobbs, on the other hand, played in five games as QB2. Whether or not Pittsburgh decides to keep all three on the roster like last year is to be seen. NFL teams have to cut their rosters to 53 by Saturday afternoon.

While winning the role of backup isn’t his ultimate goal, Rudolph is perfectly placed to continue to develop behind a future Hall of Famer in Big Ben and is sure to get his shot to make a play when it counts. Before last year, Roethlisberger hadn’t appeared in 16 games the previous four seasons.

The Steelers kick off their 2019 season on September 9 in Foxborough, taking on the Super Bowl champ New England Patriots. And Rudolph is just one play away.