Going into 2023, Mason Rudolph was the third-string quarterback on the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ depth chart. Now, he may be playing himself into the team’s future.
During a question and answer piece, Gerry Dulac of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said that there is “no question” the Steelers will try and re-sign Rudolph this offseason, predicting that they will give him a contract in the neighborhood of two years at $11.5 million.
Of course, Dulac did not go as far to say that Rudolph is Pittsburgh’s franchise quarterback.
Later, another fan asked Dulac what Kenny Pickett losing his job to Rudolph late this season means for Pickett’s future, but Dulac said it doesn’t mean a whole lot, stating that Pickett will be under center for the Steelers in 2024.
We’ll see what ends up happening between now and then, but Rudolph has certainly created an interesting situation in Pittsburgh.
Pickett has been sidelined since Week 14 due to an ankle injury that required surgery. Initially, he was replaced by Mitchell Trubisky, but after Trubisky struggled mightily in a pair of starts, Rudolph stepped in and has led the Steelers to two straight wins.
The original expectation was that Pickett would return toward the end of the season, and now, he appears healthy enough to do so. However, Pittsburgh has opted to stick with Rudolph.
In three appearances and two starts this year, Rudolph has thrown for 567 yards and a couple of touchdowns while completing 68.5 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 115.3. This marked the first time that Rudolph has started any games since 2021.
Mason Rudolph, who played his collegiate football at Oklahoma State, was selected by the Steelers in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft. He made eight starts during his second season, totaling 1,765 yards, 13 touchdowns and nine picks.
Pittsburgh is 8-8 this year and will battle the Baltimore Ravens in its season finale this Sunday. The Steelers need to beat the Ravens and get some help in order to make the playoffs.
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