Even though he was taken in the third round, Steelers QB Mason Rudolph was not going to avoid the hype train that he was conducting. Many fans see him as the future of the organization, barring striking resemblance physically to their current QB Ben Roethlisberger. While his highlight reel and physical traits were a bright promise in the cloudy future for the Steelers, the story has hit some what of a snag thus far after the first three days of training camp.
According to several sources, Rudolph has been missing throws consistently, besides the ones being thrown to his former Oklahoma State teammate WR James Washington, who was taken by the Steelers in the round before Rudolph. The dynamic duo is fun to watch and is good for Rudolph in the aspect that it allows him a little comfort when learning a new system, but has this companionship become more of a crutch?
Unfortunately, this answer appears to be closer to yes than not. Within these few days, Rudolph has looked less than impressive, missing not just deep balls over the top, but also under throwing such easy passes as slant or cross routes.
Hopefully these behaviors can simply be chalked up to just nerves, with this being in front of a Steelers crowd for the first time. If not however, then maybe Rudolph is not the player many are hoping for him to be. Confidence and optimism will be what Rudolph, along with Steeler Nation, need to make it through successfully on the other side.
