Mike Tomlin named Mason Rudolph as the starting quarterback on Friday, meaning that he will get his second straight start against a Seahawks team that is surging. But what does he need to do to make sure that his success continues? Through asking around, here are three things that Rudolph can do to maintain his level of success.
The Seahawks have recently relied more upon their safeties, Julian Love and Quandre Diggs, to limit their explosive plays. In the last two weeks, the team has not allowed a reception of over 20 yards, and it’s largely due to the tweaks Pete Carroll has made to their secondary, specifically in aiding their linebackers.
“Really impressed with their two safeties. I mean, (Quandre) Diggs and (Julian) Love, I mean, we have to make sure they have great vision and vision to break,” quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan said. “And so, we have to make sure we’re on time, and we’re not taking too many hitches or anything else.”
The Seahawks do let their safeties play aggressively while switching in match concepts to not put their linebackers in tough spots. They run mostly out of Cover 3, Quarters, Cover 6 looks. Allen Robinson II revealed just how they play the hook zones so the quick game does not kill them.
“They have different nuances to their single-high. Sometimes, they play more hook (zone) and bring a safety down to take away any kind of speed and different things like that. They take away the quick game,” Robinson said. “They have their safeties coming up more and being involved in certain things.”
That means those middle hook defenders will play aggressively and Rudolph better be prepared for that. Love and Diggs are both ballhawks. Without Jordyn Brooks, it makes things a bit easier since the Steelers could exploit some matchups in the middle of the field. But don’t expect a ton of hitches, and slants better be thrown with anticipation.
The Steelers have tried to anticipate changes in scheme this year, but have been caught off guard before. For one, the Colts, who run mainly Cover 3, stifled them with different Cover 2 looks while mixing in those Cover 3 looks. And this team has not played well against Cover 3 looks all year, regardless of quarterback. But Rudolph did well against the Bengals in single-high coverages, trusting George Pickens to make big plays and take advantage of those. The Bengals took away
The Seahawks, a base Cover 3 team, will try to take away some of the throws to the outside for the Steelers, who ran plenty of deep balls to the outside and speedouts to work off that. But Rudolph is expecting that switch, especially after the Bengals switched from Cover 2 in the first matchup to a heavy middle-of-the-field closed gameplan.
“Outside the numbers? Yes, I agree. I mean Pat killed him inside had had a great game and since he game one and they were very hyper-concerned about Deontay and George on the outside and so Pat played and then a few weeks later the opposite happened,” Rudolph said. “So yes, I think it’s reasonable to expect maybe Seattle to obviously be more aware of the outside, but we’re going to play our game and I think we do a good job of adjusting. We did a good job Saturday of adjusting in game and little tweaks, little route changes, adding a play here and there and just taking what the defense gives you.”
This goes back to the hook stuff. If the Seahawks do come out to take away speed outs and other routes, Rudolph needs to be ready to rip seam balls and other throws to the flat where he might have to go through multiple progressions. He does that, and the Steelers can move the ball, and it will open up opportunities for Pickens, Diontae Johnson, and others down the field.
With no Brooks, Bobby Wagner and Devin Bush will likely start. If they play in their big nickel personnel, so will Jamal Adams, who is basically a WILL linebacker in that system. But without Brooks, asking these linebackers to go in coverage is a tough ask in the system. The Steelers could exploit this, though Robinson pointed me to one adjustment they have made recently at that spot.
“Those safeties are having more concepts run to them,” Robinson said. “They aren’t having those linebackers wheel back and instead they will have a safety catch it from depth.”
In other words, those linebackers aren’t carrying guys to depth much anymore. They are passing it off to safeties, limiting explosives. That makes it a bit tougher since Carroll will be cognizant of that. But running backs and tight ends have sometimes had success against the Seahawk linebackers. Those concepts to the safeties have allowed the linebackers to play more forward, but they still get matched up against those tight ends and running backs, particularly up the seam and in the flat. It just means Rudolph has to take what is given to him at times, and be willing to trust guys like Pat Freiermuth, Connor Heyward, and Darnell Washington in the middle of the field. I would also expect this to be a big Jaylen Warren game.
