Photo: steelers.com
The rumors of an Aaron Rodgers addition were plentiful all offseason. The former four-time NFL MVP officially announced and signed with the team over the weekend. For some, that’s exciting news. For others, including Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph, it may be disappointing.
It’s nothing new for Rudolph, who has kept his head high and mouth silent while witnessing a revolving door of quarterbacks come and go since he was drafted by Pittsburgh in 2018. Rudolph re-signed with the Steelers in March, following a year with the Tennessee Titans and after leading the Steelers to three-straight wins and a postseason berth to close the 2023 season.
Those three games were among the most stable that Rudolph has had during his time in Pittsburgh. Yet, even the four-game stretch (including the playoff game at Buffalo) wasn’t a full indictment on whether or not he can carry a franchise.
In 2018, the Steelers traded up in the third round to select Rudolph, the sixth quarterback taken in that year’s draft. He would sit for a full season behind Ben Roethlisberger and Joshua Dobbs, the latter with whom he would compete and win the primary backup role in 2019.
This would start the bad streak of luck for Mason, who was tossed into the team’s second game at halftime after it was discovered that Ben Roethlisberger had injured his elbow. Big Ben would be sidelined for the season, with Rudolph now the team’s starter after taking second- and third-string reps during training camp and the preseason.
To add to the tough situation, the 2019 Steelers offense was dysfunctional at best. Former quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner was the team’s offensive coordinator. As Big Ben’s buddy, the Steelers never hired a replacement for Fichtner, who could’ve helped in Mason’s shotgun development.
And shotgun it was.
Rudolph would play with a ragtag group of offensive players. His first interception was off the hands of Donte Moncrief. (Remember him?) Other “luminaries” that Rudolph threw or handed off to that season included JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Conner, who each missed large portions of games due to injuries.
In their stead the Steelers would field anyone they could find, such as Benny Snell, Trey Edmunds, Kerrith Whyte, Tony Brooks-James, and Jaylen Samuels in the backfield. Nick Vannett was a short-lived tight end in Pittsburgh who played alongside the usually injured Vance McDonald and an unreliable Xavier Grimble.
They were flanked by receivers including James Washington, a rookie Diontae Johnson, Deon Cain, Tevin Jones, Johnny Holton, and Ryan Switzer.
Needless to say, the talent surrounding Rudolph was the least of his worries as the season unfolded. He would be concussed by Baltimore Ravens safety Earl Thomas midway through his third start. Rudolph would return and lead the Steelers to three wins before a disastrous short week that saw the quarterback throw four picks and get in a fight with Myles Garrett in an ugly loss at Cleveland.
He would be benched for undrafted QB Devlin Hodges for a few games, but return in a must-win situation against the New York Jets, throwing a touchdown pass while simultaneously getting slammed by a defender and breaking his collarbone. The injury ended his tumultuous first year of game experience.
The 2020 pandemic season saw Rudolph get spot duty until the final game of the year, where the Steelers sat most of their starters against the Cleveland Browns. It was a must-win for Cleveland, and Rudolph threw for over 300 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
However, Cleveland would win and then face the Steelers in the infamous fan-less playoff game, the last played in Pittsburgh.
Rudolph would once again get a starting opportunity in 2021, but on short notice, as Roethlisberger was ruled out on a Saturday night after testing positive for COVID. With no full week of practice, Rudolph went out and threw 50 passes (one touchdown, one interception) in a tie against the (then) hapless Detroit Lions.
Many fans were upset with this game, but truth be told, it was Matt Canada’s offense, a lack of stopping the run on defense, and a series of fumbles by Pat Freiermuth and Diontae Johnson that limited the Steelers in that game.
Other than subbing in for Roethlisberger following a blowout at Kansas City, we wouldn’t see Mason appear in a game again for nearly two years, as Pittsburgh signed Mitchell Trubisky and drafted Kenny Pickett. Despite Rudolph looking strong in camp, Trubisky’s contract trumped Rudolph’s tenure, and Pickett’s draft pedigree would supersede any chance of Rudolph seeing the field.
Rudolph would finally get an opportunity in late 2023, after Pickett was sidelined and Mike Tomlin had had enough of Trubisky. With nothing to lose, Rudolph was installed as the starter, but the team was far from perfect.
Pittsburgh fired Matt Canada weeks earlier and was working with an interim tandem of offensive coordinators. The team itself had a long streak of gaining fewer than 400 yards and failing to score 30 points. Yet, Rudolph led the Steelers to two straight games with 30 or more points, and with some assistance and luck, they made the playoffs.
His thank you in the coming months was to see Russell Wilson announce he would join the Steelers during the offseason. Following a knee-jerk reaction that sent Pickett to the Eagles, Rudolph opted to join the Titans, who turned out to be the worst team in football last season.
After signing with the Steelers, there was chatter for weeks about whether Rudolph would be good enough to be their starter, or if he was sitting in limbo while the team pursued Rodgers. After all, Rudolph was drafted in a class that includes the last two MVPs, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson, plus late bloomers who have bounced between teams, Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold.
Who’s to say Rudolph couldn’t find success, too? However, with the Rodgers news official, it becomes apparent that 2025 will be another offseason where the quarterback is set to take reps behind a veteran while watching over his shoulder at another rookie, Ohio State’s Will Howard.
Will Rudolph ever be seen as a viable contender to start for the Steelers? They brought him back for a reason. They also signed Rodgers for a reason, making it difficult to saw what their trust level with Rudolph is.
The least I can say is, we’ve seen what Mason can do with short prep and coming out of almost insane situations where other players would easily fold. The reality is, we may never know what he can do with full preparation.
Barring any setbacks, Rodgers is set to be the Steelers’ starting quarterback when the season opens in September. The keyword is setbacks. For Rudolph that may be the only way he ever sees any shake – fair or otherwise – going forward.
