Mason Rudolph‘s struggles continued this past Sunday as the Pittsburgh Steelers faced the Cincinnati Bengals. Rudolph gave head coach Mike Tomlin no option, but to bench the second-year player during the team’s week 12 contest.
Mason Rudolph completed 8 out of his 16 pass attempts for a total of 85 passing yards and threw one interception. He was ultimately replaced by Devlin Hodges, who led the Pittsburgh Steelers back against the Cincinnati Bengals to win the ball game.
Pittsburgh now moves to 6-5 on the year, and they are currently locked into the last wildcard spot. Mason Rudolph’s possible future as the Steelers starting quarterback is in serious doubt going forward in the season, and years to come.
Why has Mason Rudolph’s play declined?
Mason Rudolph’s 2019 campaign can be described as a tale of two halves. Rudolph’s performances during his first four games, compared to his last five games, have been astonishing.
I believe there is a reason why this is happening. Rudolph is just not the same player since being knocked out cold by Baltimore Ravens safety Earl Thomas. Below you can see that Rudolph’s statistics support this theory.
| CMP % | Y/G | Touchdowns | Interceptions | Sacks | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-injury: | 67.02% | 161.50 | 7 | 2 | 3 | ||||||
| Post-injury: | 58.50% | 198.00 | 5 | 7 | 10 |
Post-concussion struggles for Mason Rudolph
Even though Mason Rudolph is averaging more passing yards per game for the Pittsburgh Steelers, you see a decline in competition percentage and his touchdown to interception ratio.
In addition, you can also see that Mason has more than tripled the number of times he has been sacked. His timidness and inability to move in the pocket are the reason you see such a rise in sacks over the last five games he has played in.
Mason Rudolph’s season going forward
As long as Devlin Hodges continues to play good enough to put the Pittsburgh Steelers in positions to win games, he will be the starting quarterback going forward this season. Mason Rudolph should look to get right mentally if he wants another starting opportunity in the NFL.
The statistics and tape show something is just not right with Rudolph currently. Let us all hope that this is something that Rudolph can put behind him, and get back to playing exceptional football.