The Steelers traded up to get Mason Rudolph in an attempt to find the heir to Ben Roethlisberger. Rudolph was considered to be a quarterback worthy of a first-round pick by some, but seemed to have a second-round grade by most.
At 6-foot-4, 235 lbs., Rudolph has the build teams look for in an NFL quarterback, and he combines that with a talented arm and the athleticism to throw on the run. In Roethlisberger's youth, the Steelers benefited from his ability to move about the backfield and launch the ball with accuracy.
Our first of multiple film studies on Rudolph observes his ability to extend the play with his legs while still being able to use his arm to strike all around the field:
Rudolph made a lot of plays from inside the pocket, with plenty of highlights throwing deep passes comfortably behind his line to open receivers in space. Rudolph's success at that might not translate from Big 12 football to the NFL, as defenses will bring more pressure and create tighter passing windows.
We'll get into how Rudolph can work his way through that in another Classroom. This one will focus exclusively on extending plays with his legs and being able to throw accurately on the run — an aspect of his skills that could immediately translate to the NFL.
That's one thing Roethlisberger did extremely well in his younger days, and it still shows up today. Part of Rudolph's ability to succeed there is because even while dealing with pressure, he keeps his head up and looks for his targets down the field.
Other quarterbacks, like Washington State's Luke Falk, exhibit the ability to get away from defenders but immediately look to run or aren't able to keep track of their receiving threats around the field. Watch how Rudolph handled the pass rush from Pitt and spun out from the crumbling pocket to buy himself more time. As soon as he found himself clear of traffic, he replanted his feet, found his target and delivered a strike that resulted in a touchdown:
Rudolph's tape did not show a quarterback who ever panicked or got "happy feet" in the presence of pressure. "Happy feet" is a phrase used to describe quarterbacks who lose their composure under pressure and start to scramble unnecessarily when they can still make plays down the field.
Rudolph is the opposite. See how he is able to stiff-arm Virginia Tech's defensive end in order to escape the pocket, keep his eyes up, and deliver a strike to the front pylon that's caught for a touchdown:
His 4.90 time in the 40-yard dash showed a quarterback who can move enough to buy himself more time. He won't be torch defenses with his speed, but if left unchecked he can pick up decent chunks of yardage as he does here against Virginia Tech:
But where that kind of mobility can truly become dangerous is in the red zone, where Rudolph threw 17 of his 37 touchdowns in 2017 while only throwing two interceptions. Rudolph often stuck to his primary reads on assigned plays and showed patience while waiting for them to develop.
When that read goes away, Rudolph is not afraid to go into sandlot football mode by scrambling and looking for his receivers to get open.
Here he is against Texas Tech as he waits for his receiver to get open on a crossing route over the middle until he realizes that the defense has it completely covered. Rudolph has his slot receiver open in the back corner of the end zone, but he can't see him from the pocket and gets on the move when pass rushers start to get close.
As he scrambles, Rudolph is looking for his men and is able to see the slot receiver standing wide open in the back of the end zone where completes his throw for a touchdown:
That was one of two times he pulled off that kind of creativity in the red zone in that game against Texas Tech. Watch how, again, Rudolph is processing the middle of the field and then scrambles to his right to find more options.
As soon as he escapes the pocket, his running back breaks off his circle route and turns with Rudolph to shake off his man and present the quarterback his target:
Also worthy of note on that play is how Rudolph makes an accurate throw even while a linebacker approaches him once he's escaped the pocket. His strike gets to his man just in time with a defender right in his face.
These are the kind of sandlot football plays that take away X's and O's and put more emphasis on the athleticism of the quarterback and his receiving options. Roethlisberger has plenty of this experience with Antonio Brown and other stars over the years, so Rudolph might find himself in a great situation to be able to replicate that kind of success.
Especially when you consider the chance Rudolph may have to work with Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster, as well as his fellow Oklahoma State Cowboy, James Washington, who we provide an initial look at here.
We'll be getting into other aspects of Rudolph's film soon, but this comparison to Roethlisberger was something important to highlight.
