Mason Rudolph (American football)
Brett Mason Rudolph III (born July 17, 1995) is an American football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Oklahoma State, where he was a three-year starter and won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award during his last year. He was selected by the Steelers in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft.
Rudolph in 2017 | |||||||||||||
No. 2 – Pittsburgh Steelers | |||||||||||||
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Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||
Born: | Rock Hill, South Carolina | July 17, 1995||||||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||||||||
Weight: | 235 lb (107 kg) | ||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||
High school: | Northwestern (Rock Hill, South Carolina) | ||||||||||||
College: | Oklahoma State | ||||||||||||
NFL Draft: | 2018 / Round: 3 / Pick: 76 | ||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||
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Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
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Career NFL statistics as of 2019 | |||||||||||||
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He spent the 2018 season as the Steelers third string quarterback, and did not see any game action in the regular season. Prior to the 2019 season, he was promoted to the main back-up to long-time starter Ben Roethlisberger. In week 2 of the 2019 season, Roethlisberger suffered a season-ending injury, and Rudolph was named the starting quarterback in his place. In a week 11 game against the Cleveland Browns, Rudolph was involved in a fight with Browns defender Myles Garrett that brought in several other players and resulted in several suspensions.
Early years
Rudolph was named after his father and grandfather; he is not related to the late PGA Tour golfer Mason Rudolph.[1] He attended Westminster Catawba Christian School before transferring to Northwestern High School in Rock Hill, South Carolina. During his career he passed for 10,986 yards and 132 passing touchdowns. During his senior season, he accounted for 80 total touchdowns and threw for 4,400 yards as he led the "Trojans" to a 15-0 record, 4A State Championship and #7 National Ranking. He played in the Annual Shrine Bowl All-Star game was named the offensive MVP as he led South Carolina on a game winning drive in the final 20 seconds. He was a finalist for South Carolina's "Mr Football" award. Rudolph was rated by Rivals.com as a four-star recruit and was ranked as the ninth-best pro-style quarterback in his class.[2] He committed to Oklahoma State University to play college football.[3][4]
College career
Rudolph entered his true freshman season in 2014 as a third string behind J. W. Walsh and Daxx Garman.[5][6] After Walsh was injured, Garman became the starter with Rudolph as his backup. After Garman was injured, Rudolph started his first career game against Baylor.[7] During the game, he completed 13 of 25 passes for 281 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.[8] Rudolph remained the starter for the final two games, including the 2015 Cactus Bowl victory against Washington.[9][10][11] In three games total, he completed 49 of 86 passes for 853 yards, six touchdowns, and four interceptions.[12]
He was named the starter for the 2015 season in January of that year.[13]
Rudolph is the winner of the 2017 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, given annually to the country's outstanding senior college quarterback.[14]
College statistics
Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||||
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Year | Team | GP | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Ypa | TDs | Int | Rate | Att | Yds | TDs | Avg |
2014 | Oklahoma State | 3 | 49 | 86 | 57.0 | 853 | 9.9 | 6 | 4 | 154.0 | 14 | -33 | 0 | -2.4 |
2015 | Oklahoma State | 13 | 264 | 424 | 62.3 | 3,770 | 8.9 | 21 | 9 | 149.1 | 67 | -35 | 1 | -0.5 |
2016 | Oklahoma State | 13 | 284 | 448 | 63.4 | 4,091 | 9.1 | 28 | 4 | 158.9 | 83 | 61 | 6 | 0.7 |
2017 | Oklahoma State | 12 | 297 | 457 | 65.0 | 4,553 | 10.0 | 35 | 9 | 170.0 | 56 | 32 | 10 | 0.6 |
College Totals | 41 | 894 | 1,415 | 63.1 | 13,267 | 9.4 | 90 | 26 | 159.3 | 220 | 25 | 17 | 0.1 |
Professional career
Rudolph attended the NFL Scouting Combine and completed the majority of combine drills, but opted to skip the bench press, broad jump, short shuttle, and three-cone drill. On March 15, 2018, he participated at Oklahoma State's pro day and completed the three-cone drill, short shuttle, broad jump, and ran passing drills. He met with scouts and team representatives from the Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants, and Los Angeles Chargers privately after completing his pro day.[15] He attended private workout and visits with the New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills, New Orleans Saints, Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants, and Los Angeles Chargers.[16] At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Rudolph was projected to be a second round pick by the majority of NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked as the sixth best quarterback prospect in the draft by DraftScout.com, Scouts Inc., and Sports Illustrated.[17][18][19]
External video | |
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Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand size | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Wonderlic | |
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6 ft 4 5⁄8 in (1.95 m) |
235 lb (107 kg) |
32 3⁄8 in (0.82 m) |
9 1⁄8 in (0.23 m) |
4.90 s | 1.71 s | 2.88 s | 4.56 s | 28 1⁄2 in (0.72 m) |