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The 2024 offseason expanded the $30M-per-year wide receiver club to six members. D.K. Metcalf, Ja’Marr Chase and Garrett Wilson have taken it to nine this year. Terry McLaurin is undoubtedly pushing to bump that number to 10, after seeing 2019 Day 2 classmates Metcalf and A.J. Brown land among that contingent. McLaurin reported to training camp Sunday and landed on the active/PUP list. As our Rory Parks explained, skepticism exists about how injured the Commanders’ top wide receiver really is. An ankle injury has keyed the PUP stay, but it can be safely assumed McLaurin would be ready to practice if an extension comes to pass. Nevertheless, the Commanders have been surprised by the difficulty of these talks. Using an injury to avoid practicing while negotiating — developments the Jonathan Taylor and Micah Parsons sagas brought — represents a third tactic, joining the holdout and the increasingly utilized hold-in amid extension talks. McLaurin shifted from a holdout to the injury route; no matter how he is accomplishing not practicing, the seventh-year veteran is aiming to land a lucrative third contract. His age provides a complication for Washington. McLaurin is going into an age-30 season, separating him from Brown and Metcalf. Both Ole Miss products were drafted just before McLaurin, a 2019 third-round pick, but they are each two years younger. This strengthened their cases for big-ticket third contracts. McLaurin went first to ignite the second-tier boom on the receiver market in 2022, agreeing to a three-year, $69.6M extension. That shaped the Metcalf and Deebo Samuel extensions, both of which coming in higher than McLaurin’s despite the latter’s consistency with suboptimal quarterback situations. McLaurin’s AAV has dropped to 17th at wide receiver. The Commanders are prepared to extend their top wideout, but Sportskeeda.com’s Tony Pauline indicates the "holdup" is regarding the $30M-AAV number. Some around the league point to the team not wanting to go into that neighborhood for McLaurin, despite his five 1,000-yard seasons. Courtland Sutton and McLaurin are nearly the same age, and the Broncos’ top target signed a four-year, $92M extension. That matches where the Titans went for Calvin Ridley (now 30) in 2024. McLaurin, though, has a better resume than both and should be aiming higher. The Commanders have a Jayden Daniels rookie contract to structure another McLaurin extension around as well. Adam Peters was around for the 49ers’ 2022 Samuel extension but not Brandon Aiyuk‘s $30M-per-year deal. (The Samuel extension also did not work out for the 49ers, who proceeded with a salary dump of sorts by trading him to the Commanders.) The second-year GM taking a hardline stance with McLaurin would be an interesting route given the WR’s importance to a sudden contender. Peters confirmed talks are ongoing, with that comment coming after McLaurin expressed frustration about the negotiations. A potential gap between the pack of 20-somethings (and Tyreek Hill) north of $30M AAV and the Tee Higgins–Jaylen Waddle–D.J. Moore tier could be relevant here, and it will be interesting to see if McLaurin settles for something just south of that $30MM benchmark. Guarantees and contract structure, of course, will be important to determining the value as well. A short-term extension should be reached soon, per Pauline, but if the Commanders hold the line at or around $30M, the McLaurin matter could drag on for a while longer.
The World Junior Summer Showcase is in full swing, and Maple Leafs top prospect Ben Danford is shattering expectations, truly proving how good of a player he can be. The Toronto Maple Leafs' defensive prospect, Ben Danford, is among the 44 players who were invited to Hockey Canada's World Juniors Summer Showcase. Hockey Canada finally unveiled the 44 prospects who will head to Minnesota for the showcase, after they held the roster release back while the organization dealt with several injuries, which begins Sunday and runs through August 2 in Minneapolis. Defensive prospect Ben Danford is the only Maple Leafs player invited to the annual showcase, where Canada's World Junior staff will get their first look at what their team might look like for the 2026 World Juniors, which will also take place in Minnesota in December. Danford is being called the best player at the World Juniors Summer Showcase Danford has been exceeding expectations, and one source revealed that he has been the best player at the World Junior Showcase so far. The source said Danford is steady, smart, and hard to ignore on the ice. 'Ben Danford has been the best player at the World Junior Showcase he's steady, smart, and impossible to ignore. Makes every shift count, whether he's breaking up plays or starting the rush. Canada's blue line is in good hands.' - An unnamed source The Maple Leafs selected Danford with their first pick (31st overall) at the 2024 NHL Draft. During his visit to Toronto's development camp earlier this month, the defender revealed that he's receiving mentorship from current Leafs defensemen as well as some alumni like Mark Giordano. The 6-foot-2 Danford could make for an excellent fit for Canada should he make the team. He is responsible in his own end, and he demonstrated leadership capabilities when he was named captain of the Oshawa Generals ahead of the 2024-25 OHL season.
