There seems to be a narrative, especially nationally, that Mason Rudolph stinks. He is among the lowest-ranked backups in the NFL, according to some, who seem to lump him in with Devlin Hodges when it comes to talent.
Thing is, Rudolph is better than Hodges. Always has been. Always will be.
It's why one was selected in the third round of the draft and the other was not only undrafted, but unsigned after the draft. That the Steelers won three games in 2019 with Hodges at quarterback is nothing short of a miracle.
It was a great story, but that's all it was at the time.
As for Rudolph, he made eight starts that season between getting a concussion in Week 5 against the Ravens, getting benched in a lackluster start in Week 12 against the Bengals, and suffering a shoulder injury in Week 16 against the Jets.
That benching just after halftime against the Bengals came a week after the worst start of his career in a Thursday night game in Cleveland, a game in which he threw four interceptions and ended the game by getting bludgeoned with his own helmet by Myles Garrett. But that game also saw the Steelers lose James Conner, Diontae Johnson and JuJu Smith-Schuster to injuries during the game. He played a large portion of that game throwing to the likes of Johnny Holton and Tevin Jones, neither of whom were in the NFL last season. Ben Roethlisberger would have struggled under those circumstances.
Then, after Garrett accused him -- without proof -- of using a racial slur three days before the game against the Bengals, the die might have been cast for what was going to happen against the Bengals. At the very least, it was a very distracting week.
Regardless, the Steelers still believe in Rudolph, so much so that they gave him a $5 million contract extension for the 2022 season, meaning he'll at least get an opportunity to be the starter next season should Roethlisberger retire, or be the primary backup again if he doesn't.
What gives the Steelers that belief? Well, as GM Kevin Colbert said during a Steelers Nation Unite call with fans after Rudolph's rookie season, they had a first-round grade on the former Oklahoma State star when they used a third-round pick on him in 2018.
They had him rated among the other five quarterbacks selected in the first round of the draft that year -- Baker Mayfield first to the Browns, Sam Darnold third to the Jets, Josh Allen seventh to the Bills, Josh Rosen 10th to the Cardinals and Lamar Jackson 32nd to the Ravens.
Darnold has already been traded away, moving from Jets to the Panthers this offseason, while Rosen is with the 49ers, his fourth team, since the Cardinals selected him.
The other three have had at least some level of success and are expected to receive contract extensions of their own -- as soon as this year.
But how were they all in their first nine starts, which is how many Rudolph has now made in his career, including the regular season finale against the Browns last season?
Well, that's where it gets interesting. Let's take a look.
Completion Percentage
Mayfield was the most accurate of the group in his first nine starts, all of which came in 2018 after he took over the starting job three games into the season over Tyrod Taylor. Mayfield completed 62.5 percent of his passes in his first nine starts.
Jackson, the only other player of the group in addition to Rudolph who didn't make his first nine starts in his rookie season, was second with a 61.9 percent completion rate. This despite the general feeling that he's not a great passer. Rudolph comes in third in that statistic at 60.7 percent in his first nine starts.
Darnold (55.1), Rosen (54.1) and Allen (52.9) ranked fourth, fifth and sixth, though Allen has dramatically improved in that area, completing 69.2 percent of his passes last season.
Depth of target matters here, however, as well. Jackson led the way at 7.9 yards per attempt, while Mayfield was second (7.4), followed by Darnold (6.7), Rosen and Rudolph (6.5) and Allen (6.1).
Yards
We'll include both rushing and passing yards here, since they count toward overall production.
Mayfield ranked first there, as well, with 2,438 passing yards, though his 109 rushing yards were only the third-most among the class. But that also was because the team went just 3-6 in his first nine starts, meaning he was throwing a lot late in games as the Browns tried to come back.
Darnold ranked second among the 2018 quarterbacks with 1,934 passing yards, though like Mayfield, it was because the Jets were behind a lot. They won just two of his first nine starts, which ranked last in the class. Darnold gained 62 rushing yards on 30 attempts.
Rudolph ranked third there, as he did in completion percentage. He has thrown for 1,839 yards in his nine career starts, though his 36 rushing yards on 19 career attempts ranked last in the class.
Jackson (1,710 yards), Rosen (1,634) and Allen (1,559) bring up the rear, though Jackson's rushing yards were far and away the most in the class, as he gained 682 on 138 attempts. Allen had 480 rushing yards on about half the attempts -- 71 -- of Jackson. Rosen gained 66 yards on 14 carries.
Touchdowns to Interceptions
While Mayfield led the way with 18 touchdown passes, he also threw 10 interceptions, which was tied for second-most.
This is where Jackson really stands out. He and Rudolph tied for second with 12 touchdown passes in their first nine starts, but Jackson also threw just three interceptions, the fewest in the class. Rudolph has nine, though four came in that aforementioned game at Cleveland.
Darnold (11 touchdown passes, 14 interceptions), Rosen (10 touchdowns, 10 interceptions) and Allen (6 touchdowns and 9 interceptions) bring up the rear on this one.
It all adds up to a passer rating of 99.6 for Jackson, 90.4 for Mayfield and 80.7 in his starts for Rudolph. Rosen (69.7), Darnold (68.3) and Allen (66.1) bring up the rear in that category, well behind the top three.
Conclusion
Those writing off Rudolph might be premature. He's not the best quarterback in the draft class and likely never will be with a pair of stars in Jackson and Allen involved, but he's certainly not the worst of those top 6.
In fact, if this conversation took place two years ago, many would argue Allen was the worst of the group. His rookie season was a mess. And his second year, while improved, didn't portend what happened in 2020 when he became a completely transformed passer at 25.
Players are allowed to get better.
Rudolph doesn't stand out in any one category when measured against the others in his draft class, but he's also clearly right there with them when it comes to throwing the ball.
He's never going to challenge Jackson, Allen or even Mayfield as a runner, but he's not completely immobile, either.
And while his jump in his third season wasn't anywhere near as dramatic as that of Allen, he did see an improvement in his one start in 2020, throwing for 315 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in a loss to the Browns with several starters sitting out.
There's something there with which to work, which is why the Steelers gave him $5 million for 2022 when they really didn't need to do so.
But he's obviously learning.
"There are so many positives you can take from being under a Hall of Fame quarterback like Ben Roethlisberger, learning from that, having a chance to watch him work, watch him interact with people," Rudolph said last week.
"It’s been a great three years. I’ve made mistakes, but you want to learn from that. I don’t want to make the same mistake twice. Coach (Mike) Tomlin always talks about that."