The Pittsburgh Steelers dropped three games in a row the past few weeks they should've won. After losing starting second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett during the loss to the Arizona Cardinals, the Steelers played their backup Mitch Trubisky. Trubisky factored into all three losses as he was just unable to move the ball down the field consistently. Now, Head Coach Mike Tomlin has announced that the third-string quarterback Mason Rudolph will start Week 16 against the Cincinnati Bengals. Now one former Steelers offensive lineman is questioning the decision.
Many Steelers fans have been screaming for Rudolph to start for some time. There were even those who felt that he should've gotten the starting job over Pickett the past two years. Former Steelers offensive guard Ramon Foster has been clear that he does not see Rudolph as the answer.
Foster now co-hosts a podcast called The Ramon Foster Show with reporter Dejan Kovacevic that airs on DK Pittsburgh Sports. On a recent episode, they discussed Tomlin's announcement that Rudolph will start at least the next game.
"You know what I say about putting Mason in? It's backhanded as heck. It just is. It also just tells you where you are. Coach Tomlin has been adamant about not playing Rudolph. And here he is having to put him in because Mitch is so bad. This is asinine is what it is," said Foster.
Foster and his co-host Kovacevic, who has been covering Pittsburgh sports for decades, both agree that Rudolph is not the answer people are seeking. On previous shows, Foster has said that he doesn't think Rudolph has what it takes to be a starter. If he did, then he wouldn't have spent his whole career in Pittsburgh as a backup.
Kovacevic said that in his opinion, the starting of Rudolph speaks to a bigger issue with this team. He said he doesn't believe this is about playing the Bengals, the Seattle Seahawks, or the Baltimore Ravens in the next three games. Kovacevic said "This thing is broken," like something that fell to the floor and smashed. Foster agreed with him.
"I've never seen it like this. Ever," lamented Foster.
The question of what is going to happen with the Steelers going forward has everyone shaken to their core. There are so many more questions than answers, and for the first time in a long time, the team feels like it lacks direction. In any other season that the team has missed the playoffs or not performed as well as expected, it was easier to point to some isolated problems that could be addressed. That isn't easy to do with this team.
Did The Steelers Need This To Happen?
Kovacevic said that while he believes this team is broken, he also believes this is what needed to happen. The team can use this failure to help spark actual change. Foster agreed with him that this might be just what the team needed since there are very few areas of the team that are free from reproach.
During the early games of the 2023 season, the Steelers defense was performing well. They even won the Week 2 game against the Cleveland Browns almost single-handedly, scoring two defensive touchdowns. But the defense has been decimated by injuries to key players and that has exposed serious weaknesses that its stars - T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Cameron Heyward, and Minkah Fitzpatrick can't cover up. This led to them being shredded by the likes of Bailey Zappe and Gardner Minshew.
When it comes to Rudolph, Foster does have a more credible opinion than a lot of media members. He played with Rudolph for two seasons before his retirement. During Rudolph's first season in Pittsburgh in 2018, he did not play at all, receiving zero snaps.
Then in 2019, starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger suffered a season-ending elbow injury during Week 2. Rudolph came in to relieve him that game and the Steelers lost. That season was particularly memorable because it was the year of the Rudolph/Myles Garrett fight, during which Foster jumped in to defend his quarterback.
As for the rest of the 2019 season, Rudolph started in eight out of 10 games in which he played. He struggled enough that Tomlin benched him in favor of Devlin "Duck" Hodges. Hodges wasn't much better and Rudolph came back in during Week 16. He suffered a shoulder injury for which he was placed on the injured reserve list. Overall, he had 1,765 passing yards, 13 passing touchdowns, 9 interceptions, and a passer rating of 82.0.
In his entire six-year career, Rudolph has played in 18 games total, starting just 10 of them. He has a record of 5-4-1 and has completed 238 out of 387 attempted passes for 2,369 yards and 16 touchdowns.
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