The New York Mets, despite plenty of ups and downs, have been one of the best teams in all of Major League Baseball so far this season, but they know they will need to stay healthy in order to stay at the top of the NL East and make a push for a World Series. On Tuesday night, the Mets suffered a significant injury. During the fourth inning of a critical series against the San Diego Padres, star outfielder Juan Soto fouled a ball off of his foot and was pulled from the game with a foot contusion. After the game, Soto gave an optimistic update on the status of his foot, via SNY. “I think it’s gonna be good,” Soto said. “I think it’s gonna be good. We’ve just got to get the swelling down. Whenever the swelling is down, I think we’re gonna be fine. X-rays are negative, so it’s a good sign. We’ve just got to wait for the swelling to come down and go back to where I’m at.” Soto also addressed his pain level after the game, after appearing to be in a world of hurt when he went down on the field originally. “It’s actually numb,” he said. “I don’t feel anything right now. It’s getting a little stiff but we’re gonna see in the morning how it goes.” Soto has been finding his stride of late for the Mets after some rocky moments earlier in the season, so New York will want to have him back in the lineup as soon as he can possibly get out there. For the season coming into Tuesday, Soto had racked up 25 home runs and 62 RBI. He was hitting just .249, but was still an on-base machine with an MLB-leading 84 walks. The Padres went on to beat the Mets very comfortably in a 7-1 blowout on Tuesday night, but New York still sits in the top spot in the NL East by a half-game over the Philadelphia Phillies. The Mets and Phillies are two of the best teams in baseball, so the health of a player like Soto can go a long way toward deciding who comes out on top.
With a new NFL season comes another contract dispute between Jerry Jones and one of the Dallas Cowboys' star players. In 2019, it was running back Ezekiel Elliott. Then there was quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb in 2024, and now it's defensive end Micah Parsons in 2025. Those first three all got their wish and received massive paydays without missing any game action, which has many believing that the same movie will play out with Parsons. However, in the moment, Parsons and the Cowboys don't seem to be aligned in their thinking, and that has only been magnified by ESPN insider Adam Schefter's latest update on the situation. "I would say right now we're nowhere on that deal. I would say right now we are further away from a deal in late July/early August than we were in late March/early April. The two sides have gone backwards, not forwards. I don't think they're speaking very much these days, if at all," Schefter said. "This sounds different to me. This sounds a little bit more personal from both sides. It sounds like Dallas is upset with the fact that it felt like it was getting closer to a deal, and then that deal went sideways. And I think Micah Parsons feels like this deal should've been done. I don't think Micah is real happy with them; I don't think they're real happy with him. I don't think anybody is real happy with anybody. And I don't think there's a deal that's being discussed right now, not to mention being close," Schefter added. Certainly not the update Cowboys fans were hoping to hear on Tuesday afternoon. As we know, Parsons is entering the final season of his rookie contract on a fifth-year player option, which Dallas exercised in April of 2024. The superstar pass rusher is set to earn just over $24 million in 2025-26. The 26-year-old has been participating in Cowboys training camp, though he has voiced his displeasure with the current state of contract negotiations both in interviews and on social media. Parsons is one of, if not the best, pass rushers in football, having racked up 12-plus sacks in all four seasons to begin his NFL career. His combination of strength, speed and pure athleticism is a nightmare for opposing offenses, and you can understand why he wants to be paid for it. There's no doubt that the recent deals signed by defensive end Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns and outside linebacker T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers added fuel to the fire for Parsons. Garrett and Watt will both make over $40 million per season moving forward while already being 30 and 31 years old, respectively. Expectations should remain that Jerry Jones will eventually pony up and pay his franchise player, but reports like these definitely don't help anyone in this situation.