8 ft 11 in (2.72 m) |
28 | ||
All values from NFL Draft[20][21] |
The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Rudolph in the third round (76th overall) of the 2018 NFL Draft.[22] The Steelers traded their third-round (79th overall) and seventh-round (220th overall) picks to the Seattle Seahawks in order to move up three spots and select Rudolph with the 76th overall pick.[23] Rudolph was the sixth quarterback selected in 2018.[24]
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2018 season
On May 23, 2018, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Rudolph to a four-year, $3.92 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $932,264.[25]
Throughout training camp, Rudolph competed against Landry Jones and Joshua Dobbs for the backup spot behind Ben Roethlisberger. Head coach Mike Tomlin ultimately named Rudolph the third quarterback, as Jones was released.[26] Rudolph did not receive a single snap in the 2018 season.[27]
2019 season
During the preseason, Rudolph was named the second quarterback behind Roethlisberger, eclipsing Dobbs after multiple successful preseason performances.[28]
During Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks, Rudolph relieved an injured Roethlisberger in the second half and threw for 112 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception as the Steelers narrowly lost by a score of 26–28.[29] Following the announcement that Roethlisberger would miss the rest of the season due to season-ending elbow surgery, Rudolph became the Steelers' starting quarterback.[30] Rudolph made his first NFL start in Week 3 against the San Francisco 49ers. He threw 174 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception in the 24-20 road loss.[31] Against the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football in Week 4, Rudolph recorded his first win as a starter with 229 passing yards and two touchdowns in the 27–3 victory.[32] On October 6, against the Baltimore Ravens in week 5, Rudolph suffered a concussion after being hit by Ravens safety Earl Thomas and was temporarily knocked unconscious, being relieved by Steelers third-string quarterback Devlin Hodges.[33] Rudolph was cleared from concussion protocol on October 16, 2019.[34] He returned to face the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football and had 251 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and one interception in the 27–14 victory.[35]
During Thursday Night Football against the Cleveland Browns in Week 11, with 8 seconds left in regulation, Rudolph was involved in a brawl involving several players from both teams. With just moments left in the game, Rudolph completed a pass to running back Trey Edmunds. Myles Garrett of the Browns then tackled Rudolph late, after the pass had been completed.[36] While the two were entangled on the ground, Rudolph pushed down and away on Garrett's helmet. Garrett then grabbed at Rudolph's helmet and removed it. When Rudolph ran after Garrett, Garrett struck Rudolph in the head with Rudolph's own helmet.[37][38] [39] During and after this altercation, additional players came into the fray and further fighting occurred. Garrett and two other players were ejected and later suspended for the incident. Rudolph finished with 221 passing yards, a touchdown, and four interceptions as the Steelers lost 21-7.[40][41] Rudolph later declined to file criminal charges, calling the situation an NFL matter.[42] For his role in the scuffle, Rudolph was later fined $50,000 by the league.[43] Garrett claimed that Rudolph used a racial slur in the build-up to the altercation, but the NFL investigation found no evidence to support Garrett's claim. [44]
In the following week against the still-winless Cincinnati Bengals, Rudolph struggled again, throwing for 85 yards and an interception before being benched for Devlin Hodges in the third quarter who led the Steelers to a 16–10 comeback victory.[45][46] Two days later, Steelers' head coach Mike Tomlin announced that Hodges would remain the starting QB for the following week's game against Cleveland.[47] In Week 16 against the New York Jets, Rudolph came into the game after struggles from Hodges in the second quarter, but later suffered a shoulder injury and left the game in the fourth quarter. During the game, Rudolph threw for 129 yards and a touchdown. Without Rudolph, the Steelers lost 10–16.[48] It was revealed that he suffered a sternoclavicular joint dislocation in the shoulder and was placed on injured reserve on December 24, 2019.[49] Overall, he started in eight out of the ten games in which he appeared, recorded 1,765 passing yards, 13 passing touchdowns, 9 interceptions, and posted a passer rating of 82.0.[50]
Statistics
Year | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | Sacked | Fumbles | |||||||||||||
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GP | GS | Comp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rate | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Sck | SckY | FUM | Lost | ||
2018 | PIT | 0 | 0 | DNP | |||||||||||||||
2019 | PIT | 10 | 8 | 176 | 283 | 62.2 | 1,765 | 6.2 | 13 | 9 | 82.0 | 21 | 42 | 2.0 | 0 | 15 | 124 | 4 | 0 |
Career | 10 | 8 | 176 | 283 | 62.2 | 1,765 | 6.2 | 13 | 9 | 82.0 | 21 | 42 | 2.0 | 0 | 15 | 124 | 4 | 0 |
References
- Tramel, Berry (June 6, 2013). "Oklahoma State football: The second Mason Rudolph". The Oklahoman. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
- "Rivals.com". sports.yahoo.com.
- "Oklahoma State football: Cowboys get commitment from South Carolina quarterback Mason Rudolph". June 5, 2013.
- "Northwestern quarterback Mason Rudolph commits to Oklahoma State University". Archived from the original on January 18, 2015.
