Post it here. What are your thoughts on Mason Rudolph being the starter

[Steeltime]

Unfortunately that's where we're at now, with celebrations on the first female this, or first gay that, rather than basing a hire on the persons actual qualifications. Everyone should be given a fair shake as long as they're the best fit for the job. I think Coach Tomlin was a good hire at the time, but just like McCarthy and Andy Reid, it might be best for both parties to part ways. And I don't care about the next coach's skin color, gender, or sexual orientation as long as they know how to coach and win football games. After all, isn't that why they should be hired in the first place?

So you're saying the Steelers should hire the first female non-binary gay asexual non-colored person of color that is not ... a certain color?

 

[Steeltime]

O-line with Hassenhauer and Leglue looked pretty damn good. I think Trai Turner is a liability but maybe they plug Kendrick Green in at RG. Then they have Kevin Dotson as backup Guard........it's possible their O-line is not that far off. They were good tonight!

I am mystified at the number of SN members who opine that Green does seem to suck at center, but if we just move him to guard ...

Uhh, he is overpowered at C. His performance has been embarrassing. He looks like a high school sophomore going up against the Bama defensive line. How the hell would moving him to guard and making sure he has a huge defensive tackle lined up over him make him stronger or less likely to get shoved into the backfield?

Green sucks because he sucks, not because of where he is sucking.

Further, last night's game showed me that passing on Creed Humphrey cost this team at least 1-2 wins THIS year. Seriously, put in even an average center and the team puts up 191 yards rushing and 29 points. Put one of the best centers in the NFL in the same lineup for 17 games?

Yeah, big difference.

 

[NYSteel]

If league history tells us anything, it's that when your HOF QB retires, the team generally hits mediocrity, at best....and a perennial doormat at worst.

I'm aware of only two instances where a departing HOF QB handed off to an incoming future HOF QB: Montana to Young, and Favre to Rodgers.

Interestingly, Young didn't work out with the team that drafted him (Bucs) but he became the best in biz for a while.

The last time we lost our HOF QB (Bradshaw) it took 21 years until we found another one. I am hopeful that it doesn't take that long again, but only time will tell.

From what I have seen, Rudolph is going to be a major drop-off in play compared to Ben. However, that certainly doesn't eliminate the ability to to compete and win.

The Steelers fielded some very competitive teams in the years between Terry and Ben, even making the super bowl in '95. But, it remains incredibly difficult to win it a journeyman QB.

Interesting times ahead for sure. I personally believe Ben has extended Tomlin's tenure as coach. A HOF qb hides many deficiencies in the coaching ranks. That luxury will no longer be available. Perhaps that's why all the chatter about trying to land Rodgers as he nears the end of his time in the league.

I still cringe at the memories of having the best defense in the league with Kordell under center... Very competitive teams.... But we know the rest...

Cheers and happy new year.

 

[ZonaBurgh]

So you're saying the Steelers should hire the first female non-binary gay asexual non-colored person of color that is not ... a certain color?

If they know how to coach, hire competent assistants and consistently get the Steelers to the playoffs, win some playoff games, with the occasional Lombardi, I'm good with that.

 

[Marchetti67]

F#%K No....

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

Mason has played OK when given a fair shot. Problem is many of his starts were when the steelers lacked weapons, trying to complete balls to practice squad guys.

They put a few years of development into him so they should absolutely give him a shot next year. That doesn't mean you don't draft a QB or sign a vet or both. If Mason gets beaten out then so be it.

This OL could be easily fixed. They may have a player in Dan Moore and Chukes is not awful at RT. So they could be fine at OT. Dotson is good at OT. They have to draft or sign a C. Just like Rudolph, you give Green a shot but have competition for him. We already saw a big difference in OL play just having Hassenauer in over Green. This OL really could be 1 good draft pick or free agent away from being good.

 

[Tibs]

If I needed to come up with one word to describe Mason Rudolph, it would be: skittish.

He doesn't elicit much confidence, in my view. Perhaps his confidence would grow with Ben no longer around. Perhaps his body language would begin to exude know-how & leadership. Perhaps, he can become a leader of men. I still see a young buck a bit afraid of his own shadow. Will never forget how Ben came in as a rookie to go 13-0. You could tell it was the beginning of a new dawn, a new era. You saw clear signs of the greatness to come. I've never felt anything close to that watching Mason Rudolph play QB.

 

[topseed]

This OL could be easily fixed. They may have a player in Dan Moore and Chukes is not awful at RT. So they could be fine at OT. Dotson is good at OT. They have to draft or sign a C. Just like Rudolph, you give Green a shot but have competition for him. We already saw a big difference in OL play just having Hassenauer in over Green. This OL really could be 1 good draft pick or free agent away from being good.

"Not awful" is a good way to describe Okorafor. Although he does have 7 penalties in 2021, I was surprised to find that none of those were for holding. Villanueva has 8 holding calls for the Ravens this season.

Dotson is a guard. And I'd say that he's more average than good.

