Mason Rudolph should be Ben Roethlisberger's backup. I've seen enough. Call it. I know it's been just one preseason game, but I don't care. I've made up my mind.
In Friday's game, Rudolph threw a beautiful back shoulder throw to James Washington. It was perfect timing, and the accuracy was sublime. Later, he tossed a TD to Zach Gentry in the back of the end zone. On that play, he displayed great pocket presence.
Last year against the Raiders, instead of running the offense, Josh Dobbs could have spiked the ball play after play and it would have given the Steelers a better chance to win. He finished with a QB rating of 12.
On Friday Dobbs had a QB rating of 98.4, but I thought it was misleading. He had an interception called back due to penalty. His deep shot to James Washington was woefully under-thrown. He badly overthrew a wide receiver on the first 3rd down of the game. He relies on his legs too much.
Mason Rudolph keeps his eyes downfield. He's showing he's got timing in the offense. He was a 3rd round pick. For all of those reasons, I want to see him win the backup QB job.