The Arrow Is Pointing Up For Mason Rudolph

[Coach]

https://www.Invalid Link - Check SN Home Page/2018/08/arrow-is-pointing-up-for-mason-rudolph/

Yesterday, we went through the stats of the first ten practices at Pittsburgh Steelers training camp. One thing stuck out above the rest: Mason Rudolph’s improvement.


Compare the first five practices to the second five. It’s night and day.

Practices 1-5: 49% 1 TD, 3 INTs

Practices 6-10: 63% 6 TDs, 1 INT

Numbers only provide so much context but the difference is clear. It’s a dramatic shift. To add more to it, here’s a chart of his daily completion percentage.

Over the first five practices, just one day sitting above 50%. Over the last five, three such days. And for the record, on a rain-shortened Day 10, he threw only two passes, so that number is skewed.
As Dave Bryan wrote yesterday, Rudolph’s exceeded the Steelers’ own expectations Kevin Colbert admitted he’s ahead of their projected schedule.
It’s not just a numbers thing either. Stats, especially in practice, only mean so much. It’s the command of the huddle he’s shown, how detail-oriented he’s been. No bad snaps or exchanges. Rare that he has to reset the huddle. He ran the two minute offense like a pro then finished it with a touchdown.

Does that mean he’s the heir to Ben? Or even jumping Landry Jones for the #2 spot this year? No and not necessarily. But he*has*been impressive and most importantly, getting better. That’s exciting, regardless of where things end up in a month or decade from now.
Can’t wait to get this dude in a stadium. He’ll be a lot of fun to watch.

 

[Coach]

Camp stats show Rudolph is accuracy is greater than Jones or Dobbs. Granted it just the last five practices, but for a rookie to outplay a veteran and a 2nd-year man with a pronounced difference is impressive.

If Rudolph can replicate this success for the rest of camp, and most importantly the pre-season games, he could be the primary back up sometime in 2018.

I hope Tomlin begins to phase out Dobbs and give Rudolph some of his snaps. Let the rookie continue to grow.

https://www.Invalid Link - Check SN Home Page/2018/08/arrow-is-pointing-up-for-mason-rudolph/

 

[SteelerSask2]

Hopefully he is not needed for a few years and is fully ready when his time comes. Biggest thing that stood out to me is that it said he is a football junkie. He wont be under prepared when the time comes.

 

[Stryker]

Great post Coach!

There is a lot to be excited about, and I hope he continues to work hard and improve. A couple notes when he was drafted:

He lives football, and is a nut about being a student of the game and preparation. That alone raises an athlete's floor.

He also is very smart. Since he doesn't have Ben's arm, he has to be able to read defenses and make the right throw at the right time. That's what I want to see in preseason games. Can he make those reads, and throws, under the threat of being tackled? Hopefully we'll get a little more insight on Thursday night!

 

[Coach]

Hopefully he is not needed for a few years and is fully ready when his time comes. Biggest thing that stood out to me is that it said he is a football junkie. He wont be under prepared when the time comes.

Rudolph really impressed when he was interviewed at the senior bowl in the booth. I think he's smart with top football character. I still want to see what type of NFL arm he has.

I also think this draft pick has re-energized Ben Roethlisberger. With Landry Jones, Ben can do and say what he wants, but with a talented rookie behind him, he knows in the back of his mind replacement can happen down the road. As soon as Rudolph was drafted, Ben who plays games and said he was taking it one season at time suddenly commits to playing for several years.

 

[Drink IRON City]

I'm glad to hear / read the good Rudolf report, thanks for posting. I want / hope he continues to develops and YES, replaces Landry on the depth chart the sooner the better. Playing cautious is one thing but holding a player back is a whole different aspect. There's a fine line here of ready and holding back but I hope and confident Rudolf will fill both those aspects.



Salute the nation

 

[Coach]

Great post Coach!

There is a lot to be excited about, and I hope he continues to work hard and improve. A couple notes when he was drafted:

He lives football, and is a nut about being a student of the game and preparation. That alone raises an athlete's floor.

He also is very smart. Since he doesn't have Ben's arm, he has to be able to read defenses and make the right throw at the right time. That's what I want to see in preseason games. Can he make those reads, and throws, under the threat of being tackled? Hopefully we'll get a little more insight on Thursday night!

