Madden Monday: As far as Mason Rudolph goes, 'best thing for the Steelers this year' is keeping all 3 QBs

In this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, Mark Madden of 105.9 The X and TribLIVE agrees with the main sentiment in Pittsburgh that emerged after the Steelers preseason opener Saturday night.

For the most part, all three quarterbacks — Mitch Trubisky, Mason Rudolph and Kenny Pickett — played well. In fact, all three had passer ratings over 100.

“I think all three quarterbacks looked like they were supposed to. Maybe Pickett a little more so,” Madden said.

Yes, Pickett walked out of Acrisure Stadium as the biggest story. For the first time in an NFL uniform on his college home field, the former Pitt Panther was 13 of 15 for 95 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Plus, he ran for 16 yards. And he led a game-winning scoring drive late in the fourth quarter to give the Steelers a 32-25 victory.

But Madden insisted that despite the inevitable groundswell for Pickett to get increased playing time as the second-string QB, the Steelers shouldn’t alter their course.

“I think all three quarterbacks played pretty well. I think the overreaction to Pickett is predictable but no less disgusting,” Madden said. “I don’t think it changes the Steelers’ timetable, even one little bit. I think that Rudolph is still the second-string quarterback.”

There are some who insist the Steelers are showcasing Mason Rudolph for a trade. I don’t really think that’s the intent. Maybe it’s an ancillary benefit of him playing well. But if Rudolph plays well against third-stringers or second-stringers, he’s still not going to fetch anything more than a third-day draft choice in a trade.

The Steelers know this. They wouldn’t sacrifice playing time for Pickett just to hope Rudolph looks good to a potential trade suitor. If he does, he does. Great. But I don’t think Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan are prioritizing that angle.

In fact, Madden went so far as to suggest trading Rudolph would be counterproductive.

“You are better off with him,” Madden said. “You aren’t opening (much) cap space ($3 million, $1.04 million in dead space). You are not getting a high draft pick. You aren’t adding a player with the salary cleared. You are just better off having him. The best thing for the Steelers this year is that they keep all three quarterbacks for the entirety of the season and then make decisions from there.”

Related:

• Tim Benz: All 3 Steelers QBs deserve praise. And Mason Rudolph deserves a break
• Stock up, stock down among Steelers after preseason opener
• Steelers win preseason opener on Kenny Pickett's TD pass with 3 seconds left

You could certainly see the Steelers leaning in that direction since none of the three quarterbacks are all that expensive. Tomlin, Khan and many of the coaches and players were also recently part of that 2019 season which featured the franchise using their third quarterback (Devlin Hodges) and even signing the likes of Paxton Lynch as insurance.

For as bad as some Steelers fans may think Rudolph is, he’s better than he was that year. And he’s better than whoever the 2022 equivalent of those options may be.

Also in the podcast, Madden gets into how the crowd booed Rudolph before he even attempted a pass. We discuss George Pickens’ impact, how coordinator Matt Canada’s offense looked without Ben Roethlisberger in the huddle and how the offensive line, secondary and running backs performed.

Listen: Tim Benz and Mark Madden review the Steelers-Seahawks game