When the Steelers hired Matt Canada as quarterbacks coach in the offseason, many looked at it as a way to infuse more play-action and motion concepts into the team's offense.
But Ben Roethlisberger has never been a big proponent of play-action -- he doesn't like to turn his back to the defense -- and the motion concepts have been used sporadically, largely because the team's most effective offensive packages this season have come when the Steelers are using the muddle huddle with Roethlisberger calling plays.
Canada's biggest contribution to the Steelers was on display last Sunday in Cleveland. Mason Rudolph threw for 315 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, nearly leading the Steelers past the Browns with a makeshift lineup, despite the fact Cleveland was playing for a postseason berth.
Rudolph looked more at home in the pocket and showed good movement at times, keeping his eyes downfield. He also looked more comfortable overall than he had when the 2018 third-round draft pick stepped in for an injured Roethlisberger last season.
"I thought Mason’s performance was great," Mike Tomlin opined after that game.
"It was reasonable to expect improvement in his play. This guy has been working extremely hard really for 12 calendar months. At the quarterback position, there are not many opportunities. This was his first extended action of the 2020 football season so we anticipated him being better, and he was.”
Rudolph spent the offseason earlier this year working with a private quarterback coach on his footwork within the pocket. But he also credited the hiring of Canada as a reason for his improvement.
In Rudolph's first two seasons, offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner also served as the team's quarterbacks coach -- his former position. But, when wide receivers coach Daryl Drake unexpectedly died early in training camp last August, the Steelers were forced to scramble and adjust some coaching duties. And Fichtner, who initially was hired by Tomlin in 2007 as the team's wide receivers coach, worked with that group, as well, helping interim wide receivers coach Ray Sherman.
"It’s been great. With Coach Drake passing away tragically at the start of the season, Randy does a great job, he’s been a receivers coach, he knows that position so well," Rudolph said. "He knows the quarterback position. But I think any coach would say that it’s a lot to manage that many people. Randy’s done a great job, and he’s been there from the beginning with me."
But as the offensive coordinator and picking up some additional duties with the receivers, that didn't necessarily leave a lot of time for Rudolph, especially this year.
During practices, Canada always has the young quarterbacks working on footwork and going through passing drills on the field that isn't being used. It was something Fichtner just didn't have as much time to do the past two seasons as the offensive coordinator.
"It has been a plus to have a guy that you can talk to during practice and just an extra guy that you can have in your hip pocket that is your quarterback coach and maybe when Randy is talking to Ben after practice or off the field about the game plan, what he likes, what he doesn’t like, Matt does a good job of asking me every week, ‘If you get in the game, what are your favorites?’" Rudolph said.
"It may be a little different from Ben or it may be the same as Ben each week. But Matt does a good job of asking all of the quarterbacks, ‘Hey, what are your favorites?’ "
That paid off Sunday.
Rudolph might not ever be the heir apparent to Roethlisberger, but he showed great improvement. And that improvement could at least mean he'll be given an opportunity to continue improving with the hope he can have a role when Roethlisberger decides to retire. Whether that role is as the starter, the backup or the bridge while another starter is groomed remains to be seen.
But he has a believer in Roethlisberger.
"I do, and I felt that even before that game," Roethlisberger said when asked if he feels Rudolph can be an NFL starter. "It didn’t take him going out there and playing well for me to feel that way. I thought he played well. I thought he handled the pocket well. He made some great throws down the field and gave us a real chance to win that football game. He's just showing the rest of the world what we've already seen here."