I think the term great arm can be misunderstood in football. A great arm means a few things, range of the throw for distance, the velocity on the throws ( MPH ), and the ability to throw it fast or long while on the move. A fast and compact release is also an asset. Ben is rare as he has a great arm in all these areas, plus he’s excellent with ball fakes.

Rudolph has very good range as a deep passer. I’m not worried about that. It’s his velocity I want to see. Can he zip it between the linebacker and DB in a 5 yard window 10+ yard down the field or not? Not every top QB has a great arm. Drew Brees and Tom Brady do not have great arms. Neither does Phillip Rivers. Arron Rodgers and Ben do. Of course a great arm with bad accuracy means too many turnovers.

When Brady came in the league, his arm was average, but he worked on it and added some zip. This combined with his smarts and accuracy allowed him to flourish with a mediocre group of receivers and backs for the most part and a very good Tight End.

 

[thesteelcity]

I'd be content that he keeps improving and have a smooth transition into the starting spot when it's time. He doesn't have to aim for Ben's spot right now. He has time to develop, get stronger and more accurate. The Steelers should be in a really good position at the QB position for years to come. He just needs to keep improving. He definitely has the tools and football smarts.

 

[black and gold apex]

Why is Dobbs even in the conversation.

 

[Scott109]

I also think this draft pick has re-energized Ben Roethlisberger. With Landry Jones, Ben can do and say what he wants, but with a talented rookie behind him, he knows in the back of his mind replacement can happen down the road. As soon as Rudolph was drafted, Ben who plays games and said he was taking it one season at time suddenly commits to playing for several years.

I think that had more to do with Haley leaving.

 

[SteveA]

Why is Dobbs even in the conversation.

You never hear of the Dobbs effect?

 

[Omar10213245]

Why is Dobbs even in the conversation.

That's what I'm saying. Shazier's doppelganger needs to be sent packing

 

[SteelerFan448]

Not to be the downer in the thread, but practice statistics are the absolute worst and I have no clue why anyone reports them.

 

[Stryker]

Not to be the downer in the thread, but practice statistics are the absolute worst and I have no clue why anyone reports them.

No worries, I can see how it would be a mundane read for most.

It gives me insight to who is getting snaps, and how well they are doing. Also the injury lists are interesting to me. Also it gives you insight to an accurate depth chart, unlike the bunk the Steelers released last week.

I can read these camp reports and know Bostic is getting the 1st team snaps now, Chukes is already playing the swing tackle role, Samuels is as diverse as he's been advertised, and it looks like we're taking advantage of his skills. The safeties are playing really well, Sutton is a monster this year.

 

[SteelerFan448]

No worries, I can see how it would be a mundane read for most.

It gives me insight to who is getting snaps, and how well they are doing. Also the injury lists are interesting to me. Also it gives you insight to an accurate depth chart, unlike the bunk the Steelers released last week.

I can read these camp reports and know Bostic is getting the 1st team snaps now, Chukes is already playing the swing tackle role, Samuels is as diverse as he's been advertised, and it looks like we're taking advantage of his skills. The safeties are playing really well, Sutton is a monster this year.

Reps and the rotation is one thing as is the formations they're using players in, but looking at just the stats to judge a player's performance is useless. Not just in team drills, but in one-on-one drills. Everyone gets fired up when a wide receiver beats a cornerback (which should happen almost every time) or when a running back blocks James Harrison once and everyone thinks we have a star.

I was watching someone a couple of weeks ago and they were talking about all of these stat reports from camp and everyone posting videos now. One of the points brought up is a young QB is trying something he's never tried in a game before and gets picked. No big deal because he learned from it, but now you've got a guy at Steelers Depot reporting all of his picks and someone else posting a video of the interception. Maybe next time they don't take a chance because they have a hard time tuning out the public pressure.

 

[Steelworth]

Not to be the downer in the thread, but practice statistics are the absolute worst and I have no clue why anyone reports them.

I hear you, but it does help us get a better handle on who's trending in the right and wrong directions. But if the Limas Sweed experiment taught us anything, it's that you're absolutely right.

