It isn't often a third-round draft pick captures the essence of a draft. But so much of how the Steelers' 2018 draft is perceived in future years will hinge on what happens with Mason Rudolph.
Quarterback is just different.
If dimes were handed out for every time I was asked about the long-term prospects of either Landry Jones or Josh Dobbs in the past five years, I'd have a stack of dimes large enough to pay Rudolph's salary the next few years.
But neither Jones nor Dobbs were selected as the potential replacement for Ben Roethlisberger. They were taken with an eye toward quarterback depth.
Rudolph was taken to be the heir apparent to Roethlisberger. Just ask him.
"Regardless of who plays, whether it’s him or me, I’m going to prepare the same. I’m going to compete every single day," Rudolph told me Saturday, a day after the Steelers traded up to select him in the third round. "I’m going to have a great rookie mini-camp and carry that over to OTAs. That’s all I can do right now. I like to make long-term goals and carry them out with short-term projects."
Rudolph is a guy who has a lot of competitive fire. He's not Jones, whose "laid-back, aw-shucks-attitude," helped endear him to Roethlisberger, who he has never seen as a potential replacement because the Steelers have always said that he isn't.
But Rudolph is a guy the Steelers gave consideration to selecting in the first round. Then, they looked hard at him again in the second round. And once they got into the third round, where they had acquired an early pick in the trade with Oakland for Martavis Bryant, it was time to pull the trigger. As an added bonus, they moved up a couple of spots in a trade with Seattle to slide ahead of Cincinnati, which also was in the market for a quarterback.
"It got to a point where it was a very easy decision for us to add such a quality quarterback to our team," Kevin Colbert said. "This draft had a very unique quarterback class where we hadn’t had that much depth at the position in the top of the draft in a long time. Mason was certainly part of that group, in our opinion. When he was available to us at that point in the third round, it was a very easy decision."
Though the Steelers aren't saying publicly, they view Rudolph as their quarterback of the future. There is no doubt Rudolph views himself as that.
Rudolph has a lot of confidence in his abilities. And some draft analysts had him as their top-rated quarterback in this draft.
Instead, he was the sixth QB selected, 44 picks after the fifth, Lamar Jackson, was taken by Baltimore.
He feels he was that deserving, as well, and now carries a chip on his shoulder after seeing five quarterbacks selected ahead of him — all in the first round — while he slipped to the third.
"No doubt. The chip is bigger than ever. It was tough. But everyone said, guys like Russell (Wilson) and Tony Romo, everyone says it doesn’t matter," Rudolph said. "Obviously, it matters to them. If it didn’t, you wouldn’t be a competitor and the competitor that I am. I definitely have a desire to get after it and prove what kind of player I am. Time will let that be shown."
Rudolph won't replace Roethlisberger in 2018. And if Roethlisberger is to be believed, it won't come in 2019 or 2020, either. He said he plans on playing three more seasons — at least.
But it wasn't all that long ago — last year, in fact — that Roethlisberger was contemplating retirement. And when your quarterback is 36 years old, as Roethlisberger now is, you should at least be looking long and hard at a replacement every year in the draft.
The opportunity to find a potential franchise quarterback doesn't come around often when you are habitually picking at the bottom of the first round, as the Steelers tend to do. In fact, Rudolph is the first quarterback the Steelers have selected this high since taking Roethlisberger in the first round in 2004. Prior to that, the highest spot they selected a quarterback was Kordell Stewart in the second round in 1995.
So they make a move like this about once every 10 years or so.
Rudolph hopes they won't have to do it again for another 10 years. Check that, he doesn't hope that. He knows they won't.
And he's happy to sit behind Roethlisberger and bide his time.
He saw other players from this draft class go to teams where they will be forced to play right away. And he feels he would have been fine in a situation like that. But he also sees the value of learning his craft from a future Hall of Fame quarterback.
