A lot of yinz need to take it a little easier on Mason Rudolph. We do a segment every Monday on our show called "Sangry Tweets." We read some of the outrageous things that Steeler fans say on Twitter about players and coaches.
Mason Rudolph was BLASTED by a vocal population of the Steelers Twitter fan base on Sunday. Why? He's not Ben Roethlisberger? Is that his sin?
He won.
Mason Rudolph doesn’t have a ton of experience. He’s a second year QB who barely got any reps all last season because he was the third string quarterback.
He's not long removed from suffering one of the more vicious hits that I’ve ever seen.
When it comes to young QB's, it is a mixed bag. Mason's numbers, though, are pretty good. 10 TD's, 4 INT's with a QB rating of 94.
Baker Mayfield is in HIS second season and has a QB rating of 71.3.
Sam Darnold is in year number two and has a passer rating of 70.
Mitch Trubisky has a rating of 80, and your eyes tell you that he's been worse than that.
Josh Allen has thrown 10 TD’s and 7 INT’s and his QB rating is 82.
I get that Rudolph is trying hard not to make mistakes. I get that the Steelers are treating him with kid gloves. But his numbers are pretty decent and he's winning football games.
You don't want to see Rudolph makes mistakes because the margin for error is thin right now with the Steelers already having four losses.
But he’s a second year QB. First time starter. He’s going to have really good moments. He’s going to have some atrocious moments. The sack/safety on Sunday was inexcusable. But, it’s important to understand that there will be ups and downs.
How about leading the Steelers down the field for the game winning field goal drive? He saw the safety was flat footed and didn’t have enough depth, and he chucked the ball up to James Washington. He made his biggest play of the game when the Steelers needed him to make a big play.
Rudolph shouldn’t be held to Ben Roethlisberger’s standard.
The Steelers are trying to make the playoffs with a backup QB.
It ain’t going to be pretty. There will be lumps. Mason Rudolph is a work in progress who is already outperforming some peers despite not having as many reps.
Be patient with the kid.