 

[Stryker]

Reps and the rotation is one thing as is the formations they're using players in, but looking at just the stats to judge a player's performance is useless. Not just in team drills, but in one-on-one drills. Everyone gets fired up when a wide receiver beats a cornerback (which should happen almost every time) or when a running back blocks James Harrison once and everyone thinks we have a star.

I was watching someone a couple of weeks ago and they were talking about all of these stat reports from camp and everyone posting videos now. One of the points brought up is a young QB is trying something he's never tried in a game before and gets picked. No big deal because he learned from it, but now you've got a guy at Steelers Depot reporting all of his picks and someone else posting a video of the interception. Maybe next time they don't take a chance because they have a hard time tuning out the public pressure.

Good points.

To clarify those stats a bit, those are 11v11 stats. Not 7v7 or 1v1. Obviously not real stats, because sacks can't exist, just an expression of the full team drills.

 

[Drink IRON City]

Not to be the downer in the thread, but practice statistics are the absolute worst and I have no clue why anyone reports them.

I hear what you are saying but when interpreting those stats you have to remember they are JUST PRACTICE stats. It's that they are more of a trending practice stat. If both QBs have 5 attempts and one is 5-5 and the other is 2-5 the trend is towards the 5-5 but realizing it's only practice. It just gives you a measurement to use vs nothing. Like Cope says it also gives you an idea of who is playing where and at what capacity. It's just a information thingy and no-one here is taking to much stock in it, NOT like actual seASON STATS. Believe me the PLAYERS and COACHES know the significance of these "practice" stats.




Salute the nation

 

[Stryker]

And performance in practice does matter. That's how coaches decide whether you are a starter, roster material, practice squad material, or headed for the streets.

Right now Rudolph is trending up
Dobbs is trending down
Jones is playing solidly
Ben is Ben

 

[AggieSteel]

Not to be the downer in the thread, but practice statistics are the absolute worst and I have no clue why anyone reports them.

Sure in a vacuum just pure numbers don't tell you much

But this is a comparison, not just pure stats. Whether it's practice or games or whatever setting we're talking about, that kind of improvement period over period is still promising. Especially when it's a rookie and this is all we have to go by at this point

 

[MT~Forged]

When Brady came in the league, his arm was average, but he worked on it and added some zip. This combined with his smarts and accuracy allowed him to flourish with a mediocre group of receivers and backs for the most part and a very good Tight End.

The cheating did not hurt either.

 

[SteelerSask2]

The term arm gets used a lot. Actually most of a qbs velocity on the ball comes from lower body, footwork and sequence/timing. No one would think Joe Montana would be a strong arm guy.
At the risk of sounding stupid, Mason Rudolph has the look and demeanour (when he speaks) of an NFL quarterback. Some of this **** is xfactor stuff. You either have it or you dont.

 

[slashsteel]

Yeah to the coaches training camp shows them what the player is capable of or still capable of, or needs work on. While sorting out who is roster capable.

Preseason games either confirms that belief, casts a shadow on that belief while giving a semi-final impression on who to keep from the bottom feeders. Injuries are likely to cause a shift regardless.

I watched some practices so I can mix all I read from training camp and onto the preseason with what I saw.

It helped me form early opinions on Bryant which his off the field **** got in the way of what he was capable of. Which was a lot.

And Jarvis who I saw as not having the drive you would want with a first rounder from the time I saw Heyward chew that *** out.

So you can imagine in overall limited views in comparison to what the coaches get to see from open and closed practices.

It is safe to conclude not only is training camp important from a physical shape standpoint, and a playbook standpoint.

It is damn sure a good eval for the coaches.

So it isn't that stats are completely useless, I just think the coaches see a broader picture than what is reported.

 

[Stryker]

The context of the term 'arm' I was using, was arm strength.

It's a noticeable difference between the QBs, obviously.

 

[SteelerSask2]

I think the point I was trying to make Cope was that the term big arm isnt just genetic. All these guys can throw 60-70 yards pretty easily. And some certainly have more velocity. But because lower body mechanics and footwork are so critical, a qb can improve that. Arm strength is like the 40 for receivers. You need to have prerequisite speed or velocity. But plenty of the fastest receivers and qbs that can really hose it fail. And plenty who are average in both are successful and even the best.