MORE STEELERS
• Omar Khan, the Steelers' vice president of football and administration, got an interview this week for the open GM spot in Houston, but I'm told that was a perfunctory thing. The man running the search for Korn Ferry, the agency hired to find viable candidates for the Texans, is Jed Hughes. If that name sounds familiar, it should to Steelers fans. Hughes was linebackers coach under Chuck Noll from 1984 through 1988, and he wasn't, shall we say, popular with the rest of the coaching staff. In fact, he went as far as to go behind then-defensive coordinator Tony Dungy's back to Noll to get former first-round draft pick Aaron Jones moved to outside linebacker. So Hughes, who was fired at Dan Rooney's insistence following the 1988 season and hasn't been a coach since spending the 1989 season with the Browns, is now running searches for Korn Ferry. And he's friendly with Khan. So, Korn Ferry also has led GM searches with the Jets and Seahawks, two other teams Khan previously interviewed for the GM spot with. That's not to say Khan didn't deserve an interview. He's obviously talented. It is worth noting that Korn Ferry recommended five people to the Texans. Houston talked to them all -- and then hired a new GM who wasn't on the list -- former Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio. -- Lolley
• The referee for Sunday night's Steelers-Browns rematch will be Shawn Smith. Smith's crew worked the Steelers' games this season against the Texans and Bills. The crew specializes in pass interference penalties, having called that 24 times. That tied Brad Allen's crew for the second-most pass interference penalties called. Smith's crew also called 22 holding penalties and 13 roughing the passer penalties. Smith's crew ranked 10th out of 17 crews in terms of overall penalties called, but because of the pass interference penalties, was fourth in penalty yardage per game at 105.38. Alex Kemp's crew called the most pass interference penalties with 30. Kemp's crew also called the most holding penalties in the league with 42. Kemp's crew will be working the Bears-Saints playoff game. Be forewarned if you're watching that game. But given Smith's crew's propensity to call pass interference, that could be good news for the Steelers, whose 19 pass interference penalties drawn this season tied Miami for the second-most in the league behind Tampa Bay (24). But the Browns led the league with just four pass interference penalties called against them this season. The Steelers had nine. -- Lolley
• Plenty of eyebrows were raised when the Steelers released rookie offensive lineman Derwin Gray, their seventh-round draft pick, and that only heightened when he was snapped up on waivers by the Jaguars. It's possible that'll come back to haunt management, just as it is when cutting anyone loose. But don't bet on it. I'm told that the Steelers' management had legit concerns about Gray's knees, at least in the immediate future. While they appreciated his general strength, he wasn't going to be able to generate NFL-level push without the lower body. -- Dejan Kovacevic
PENGUINS
• It remains to be seen how the Penguins' coaching staff will fare over the course of a season, but it does have at least one intriguing feature: Everyone on it has head-coaching experience in the pros. Todd Reirden ran the bench in Washington for the past two seasons and Mike Vellucci has been an American Hockey League head coach in Charlotte and Wilkes-Barre, and Mike Sullivan contends that having assistants with those entries on their resume can only be a plus. "I look at it as a positive thing," he said. "I think Mike and Todd both, with the experience they have being a head coach, understand the circumstances and the things I think about and the things I go through as the head coach. They understand that perspective because they've sat in that seat. Therefore, the guidance and the feedback and input that these guys are going to bring to the table will bring a certain perspective." He also seems confident that the staff will develop a chemistry that will enhance the group's effectiveness. "When you go through experiences as a staff, both good and bad, then relationships have an opportunity to grow and develop," he said. "I would expect that ours would be no different. We'll go through experiences together -- hopefully, more positive ones than negative ones -- but both will help us grow as a staff. That's what makes coaching and the experience of the fraternity of coaches so rewarding and fulfilling. Coaches become a close-knit group because of how difficult the job is and because of how competitive the circumstances are. All of the staffs that I've been a part of, I've built some of the best friendships in my lifetime. I don't expect this to be any different." -- Dave Molinari
