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The Reality of the Backup QB Battle

Like I’ve said before
The antiRudy sentiment started when the Steelers drafted him in the third round and it rubbed a lot of media meatheads the wrong way.
They also liked Landry Jones and Dobbs as backups… so the narrative has been against him from day one

Anyone who was potentially replacing Ben was going to be seen as a poor player because Ben is one of the great all time NFL QBs …

Rudy looks like an avarage to good starter/top end backup. He isn’t anywhere near a franchise guy that people want to replace Ben… its highly unlikely that is going to happen because those types of QBs are ultra rare….

again Rudys TD% would be somewhere around 70-80 all time… 5% is great and Rudys at 4.6%…
He isn’t without merit… for a guy who has just 9 starts under his belt he is ok…

Haskins is the sexier talent… tge dude went 15th overall… which, by the way, means jack **** to anyone but fools… but he has a great arm and a tad bit more mobility… he isn’t a running qb or anything, but he can move better than Mason… surprisingly though, he has taken a lot of sacks in his starts…

he has a great arm… his ceiling is probably higher but there is also a much greater chance he never reaches it… his numbers are much worse than Rudolph’s… he had two staffs already who didn’t really want him ( he was the owner’s pick originally, there were ample rumors the coaches didn’t want him, then after his original coach was fired, the new staff jettisoned him)
He didn’t study gamefilm, was often late and was a pretty ****** leader… he was immature and ill prepared…
He has red flags galore… but that arm he has is going to keep people pushing for him… and he is still young…

hey he is far ahead of landry jones.. an all arm no head guy they developed for several years before he was ready to be a backup… but he certainly isn’t ready yet to be a top backup…

Haskins surprised me with how far he came from what we saw on the Redskins… I figured he was practice squad material at best and would not beat out Dobbs… he has grown some, but he still is not as good as people especially in the media seem to think he is…

lets put it this way… cutting or trading Rudolph would ultimately lose us a million dollars against the cap… I wouldn’t trade him for anything less than a second because of that… but he isn’t untouchable by any means…

Id take a fifth or maybe a low end fourth for Haskins and never think twice.. he is worth more than nothing now, but he isn’t exactly going to cause teams to cut a backup to sign him…he is definitely not a first round talent now tgat he has an nfl track record…

i mean he threw one td on an offsides broken play all preseason … he isn’t tearing it up and forcing tgeir hand here.. he is ok… like i said before he basically needed totally stripped down and rebuilt… he wasn’t a one offseason project…

does anyone remember when Laundry first got here… he wasn’t that bad by any means, but hes like landry starting his third season…
 
IndySteel said:
And the Mannings. Especially right in Peyton’s giant forehead.
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And break your ******* hand against that dome O' bone? No thanks.
 
FordFairLane said:
Statically speaking, Rudolph has outperformed Haskins in wins, accuracy, tds/int ratio. And Rudolph followed the rules last year during the pandemic. What has Haskins done to deserve your acclamation?
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Nothing yet...I just want a real QB back there, who isn't scared when he steps on the damn field.....Rudolph is absolutely nothing...At this point so is Haskins...But Haskins has a higher ceiling...supposedly

Why the hell can't Rudolph the Red nosed Reindeer sniff the end zone...

Cut em both
 
It's pretty simple, in my opinion:

We've seen enough of Rudolph to know that he's a good NFL backup. He would not be a good full-time NFL starter, however. He is what he is.

Haskins has a ton of baggage, but he's better than most of us thought he was. It makes sense for the Steelers to keep him on as the #3 for now, and see how he matures and/or develops under their watch in their system.
 
SteveA said:
I am white and not getting your take here at all…I don’t root for Haskins because I hate white people…

I root for Haskins because I have seen enough of Howdy Doody over the past 3 years to know he is not anything special at all…AT ALL…

Rudolph plays tentative and scared…

I root for Haskins because want to see something special from Haskins because he is a gifted athlete.

Rudy has progressed so little after 3 years…

Howdy Doody Mason Rudolph is a stiff who sux
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If the redskins had kept Haskins and acquired Rudolph for this season, I bet skins fans would have the exact same argument in reverse.

people are acting as if Rudolph has had tons of playing time and opportunities and Haskins is some unknown guy with upside. Haskins sucked as a starter, with him being the franchise guy and them giving him all the reps and coaching.

You want to say Haskins redskin teams sucked? So did Mason’s. Let’s not forget that Mason started games behind a poor OL in the post Bell and AB era with injured Conner and JuJu missed games as well. DJ was a rookie and missed a bunch of games. Rudolph was trying to throw deep to Johnny Holton.

Rudolph also has a winning record as a starter, I believe. Haskins record looks to be 4-12. He was benched last year and Alex Smith came in and led that team to the playoffs. Granted it was a 7-9 record but they had a winning record under Smith.

