Did the Steelers throw Mason Rudolph under the bus by signing Trubisky?

On February 21, Steelers Kevin Colbert came out and said that Mason Rudolph would start if the NFL season began today.

Generally, when backup quarterbacks get slotted as a starter before training camp, that is a vote of confidence coming from the GM. Twenty-one days later, Mason Rudolph went from presumptive starter to Mitch Trubisky’s replacement, and we have not gotten to the draft.

Certainly, Mason Rudolph has not earned any calls from Canton if his career ended today, but he still plays slightly better than, let’s say, Mark Malone did back in the 80s.

It makes sense that not all fans would have cast the same vote of confidence in Mason Rudolph as Colbert did. Not everyone believes in his abilities, and that is a fair assessment. However, he lost the starting job to Mitch Trubisky, a quarterback who has not played in over a year within three weeks, and we are still about four months from training camp.

Making matters worse, former Steelers who were vocally critical of Colbert’s early endorsement of Rudolph and the handling of the Roethlisberger transition now hail Colbert as some genius. Another former player has taken it further and called to trade Rudolph. Again Rudolph has not been the greatest player when he started games. However, unless the Steelers brought in Brady, Winston, Rodgers, or Wilson, there is nothing to justify making Trubisky the starter.

There may be a slightly larger takeaway here, in that signing Trubisky was a subtle way of throwing Rudolph under the proverbial bus. It could be that the Steelers had no actual plans for Rudolph. Here are a few good reasons why!