• Almost from the moment Jason Botterill was fired as GM in Buffalo last year, a return to the Penguins seemed inevitable. After all, he'd had a good run as Jim Rutherford's associate GM and was well-liked and extremely well-respected inside the organization. What's more, both sides made it clear working together again had a strong appeal to all concerned. Indeed, the only reason Botterill wasn't already back on the payroll appeared to be that the Penguins were trying to hold down costs after losing so much revenue during the pandemic, and Botterill had two years remaining on his Sabres contract. It was a shock, then, when Seattle GM Ron Francis, who played a bit of center for the Penguins in the 1990s, announced a few days ago that he was hiring Botterill as an assistant GM. It turns out that strong friendships with Rutherford aren't all those two share. Francis noted in a text that he and Botterill (along with Ron Hextall) had joined forces on Canada's management team at the 2019 world championships, and it was during that tournament he "really appreciated all that he can do and what an even better person he is." -- Molinari
• Some of the Penguins' oldest, and most important, players handle some of their largest workloads. Last season, Kris Letang averaged a team-high 25 minutes, 44 seconds of ice time per game, while Sidney Crosby placed fourth (20:16) and Evgeni Malkin eighth (19:30). Sullivan seems to be keenly aware of the importance of not draining the energy reserves of big-minute veterans, but noted that plans to hold down a particular individual's playing time can be sabotaged by circumstances that arise during a game. "We've always been a coaching staff that tried to manage minutes and, at the same time, balance trying to win hockey games," he said. "It's easy on the outside sometimes to say, 'Yeah, we want to manage a guy's minutes.' But when you're in a 3-2 hockey game and you're trying to get two points, you're looking down the bench at the backs of the sweaters and you're going to put the guys on the ice who are going to get the job done." That point is well-taken, although Sullivan suggested that the Penguins appear to have enough capable players that the minutes can be spread a little more evenly than in some other seasons. "We're very encouraged by the depth of our group," he said. "We'll, for sure, do our best to be cognizant of workloads, game-to-game and day-to-day, and we'll try to make the best decisions, accordingly." -- Molinari
PIRATES
• There are two different trade profiles for Joe Musgrove: What he has actually done and what his peripherals suggest he could be. In his three years with the Pirates, he has gone 18-26 with a 4.23 ERA, and the Pirates won just one of his eight starts in 2020. However, in that same time frame he has posted a 3.69 FIP, identical to Cardinals ace Jack Flaherty. Of the 75 pitchers who have recorded at least 300 innings pitched since 2018, only three have a larger gap between ERA and FIP: Rick Porcello, Chris Sale and Jon Gray. Gray is with the Rockies and Porcello and Sale were with the Red Sox in 2018 and 2019. So, they all pitched in offensive ballparks. In Musgrove’s case, part of that gap can be attributed to his reliance on his fastball, which is synonymous with the previous coaching staff. But Musgrove likes throwing it too. Once he returned from the injured list last year, he threw his offspeed and breaking pitches more and had his best month with the Pirates. That stretch boosted his trade value. Unless a team wants to give a king’s ransom for Sonny Gray or Luis Castillo of the Reds, or sign Trevor Bauer to a giga-contract, Musgrove is the best starter remaining on the market and cheaper than the alternatives, even if he will cost a couple top prospects. -- Alex Stumpf
• Who was newly acquired right-hander Wil Crowe’s main pitching competition back in his travel ball and high school days? Pirates first baseman Will Craig. The two grew up within a couple hours of each other, so they had regular matchups. The families of the two became friends as well. “He got me a few times, and I know I got him a few times,” Crowe told me. “It was always a good matchup.” Craig eventually converted to being a position player, though he was still a closer in college at Wake Forest. -- Stumpf
• Speaking of Craig, after being designated for assignment and outrighted off the roster in late November, he seems to have a real shot at reclaiming a spot in 2021, partly due to the lack of first-base depth after Josh Bell was traded and Jose Osuna released. Outside of Colin Moran, the only other players on the roster who have played first base in the Major Leagues are Erik Gonzalez (33 ⅓ innings in 2018), backup catcher Michael Perez (three appearances, no starts) and Phillip Evans (one career start last year, in which he fractured his jaw colliding with Gregory Polanco). Craig is a minor-league Gold Glove-winning first baseman and can play corner outfield, which could be a selling point since there are only four outfielders on the roster. The Pirates liked the body of work he had in the Altoona camp last season, which is why he was promoted for a bit. But Craig was added to the roster in 2019 based on the word of the previous player development group, since Ben Cherington was hired shortly before prospects needed to be protected from the Rule 5 draft. The new regime likes Craig too, but feels he has to earn his spot on the team. -- Stumpf