- "Oklahoma State football: Mason Rudolph has family backing through rise with Cowboys". Oklahoman.com. December 30, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
- "Oklahoma State football: Mason Rudolph rolls with the changes during rise to Cowboys' starting quarterback role". Oklahoman.com. December 16, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
- Fredrickson, Kyle (November 22, 2014). "Media report: Freshman quarterback Mason Rudolph 'likely' to start against Baylor". The Oklahoman. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
- "Oklahoma State's Offense Finds a Spark Behind Freshman QB Mason Rudolph". AthlonSports.com. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
- Obert, Richard. "Freshman QB Mason Rudolph ready to lead Oklahoma State to Cactus Bowl victory in only 3rd start". azcentral. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
- "Mason Rudolph leads Oklahoma State past Washington". NFL.com. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
- Romero, Jose Miguel. "Oklahoma State QB Mason Rudolph shines vs. UW defense". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
- Haisten, Bill. "Obvious difference-maker: Rudolph's emergence at QB for OSU". Tulsa World. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
- "Gundy: Rudolph is Okla. State's starting QB". ESPN.com. January 14, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
- "Oklahoma State University Mason Rudolph Wins The 2017 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award - Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award". Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. November 30, 2017. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
- "Mason Rudolph meets with Chargers, Giants, Steelers". NFL.com. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
- Gantt, Darin (April 6, 2018). "Mason Rudolph has busy pre-draft schedule". profootballtalk.nbcsports.com. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
- "Mason Rudolph, DS #6 QB, Oklahoma State". draftscout.com. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
- "NFL Mason Rudolph-ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
- "The 2018 NFL Draft Big Board, Vol. 2". si.com. March 7, 2018. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
- "NFL Draft Prospect Profile - Mason Rudolph". nfl.com. March 1, 2018. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
- "Oklahoma State QB Mason Rudolph : 2018 NFL Draft Scout Player Profile". NFLDraftScout.com. Retrieved May 12, 2018.
- "2018 NFL Draft Results: Pittsburgh Steelers trade up to select QB Mason Rudolph with third round pick". Behind The Steel Curtain. April 27, 2018. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
- "Steelers Trade Up to No. 76 Overall to Draft Former Oklahoma State QB Mason Rudolph". SI.com. April 28, 2018. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
- "Steelers ranked Mason Rudolph among Draft's top QBs". NFL.com. April 30, 2018. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
- "Spotrac.com: Mason Rudolph contract". Spotrac.com. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
- Quinn, Sam (August 16, 2018). "Steelers fans critical of Mason Rudolph, Josh Dobbs". 247sports.com. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
- https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/R/RudoMa00.htm
- "Steelers Depth Chart". steelers.com. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
- "Wilson, Seahawks edge Steelers 28-26 as Roethlisberger exits". www.espn.com. Associated Press. September 15, 2019. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
- Patra, Kevin (September 16, 2019). "Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger (elbow) out for the year". NFL.com. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
- "Sloppy 49ers beat Steelers 24-20 on late Garoppolo TD pass". www.espn.com. Associated Press. September 22, 2019. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
- "Rudolph fires 2 TD passes as Steelers rout Bengals". Reuters. October 1, 2019. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
- Pryor, Brooke (October 6, 2019). "Steelers' Rudolph concussed on hit vs. Ravens". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 8, 2019.Pryor, Brooke (October 6, 2019). "Steelers' Rudolph concussed on hit vs. Ravens". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
- Pryor, Brooke (October 16, 2019). "Steelers QB Rudolph clears concussion protocol". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
- "Miami Dolphins at Pittsburgh Steelers - October 28th, 2019". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
- "Browns' Myles Garrett Faces Suspension for Hitting Steelers Quarterback With Helmet". The New York Times. November 15, 2019. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
- "Myles Garrett, two others ejected after late skirmish". NFL.com. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
- "Mason Rudolph fined $50,000 for role in Steelers-Browns brawl". CBS News. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
- "Myles Garrett uses helmet to clock Mason Rudolph's head in fight". New York Post. November 15, 2019. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
- Trotter, Jake; Pryor, Brooke (November 14, 2019). "Three Ejected After Nasty Brawl". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
- Alper, Josh (November 15, 2019). "Reports: Mason Rudolph will be fined". ProFootballTalk. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
- Wallace, Danielle (November 16, 2019). "Pittsburgh Steelers' Mason Rudolph declines to file criminal charges against Cleveland Browns' Myles Garrett". foxnews.com. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
- DeArdo, Bryan (November 23, 2019). "Steelers' Mason Rudolph fined $50K by NFL for role in fight with Myles Garrett, per report". CBSSports.com. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
- "OTL: Garrett again accuses Rudolph of using slur". ESPN.com. February 14, 2020. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
- Pryor, Brooke (November 24, 2019). "Rudolph benched for poor play; denies using slur". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
- "Duck Time: Hodges leads Steelers over winless Bengals 16-10". www.espn.com. Associated Press. November 24, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
- Shook, Nick (November 26, 2019). "Steelers starting Devlin Hodges at QB vs. Browns". NFL.com. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
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- Varley, Teresa (December 24, 2019). "Rudolph placed on IR". Steelers.com.
- https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/R/RudoMa00/gamelog/2019/