Rudolph has better stats too
Rudolph 62% with 15 TD 10 Int and Rating 82.7
Haskins 60% with 12 TD 14 Int and Rating 74.4

Haskins has 118 more attempts and Mason still has more TDs. So Mason has better stats and actually manages to win games as compared to Haskins who loses a ton of games, has worse stats and acts like a ********.

There is the false perception that Haskins is some great talent that never got a shot and Rudolph has had tons of chances and sucked.

Rudolph Has not been great when called upon but he hasn’t been as bad as people think either. Haskins has talent and maybe he will develop into something as maybe Rudolph will. But the fact is that so far in their careers, Rudolph has been better than Haskins.
 
Paxton Lynch was a 1st rounder too and he only played 5 games for Denver. Nobody went nuts for the prospects of Lynch and how he didn’t get a shot to develop in Denver.

I just think with Haskins, people have this notion that he was good with Wash and then he just railroaded himself with attitude issues when the fact is he pretty much sucked.

Part of it may be that Haskins played at Ohio State and was on TV a lot so people may have seen him have success in college. Few saw Mason play at Oklahoma State, but Mason was a GREAT college QB. Oklahoma State took a step back after he left.

On a side note for Penn State fans, you may be happy to know Mason’s college OC is now OC at Penn State. Can he get Sean Clifford to play at a high level? I actually think Clifford is similar to Rudolph.
 
Having said all that, Haskins should absolutely make the team. He does have upside as does Rudolph so let’s see if either one can develop. I don’t see any reason to keep Dobbs. If Ben loves him so much then just keep Dobbs on the practice squad or just make him a coaching intern.

Matt Canada does not stick around long anywhere. If the Steelers offense is good, he could get head coaching offers in NFL or college. Dobbs isn’t a great QB but by all accounts he’s very sharp as a student of the game. Let him shadow Canada and maybe you’ll have your next OC in waiting
 
black and gold apex said:
Rudy moved the ball well, end zone problems you cannot blame him more on the plays called and lack of equation from line and receivers. Perfect time to see the running game and we did not seem to want to see what we have. Detroit ran the ball in as if we did not exist. Haskins really showed nothing last night. I know different personnel in for each QB but these are suppose to be the elite in the NFL and should perform no matter who is in the line up. All and all it will be this new O line that will make or break this season.
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Eh, hard to show anything on 7 pass attempts. He did lead them to a FG drive like Rudy did. Was more disappointed in Rudy's one attempt at giving the ball away. Still, a decent showing by the guys that will matter.
 
tapeANaspirin2it said:
Rudolph Has not been great when called upon but he hasn’t been as bad as people think either. Haskins has talent and maybe he will develop into something as maybe Rudolph will. But the fact is that so far in their careers, Rudolph has been better than Haskins.
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Tomlin and Colbert routinely overvalue their existing players because "they know the system", as if MT's offense and defense are so awesome that no one can pick them up for at least a year. Remember that after four days of practice Joe Haden was instantly our best DB.
Simple fact is that Rudolph does know the offense better although I think Haskins has a higher ceiling and Rudolph just got a one-year extension so he's not going anywhere.
Next year could be a different story.
 
SteelerInLebanon said:
This take is wrong. Mason isn't scared, for ***** sake he has guts and will hold the ball to long trying to make a play, that isn't scared. There are some real bullshit narratives around Mason and I really don't understand how they got started. The guy has done everything asked of him and is putting up good numbers.He has a winning record and good stats for a QB in his first 16 starts. Sure he isn't Ben but so far he is better than Haskins. He has shown growth. People forget and blame him for the fact he had to play under Fichtner for his career and it made him and everyone else look worse than they are. He has shown up fine in the Preseason. Haskins is progressing but has a looong way to go. Haskins is only gifted with a big arm other than that he is nothing special as an athlete.
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I HAVE SEEN PLENT OF RUDY...He sux...period
 
tapeANaspirin2it said:
Rudolph Has not been great when called upon but he hasn’t been as bad as people think either. Haskins has talent and maybe he will develop into something as maybe Rudolph will. But the fact is that so far in their careers, Rudolph has been better than Haskins.
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Yeah. That's why Rudolph is ahead of Haskins on the depth chart. I don't think there are many people disputing that Rudolph is better at this point.
 
topseed said:
Yeah. That's why Rudolph is ahead of Haskins on the depth chart. I don't think there are many people disputing that Rudolph is better at this point.
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Unfortunately, there are. Rudolph has progressed every season. Rookie year he was #3 on the depth chart. Sophomore year he won the backup spot and didn’t play bad. Not good but until the browns game he was a decent game manager. He had 11tds to 4ints till that Cleveland debacle. Then last year he had 300+ with backups vs the Browns starters. He’s progressed.
 
