After an impressive free agency, the Pittsburgh Steelers now have option in the opening round of the 2018 NFL Draft.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have likely signed the brunt of their outside free agent spending in the offseason on two additions recently. They are Jon Bostic and Morgan Burnett. This means that the mack linebacker and strong safety position are likely filled for the 2018 season with at least a stopgap player. They will be able to draft the best player available with this pick. Here we will look at three options:
Mason Rudolph
The Steelers will need a quarterback to be the successor to Ben Roethlisberger eventually and this may be the year the Steelers draft a quarterback to replace him. Although Mason Rudolph would likely start on the bench, the idea is that you would develop him into the quarterback of the Steelers after Ben Roethlisberger retires. Ben Roethlisberger is likely to retire after three more years and so that would mean Mason Rudolph would have to sit for the next three years. The reason you take him is that there may not be another year where there is enough depth in the quarterback class that they can draft a quarterback of the future so late in the first round. You have to think the Steelers will be competitive for the next three years and that means they will be picking late in the first round. This makes it hard to draft a quarterback that is as capable as Mason Rudolph.
Mason Rudolph’s biggest strength is his awareness. He can see the whole field and make good decisions. He is a smart quarterback and that will play to his advantage. He has great size in that he is 6’5 and weighs 230 plus pounds. This is in a similar mode to the quarterback the Steelers have in Ben Roethlisberger in that they both are tall and big. Mason Rudolph is able to get the ball out quickly and that is so important to playing quarterback in the NFL. You could argue that the most important attribute in a quarterback is how quickly he gets the ball out.
Rudolph’s weakness is that he doesn’t have a flashy arm. However, given enough time in the system, he could maybe develop into an accurate passer. He may not have the arm strength you are looking for and that may be the reason the Steelers pass on him.