Hassenauer is only 26; he could still develop into an adequate starter at center. Interested to see how he performs against Baltimore's front this week. Tomlin probably stunted whatever potential Green had by forcing him into a position the guy was obviously not ready to play.

 

[TDX27]

Chuks is finishing his 4th year. Yes, he does suck. If he is a FA, the best I offer him is the least I possibly can to be a 2nd or 3rd string player. He is NOT a starter. Green has a ton more potential than Chuks. If Chuks doesn't accept a low ball offer, then let him walk. He definitely is not worth starting RT money and nowhere near it.

 

[FordFairLane]

I honestly don’t feel we have one legitimate starting offensive lineman. At least where they are now. I think Moore is better off at LG or RT. Trai hopefully was a stop gap at guard. Green “could” develop but I’m not holding my breath. JC is at best a serviceable depth player. Dotson has disappointed and his arrow is pointing down. Hopefully he bounces back and can become a serviceable starter but again I’m not holding my breath. Chuks is god awful and the only way I bring him back is for a cheap 1 year deal. And WTF is up with Banner? He was hurt in September 2020. Lots of guys are playing in 9 months after an ACL. Look at Dupree. He’s been sidelined 16 months? I’d gather him and Tuitt are likely to be cut in 2022.

 

[Litos]

Dotson was a rookie last season, he has potencial, a lot actually

 

[Steeler Pride]

Mason has played OK when given a fair shot. Problem is many of his starts were when the steelers lacked weapons, trying to complete balls to practice squad guys.

They put a few years of development into him so they should absolutely give him a shot next year. That doesn't mean you don't draft a QB or sign a vet or both. If Mason gets beaten out then so be it.

This OL could be easily fixed. They may have a player in Dan Moore and Chukes is not awful at RT. So they could be fine at OT. Dotson is good at OT. They have to draft or sign a C. Just like Rudolph, you give Green a shot but have competition for him. We already saw a big difference in OL play just having Hassenauer in over Green. This OL really could be 1 good draft pick or free agent away from being good.

He was given the entire year pretty much after Ben's elbow injury and was largely outplayed by Duck Hodges.

 

[SteelBuckeye]

LT, LeGlue, C, Dotson, Moore or Moore, LeGlue, C, Dotson RT, is what I'd be looking at as a starting point. I'd try to find upgrades for LeGlue and/or Dotson and Center in FA, while also looking for a T that could push Moore to RT or play RT if Moore improves as a LT. In any event none of their jobs should be safe. If the Steelers can upgrade and push those guys to depth/swing roles, that's what they should do. This offense should run through Najee next year and to do that, they need capable OL.
After addressing OL, let's see if we can bring back AluAlu on a one year deal, sign Adams and find a stud DL in round one or two of the draft.

 

[madinsomniac]

I am mystified at the number of SN members who opine that Green does seem to suck at center, but if we just move him to guard ...

Uhh, he is overpowered at C. His performance has been embarrassing. He looks like a high school sophomore going up against the Bama defensive line. How the hell would moving him to guard and making sure he has a huge defensive tackle lined up over him make him stronger or less likely to get shoved into the backfield?

Green sucks because he sucks, not because of where he is sucking.

Further, last night's game showed me that passing on Creed Humphrey cost this team at least 1-2 wins THIS year. Seriously, put in even an average center and the team puts up 191 yards rushing and 29 points. Put one of the best centers in the NFL in the same lineup for 17 games?

Yeah, big difference.

So a few things… first off Green’s biggest problems stem from inadequate leverage on a lot of plays… yeah he is technically undersized, but every center Tomlin utilizes is as well… we dont use traditional centers because we want them to pull downfield…

The leverage problem is most likely because he isn’t used to snapping the ball they engaging the block… so yes, moving him to guard where he simply has to get his hands on the defensive player and not snap the ball simplifies the process and might rectify a lot of the problems with him getting overpowered…

Secondly the issues we see with him we saw with big Hauss last season… its common for linemen to take a couple yearscto refine their technique

Green just really wasn’t ready this year

 

[SteelBuckeye]

By the way, anyone who saw how they addressed the OL this year should realize that no new QB who could push for the QB1 job is being brought in. There will be a farcical "competition" for that job between Rudolph, Haskins and Dobbs.

 

[TDX27]

I've said it many times before about Green. He needs an NFL offseason. He can work on his technique, which he was lacking since he just moved from G to C. And, he needs to add strength. He can and should improve significantly. Will it be enough? We shall see.

Moore is in the same boat but Moore did a lot better at LT than Greed did at C. He was much better than Chuks at LT and even better than Chuks when he moved to RT. I fully expect Moore to improve significantly at LT.

 

[SteelBuckeye]

I've said it many times before about Green. He needs an NFL offseason. He can work on his technique, which he was lacking since he just moved from G to C. And, he needs to add strength. He can and should improve significantly. Will it be enough? We shall see.

Moore is in the same boat but Moore did a lot better at LT than Greed did at C. He was much better than Chuks at LT and even better than Chuks when he moved to RT. I fully expect Moore to improve significantly at LT.