How about this. Show me something tangible that proves Haskins is better mentally or physically than Rudolph and I’ll be more than happy to look at your facts.
 
SteelerInLebanon said:
Very in depth and thoughtful analysis. Coach might be better than that.
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You say that name two more times and he's stepping out of a mirror at your house. :LOL:
 
madinsomniac said:
Like I’ve said before
The antiRudy sentiment started when the Steelers drafted him in the third round and it rubbed a lot of media meatheads the wrong way.
They also liked Landry Jones and Dobbs as backups… so the narrative has been against him from day one

Anyone who was potentially replacing Ben was going to be seen as a poor player because Ben is one of the great all time NFL QBs …

Rudy looks like an avarage to good starter/top end backup. He isn’t anywhere near a franchise guy that people want to replace Ben… its highly unlikely that is going to happen because those types of QBs are ultra rare….

again Rudys TD% would be somewhere around 70-80 all time… 5% is great and Rudys at 4.6%…
He isn’t without merit… for a guy who has just 9 starts under his belt he is ok…

Haskins is the sexier talent… tge dude went 15th overall… which, by the way, means jack **** to anyone but fools… but he has a great arm and a tad bit more mobility… he isn’t a running qb or anything, but he can move better than Mason… surprisingly though, he has taken a lot of sacks in his starts…

he has a great arm… his ceiling is probably higher but there is also a much greater chance he never reaches it… his numbers are much worse than Rudolph’s… he had two staffs already who didn’t really want him ( he was the owner’s pick originally, there were ample rumors the coaches didn’t want him, then after his original coach was fired, the new staff jettisoned him)
He didn’t study gamefilm, was often late and was a pretty ****** leader… he was immature and ill prepared…
He has red flags galore… but that arm he has is going to keep people pushing for him… and he is still young…

hey he is far ahead of landry jones.. an all arm no head guy they developed for several years before he was ready to be a backup… but he certainly isn’t ready yet to be a top backup…

Haskins surprised me with how far he came from what we saw on the Redskins… I figured he was practice squad material at best and would not beat out Dobbs… he has grown some, but he still is not as good as people especially in the media seem to think he is…

lets put it this way… cutting or trading Rudolph would ultimately lose us a million dollars against the cap… I wouldn’t trade him for anything less than a second because of that… but he isn’t untouchable by any means…

Id take a fifth or maybe a low end fourth for Haskins and never think twice.. he is worth more than nothing now, but he isn’t exactly going to cause teams to cut a backup to sign him…he is definitely not a first round talent now tgat he has an nfl track record…

i mean he threw one td on an offsides broken play all preseason … he isn’t tearing it up and forcing tgeir hand here.. he is ok… like i said before he basically needed totally stripped down and rebuilt… he wasn’t a one offseason project…

does anyone remember when Laundry first got here… he wasn’t that bad by any means, but hes like landry starting his third season…
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Dont really care for Rudolph as a player but dont for a second believe he is a racist
 
SteelerInLebanon said:
Very in depth and thoughtful analysis. Coach might be better than that.
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What more in depth do you want? I basically haven't missed a game in 3 years and have seen enough of him in 3 years to know I do not want him at QB for my Steelers....

Dude always has no clue what is going on when he gets his chances...You can see it in his eyes. And it translates to the field

You may have faith in him....I don't

You may want him...I don't
 
SteveA said:
What more in depth do you want? I basically haven't missed a game in 3 years and have seen enough of him in 3 years to know I do not want him at QB for my Steelers....

Dude always has no clue what is going on when he gets his chances...You can see it in his eyes. And it translates to the field

You may have faith in him....I don't

You may want him...I don't
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0 facts so your argument is invalid. Please try again with something of substance that shows how Haskins is better mentally or physically than Rudolph.
 
FordFairLane said:
0 facts so your argument is invalid. Please try again with something of substance that shows how Haskins is better mentally or physically than Rudolph.
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well it could be a fact that he hasn't missed a game in 3 years

so

you man love for rudy is embarrassing
 
SteveA said:
What more in depth do you want? I basically haven't missed a game in 3 years and have seen enough of him in 3 years to know I do not want him at QB for my Steelers....

Dude always has no clue what is going on when he gets his chances...You can see it in his eyes. And it translates to the field

You may have faith in him....I don't

You may want him...I don't
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I question your analytical skills on this. Not sure what has translated to the field for you that is negative. "I have seen it in his eyes" is not analysis it is BS, is his head also to big?. All he has done was play well, not spectacularly but well. Someone with "no clue" doesn't put up the numbers he puts up. He will never be Ben but he is at worst a good backup and average to above average starting QB, not a franchise guy but how many of those are there. You and others just seem to have a Coach like agenda to hate this guy regardless of what he actually has done.
 
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