Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin flipped things around on Saturday night, putting rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett in ahead of veteran Mason Rudolph. The Steelers beat the Jacksonville Jaguars in the preseason showdown thanks to a masterful final drive by Rudolph capped with the game-winning touchdown pass to Tyler Snead.
In fact, Rudolph’s entire performance in the second half was very good. Rudolph showed confidence with the football and an excellent command of the offense. In one half of action, Rudolph threw for 127 yards on 17-for-21 passing and that one passing touchdown.
After the game, Tomlin was hesitant to offer up any praise for Rudolph’s performance instead playing it off as a “varsity guy in a JV game.” If I were Rudolph I would take exception to this characterization. All his offensive teammates were JV and let’s be honest, some worse and he elevated their play. This is the mark of a great quarterback and Rudolph did it. You can bet if he hasn’t played well, the level of talent around wouldn’t have come up.
Let us know in the comments what you thought of Rudolph’s performance and make a prediction about his future in Pittsburgh.
