Steelers' Mason Rudolph Admits Jealousy Of New QBs As He Takes A Shot At Mike Tomlin

The Pittsburgh Steelers are very excited about the development of their young quarterbacks. There has been nothing but praise for both Will Howard and Drew Allar as they prepare for their second preseason game on Friday. Even veteran backup Mason Rudolph has made a lot of progress with this new system, and his sudden growth is giving the team a very tough decision on who to keep and who to cut. The next few weeks will be very interesting to monitor as everyone tries to prove their worth in practice, and on the field for preseason. 

Rudolph has had nothing but praise for the new system in place. While speaking with Tim Benz, he raved about how great Head Coach Mike McCarthy's "structure" is while simultaneously firing shots off at his previous coaching staff.

"I'm very aware that the fan base is starved for a franchise QB," Rudolph said. "People want to have hope for the future beyond this year. We've got two great QBs who are young and progressing. I really am jealous of the structure they have had and this program and this QB-grooming system the way that Coach McCarthy has done it because I feel that they have made a lot of strides. I'll be rooting them on Friday."

McCarthy's structure with developing quarterbacks has been praised nonstop ever since rookie minicamp began. However, the constant praise he has sometimes doubles up as a jab at how poorly Mike Tomlin's staff was with this. Rudolph didn't name any names specifically, but he also didn't try to hide his true feelings about how great his current environment is.

This is not the first time Rudolph has outright called out his old staff in this training camp. He previously spoke about how there was no structure at all when he was a rookie, and the best advice that he got was to not pay attention to Ben Roethlisberger's footwork since he did not do the same thing all the time. Despite not knowing how the NFL worked, nobody was seemingly there to teach him how to be a quality passer. 

Rudolph has held a lot of resentment towards Roethlisberger as well, since the veteran passer never mentored him the way that Aaron Rodgers has to him and the young signal-callers. It's no surprise why he looked underwhelming for most of the 2019 season, as he rarely got a chance to play after that. That magical run at the end of 2023 could have been something that fans got to see every year if he was developed properly early on.

Rudolph is right about the fan base being starved of a franchise quarterback ever since Roethlisberger retired. The previous coaching staff put a lot of stock into preparing their veteran starters and first-year players seemed to be put on the back burner as far as development. It wasn't until Tomlin's later years during his tenure when he brought in quarterback coaches like Mike Sullivan and Tom Arth to further help with the quarterback room. 

Steelers Have A Long Line Of Underwhelming QB Projects

With Roethlisberger under center and the veteran backups behind him, Pittsburgh didn't really need to address the position until 2013, when gunslinger Landry Jones was selected in the fourth round. He had a lot of arm talent, but it never translated heavily to the NFL level. He got cut after preseason in 2018 and bounced around a couple of practice squads before being out of the league entirely.

In the mid-to-late 2010s, Roethlisberger kept teasing the idea of retirement, which prompted the Steelers to select Joshua Dobbs in 2017, and Rudolph the year after. Dobbs is now a journeyman backup, and it took him years after leaving Pittsburgh to get that role. Even when they went quarterback in the first round, it didn't work out as Kenny Pickett was traded before his third NFL season.

What do you think about Rudolph praising McCarthy's current QB environment? Let us know on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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