Mason Rudolph has gone from the Mad Bomber at Oklahoma State to the Dynamic Dink and Dunker with the Steelers.
At least that's what many are saying following Rudolph's first two starts with the Steelers. In fact, his critics are quick to point out Rudolph's average pass went just 3.2 yards past the line of scrimmage in Monday night's 27-3 win over the Bengals.
There is a little more to it than that, however.
"It just happened that way that we took the underneath stuff. And then they come up and we throw it out there to Diontae (Johnson) and it's a touchdown," Rudolph said Thursday as the Steelers (1-3) prepared to play the Ravens (2-2) Sunday at Heinz Field.
"You guys can say we're not throwing it deep all you want. Sometimes, that's football. You've got to take what's there. I was criticized for doing that too much in college, so it's refreshing to get the opposite."
The reality is that while, yes, Rudolph's average pass attempt was 3.2 yards downfield, it's because the NFL considers it a pass instead of a run the times he gave the ball to players using jet sweep motion. According to the NFL's Next Gen stats, Rudolph had seven of those among his 24 completions in the game.
He had five other passes that were complete at or behind the line of scrimmage. On throws past the line of scrimmage against the Bengals, he was 11 of 15, with two of those going for touchdowns.
That was a vast improvement over the previous week in San Francisco, when he completed just two of 13 passes beyond the line of scrimmage.
The next step for Rudolph is to involve JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Washington more in the passing game. They were involved so little -- except as blockers -- some might have wanted to put their photos on the back of a milk cartoon.
Smith-Schuster and Washington were targeted just five times against the Bengals, as the Steelers wanted to take advantage of the matchup advantage they felt they had with running backs James Conner and Jaylen Samuels working against Cincinnati's linebackers.
Smith-Schuster finished with three catches for 15 yards and Washington failed to catch the only pass thrown his way.
Rudolph knows that has to change, especially with Smith-Schuster, the team's No. 1 receiver.
"You've got to get the ball to your best players. That's something you look forward to every week in the game plan," he admitted. "JuJu is a team player and there are going to be games like that where they take him away. Other guys have to step up and make plays, and they did.
"That's the kind of group we have. It's an unselfish group. They understand that if they're not scoring twice a game, they're still going to be a great teammate and encourage the other guys. That's what he did. He's a big leader on our team. We're trying actively, me and us, to get him the ball. He's a great player."
Winning helps, but there isn't a wide receiver walking the planet that doesn't want the ball.
Since Rudolph entered the lineup in the second half of the Steelers' Week 2 loss to the Seahawks, he has tried to get the ball to Smith-Schuster, targeting him a team-high 16 times in that period. Smith-Schuster has nine catches for 153 yards and a touchdown.
That was one good game for Smith-Schuster in 2018, when he led the team with 111 catches for 1,426 yards with seven touchdowns.
Washington, however, hasn't flourished quite like many had thought when his former Oklahoma State teammate entered the lineup. In fact, Johnson, a rookie, has been a favorite target of Rudolph, getting 15 passes thrown his way, compared to seven for Washington.
This, from a duo that hooked up enough for Washington to win the Fred Biletnikoff Award as college football's top receiver in 2017 when Washington had 74 catches for 1,549 yards and 13 touchdowns.
"I just feel like guys may start to key on that because of what we did in college and we may not have the same success," Washington said. "We'll take the plays that we're given and he's just got to get them the ball."
Rudolph agrees. He knows he has to get his downfield receivers involved, if just to loosen up defenses from continuing to stack the box.
"It's been two games. It's just kind of happened that way," Rudolph said. "Different people step up. Last week, it was our running backs. They did a great job advancing the ball. It was a matchup we wanted, to get our running backs on their linebackers. We felt like that was a good matchup for us. James will get it. He's had a great week of practice. It's just a matter of time before we get the right look and we connect on it."
