The Mason Rudolph hate has to stop from Steelers nation

Despite a consistent and strong offseason, Steelers fans are still unfairly hating on the performance of Mason Rudolph.

While never seen as a legitimate contender for the starting quarterback position, Mason Rudolph has looked the part this offseason. Despite two new and more highly regarded quarterbacks being brought in, Rudolph has held his own when the Steelers have called upon him. Even with his solid play, people are still downplaying him as a player.

I get it, Rudolph isn’t the new face for the offense, and with this being his fifth season in the league, we mostly know what he can provide. He has low upside, but he can hold his own in an offense with a good supporting cast. At this point, considering the money he is making, that is an acceptable value.

Yet everyone is still acting like he can’t play football. Despite playing most of the second half against the Jaguars and eventually leading the team to a victory, fans are still complaining and claiming he is the issue. Arguments against his overall play to him playing against inferior competition have been rampant against Rudolph.

Please be consistent in your arguments, Steelers fans

If you want to hark against a player succeeding only due to backups being on the field, then you have to say the same thing for Kenny Pickett. In his first game, he played the Rudolph role and mopped up against those same end-of-roster players. When he did it though, everyone was clamoring about how good Pickett looked as opposed to who he was playing.

No, my argument isn’t that Rudolph is better than, or even equal to Pickett, but you can’t cherry-pick reasons to dislike a player. While Rudolph has many limitations, he isn’t a horrible quarterback. You could do a lot worse as a backup, and there is even an argument that he would have been a fine transitional quarterback.

I’m not saying the Steelers need to turn around and hand the reigns to Rudolph. Both of the quarterbacks in front of him have better potential. That said, please stop acting like Rudolph is inherently bad and has looked bad this offseason. He hasn’t, and that is a good problem to have.

Rudolph could parlay this solid offseason into some trade interest from across the league. At worst, you have a capable backup that can come in if needed and hold his own. Admitting that Rudolph has looked better than before doesn’t mean he has to start. Quit irrationally hating on a player that has made strides and has looked decent for the Steelers.