"I felt like I could have done a great job if that would have happened to me. I would attack it the same as I am this situation. That didn’t happen and I think this situation will be even better," Rudolph told me. "You may cut out a little of the growing pains. You can learn by watching instead of learning from the mistakes and that may cut down the mistakes when you do that.
"This was always kind of the A-list of places I wanted to end up. I had a certain place where I thought or wanted that to happen. But that’s not in my control. I’m happy to be in a place that I had circled for a long time."
• The question that remains is how will Roethlisberger react to having a quarterback on the roster who is viewed as his eventual replacement? There's a long list of situations such as this where the veteran quarterback hasn't exactly taken the rookie under his wing, from Joe Montana and Steve Young, to Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, to Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo.
This is where Jones could come into play. Roethlisberger likes Jones and trusts him. And Jones knows the offense well. He could be as much of, if not more of, a factor working with Rudolph as Roethlisberger.
• Why does that happen specifically at the quarterback position when it doesn't happen at others?
Star quarterbacks like to go out on their own terms. And they are who they are because they are ultra-competitive. I remember talking to Tommy Maddox about that very thing.
Maddox was selected by Denver in the first round when he came out to be the eventual replacement for John Elway, who was still in his early 30s at the time. And Elway didn't exactly warm up to the rookie. In fact, Maddox said Elway rarely spoke to him.
• What kind of overall grade would I give the Steelers for this draft? I'd say a B-minus.
In addition to a possible quarterback of the future, they added players up the middle of their defense in Terrell Edmunds, Marcus Allen and Joshua Frazier, a receiver in James Washington who should contribute right away, a running back to push James Conner in fifth-round selection Jaylen Samuels and a developmental offensive tackle in the late third round in Chukwuma Okorafor.
But perhaps more so than most drafts, this is one that we really won't know the true grade until two or three years from now.
We could make the argument Edmunds could have been had in later rounds, but when you get a player in Rudolph that many people had a much higher grade on, does it matter?
Fact is with Edmunds, another safety wasn't selected until 26 picks later when Cincinnati took Jessie Bates. And he was the lone safety taken in the second round. We can't say for certain Edmunds wouldn't have been picked. And, apparently, many of the draft analysts, including me, were way off in their assessments of that particular position.
• Expect J.J. Wilcox to be released at some point by the Steelers, which will add up to $3.25 million in salary cap savings. That would give the Steelers around $6.5 million in cap space.
Lawrence Timmons or Novorro Bowman, anyone?
Both veteran linebackers remain unsigned. And the Steelers also could make a move such as bringing back Arthur Moats, as well. There also will be some other veterans cut loose in the next few weeks as teams adjust their rosters.
Point is, just because the Steelers didn't acquire an inside linebacker in the draft doesn't mean they won't have other avenues to improve their depth.
And, as I wrote yesterday, an inside linebacker might not be necessary.
• Things could be really interesting in the AFC North in a few years. The Steelers, Browns and Ravens all selected players considered their quarterbacks of the future.
Baker Mayfield, the top pick in the draft by Cleveland, will likely be the first to break into the starting lineup. Though the Browns are intent on sitting him, there will be a lot of pressure to play him over Tyrod Taylor once things go awry, as usual.
The Ravens, meanwhile, took Lamar Jackson with the last pick of the first round. And while they are likely to start Joe Flacco this season, they can cut bait with Flacco after this season at a reasonable cap hit. Baltimore is 40-40 since winning its last Super Bowl and has missed the playoffs in each of the past three seasons.
And the Steelers have Rudolph, who could sit the longest of the three, but also has the lowest salary.
It will offer a good look at the different ways to develop a quarterback in the league. And if all three work out, won't that make things fun in the division?
• While driving to the facility Saturday morning, I heard an analyst on a national radio show talking about the Rudolph pick and saying it was questionable since only 25 percent of quarterbacks selected in the third round work out.
Seriously.
If that number is true — which I have my doubts about — I'm guessing the hit rate is just as bad, if not worse, for first-round guys. Just ask the Browns.
