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This will come as a shock to no one who follows the Pittsburgh Steelers closely and watched all four preseason games this summer. But Mason Rudolph has reportedly won the backup quarterback role behind Ben Roethlisberger, beating out Joshua Dobbs for the job.
The report comes from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler:
After a strong preseason, Mason Rudolph won the Steelers' No. 2 quarterback job and will back up Ben Roethlisberger this season barring unforeseen development, per sources.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) August 30, 2019
Rudolph, who is in his second year, outplayed Dobbs, in his third year, in every facet imaginable, except in rushing yards.
The highly contested position battle had been the talk among black-and-gold faithful all offseason, but when the games started to be played you could see Rudolph’s game excel while Dobbs’ remained stagnant.
Rudolph not only looked more in charge of the offense, but his mobility, arm strength and accuracy was markedly better than his rookie season. Not to say he is a perfect quarterback, far from it, but he leaves the Steelers with a sense of calm if something were to happen to Roethlisberger and they need to stay afloat for a series of games.
The hope is that doesn’t happen, and of course, this is just a report. However, it became very clear this preseason who should be named the backup quarterback. At this point you have to wonder what Dobbs’ future has in store for him? Will the Steelers keep him and have him be the game day inactive, like Rudolph was last year? Or will they test the trade waters and see if there is a team who could use a backup with a unique skill set and experience?
Only time will tell, but the Steelers have until 4:00 p.m. ET Saturday to cut their roster to the league-mandated 53 players. So stay tuned to BTSC for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare to face the New England Patriots in Week 1 on Sunday Night Football.