I get what you're saying and it's reasonable to expect improvement from both of the rookies. I'd still try to bring in some competition for both of them. Expectations don't guarantee results. I think everyone, fans, coaches, the media, had expectations for Dotson's improvement this year.

 

[Litos]

So a few things… first off Green’s biggest problems stem from inadequate leverage on a lot of plays… yeah he is technically undersized, but every center Tomlin utilizes is as well… we dont use traditional centers because we want them to pull downfield…

The leverage problem is most likely because he isn’t used to snapping the ball they engaging the block… so yes, moving him to guard where he simply has to get his hands on the defensive player and not snap the ball simplifies the process and might rectify a lot of the problems with him getting overpowered…

Secondly the issues we see with him we saw with big Hauss last season… its common for linemen to take a couple yearscto refine their technique

Green just really wasn’t ready this year

How could he? He hadn't played center at college. Stupid klem, stupid Tomlin and stupid colbert made that decision

 

[TDX27]

I get what you're saying and it's reasonable to expect improvement from both of the rookies. I'd still try to bring in some competition for both of them. Expectations don't guarantee results. I think everyone, fans, coaches, the media, had expectations for Dotson's improvement this year.

Absolutely. I think we need to bring in a starter caliber (not necessarily a pro-bowler but a legit starter) on both the OL and DL. AND, we need to draft DL and OL with our first 2 picks unless they decide to grab a QB in round 1. If they do that, then our next 2 picks need to be DL and OL. I might even double-dip on one or both. This approach will go a long way toward fixing both lines and is a must. I just hope Colbert and Tomlin see it the same way.

 

[Superman]

If I needed to come up with one word to describe Mason Rudolph, it would be: skittish.

He doesn't elicit much confidence, in my view. Perhaps his confidence would grow with Ben no longer around. Perhaps his body language would begin to exude know-how & leadership. Perhaps, he can become a leader of men. I still see a young buck a bit afraid of his own shadow. Will never forget how Ben came in as a rookie to go 13-0. You could tell it was the beginning of a new dawn, a new era. You saw clear signs of the greatness to come. I've never felt anything close to that watching Mason Rudolph play QB.

I can agree that Mason is skittish.

In regards to Ben doing what he did, we had (if I remember correctly) and OC who minimized the playbook so Ben wasn't in over his head. As for Mason at this point, he should know the playbook like he does the pine needles in his ***.

No, he does not inspire any confidence at all. None. Going into camp, I sure hope we've addressed the position and signed someone who can push Mason for starting duties. I doubt it will be Haskins. Dobbs will always be the more athletic of the three, but for some reason his intelligence and athleticism do not click for the position.

 

[madinsomniac]

How could he? He hadn't played center at college. Stupid klem, stupid Tomlin and stupid colbert made that decision

He played almost 200 snaps there total… so basically 2 1/2 to 3 games worth…. Not exactly a ton of experience for sure

 

[SteelerFan448]

This OL could be easily fixed. They may have a player in Dan Moore and Chukes is not awful at RT. So they could be fine at OT. Dotson is good at OT. They have to draft or sign a C. Just like Rudolph, you give Green a shot but have competition for him. We already saw a big difference in OL play just having Hassenauer in over Green. This OL really could be 1 good draft pick or free agent away from being good.

"Not awful" is not how you want to describe starting offensive linemen. That firmly puts them in the below average category. I don't think Dotson was particularly good this year, just average. The Steelers could legitimately replace all five starters this offseason I would would stand up and applaud them. They aren't going to do that, but this line needs some legit starters.

I was listening to Ryan Clark on The Fan this afternoon. The subject of Mason Rudolph came up and he basically said if the Steelers want to actually get back to contending for championships, Rudolph cannot be the QB. He does not think he can reach the level of Tannehill, Cousins, or even Jimmy G.

 

[Ghost of Frenchy Fuqua]

Mason, will be QB1 during OTAs and mini camp. Haskins will probably be tendered exclusive restricte, so relatively cheap. No doubt a FA will be brought in. Carr seems like a good risk and a change in scenery will do him well. Mariota is a decent player, but gets injured to often, so pass. Trubisky would be interesting but he needs stability in offensive line and game plan. He also might be a FA commodity to DEN, NYG, WAS and NO.

Carr? Derek Carr? Why would the Raiders move him? He's playing well, and is helping push them into the playoffs. He isn't going anywhere.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

Uncle Rico. He could toss a pigskin a quarter mile. Over them mountains.

 

[Ike Kelly]

Carr? Derek Carr? Why would the Raiders move him? He's playing well, and is helping push them into the playoffs. He isn't going anywhere.

His contract expires next season. Raiders can cut him saving almost $20 mil. They are interested in a couple of the QBs coming out now. They could (just as we could) sign a FA QB for say, $10 mil and draft one. Russ Wilson or Coach Pete will leave SEA, and I’m sure Russ wouldn’t mind at all playing in Vegas.