Tim Benz: Is Mike Tomlin too committed to Mason Rudolph as Steelers’ QB?

Me? What would I do at the Steelers quarterback position?

I’d start Devlin “Duck” Hodges Sunday versus the Cleveland Browns.

That takes a lot for me to say. I was a big fan of Mason Rudolph coming out of Oklahoma State, and I lauded the Steelers’ decision to draft him in April 2018.

I also applauded the decision to stay with Rudolph at quarterback once he recovered from his concussion, even after Hodges won his spot start in Los Angeles while Rudolph was sidelined.

There is a third-round investment on Rudolph. The Steelers claim to have put a first-round grade on him. He recently completed a three-game winning streak. And Ben Roethlisberger’s status on injured reserve supplies a rare opportunity to get a season-long look at an in-house candidate to be the eventual successor to a franchise quarterback, or at least become his long-term backup.

Maybe Rudolph could still be one of those two things over the next few years.

Unfortunately, if the second-year QB has that potential in him, it has stalled after a few glimpses of optimism in those three victories against Miami, Indianapolis and the Los Angeles Rams.

In his two starts since that streak, Rudolph is 31-for-60 for 306 yards. He has been sacked five times and has thrown just one touchdown against five interceptions.

And a lot of those incompletions and misfires haven’t looked — if I may borrow a favorite phrase of head coach Mike Tomlin — “varsity level.”

So it’s not easy for me to fold on Rudolph as the starter going into this week’s game with so many of my chips of support on the table for him.

But if it’s difficult for me to call for Hodges to replace Rudolph, think about how hard it is going to be for Tomlin to actually do it.

That’s why I’m not yet convinced that he will.

After all, it’s Tomlin who was part of drafting Rudolph. Tomlin was part of that first-round grade. Tomlin was part of the decision to get rid of Landry Jones and Josh Dobbs the last two years, thus clearing the way for Rudolph to become the second quarterback on the depth chart.

Not to mention how vehemently Tomlin has backed Rudolph every step of the way, including scoffing at any suggestion that Hodges would ever replace a healthy version of Rudolph.

Remember his quote in the Steelers media room heading into the bye weekend?

“Seriously guys, that guy (Rudolph) is our quarterback when he clears the protocol. And it’s as simple as that,” Tomlin said after Hodges won in Los Angeles against the Chargers in Week 6. “Appreciate the efforts of Duck and so forth, but as soon as (Rudolph) is ready to go, he’s ready to go.”

When asked to describe how Hodges did versus the Chargers, Tomlin merely said, “He didn’t kill us.”

Then, after Rudolph struggled in the first half in the Monday night game against the Dolphins coming out of the bye, Tomlin was asked the next day if he ever considered pulling Rudolph for Hodges and all he did was grumble, “Next.”

As in “next question.”

Well, now there are a lot of questions. There sure will be when Tomlin goes to the podium Tuesday afternoon.

And they won’t be so easily dismissed. Because it was “the Duck” who flew in from the sideline to salvage a win against the Bengals Sunday, connecting with James Washington for a 79-yard score.

That was the Steelers’ lone touchdown of the afternoon.

And even though Hodges was a meager 4-for-10 for just 39 yards aside from that play, the offense wasn’t quite as disastrous as it had been under Rudolph the previous six quarters.

Yet after that victory, Tomlin again seemed to go out of his way to tamp down any enthusiasm over Hodges’ outing.

“You’ll make more out of Duck’s contributions than need be, but so be it,” Tomlin said in the moments after the win over the Bengals. “It comes with the position. They get too much credit at times, and they get too much blame at times.”

Even when discussing the touchdown pass to Washington, Tomlin appeared to redirect any praise of the backup QB.

“We’re not going to read too much into it. He made some plays, but you can’t take anything away from James Washington, with what he did to produce after that catch,” Tomlin said.

Well, of course. Look at the video.

DO NOT GET IN @JamesWashington's WAY!! pic.twitter.com/geUiqBIiU7

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) November 24, 2019

Sure, Washington did more to author that play than Hodges. But at least the ball came out on time and it hit the receiver in stride. That’s more than what we have seen from Rudolph the last two weeks.

I get it. Rudolph has pedigree out of the Big 12, and Hodges is undrafted out of Samford. I also understand that Tomlin is pot committed on Rudolph.

However, I’d argue he’s pot committed on the 2019 season, too, after trading away two draft picks for Minkah Fitzpatrick and Nick Vannett. The goal of those moves was to stay in a wild-card chase that currently has his team as the last club in the playoff field.

And based on what we have seen the last two weeks, it doesn’t appear Rudolph is as good of a bet on cashing in that pot as Hodges is.

As if either option is all that good.

It’s Tomlin’s team. It’s Tomlin’s decision. He’s watching tape every day. He’s seeing things we aren’t.

Maybe offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner can’t give Hodges the full menu of plays that he can to Rudolph. Maybe Hodges’ arm strength isn’t NFL caliber. And perhaps Hodges isn’t cutting the ball loose — or is checking down — when guys are open downfield.

Although, haven’t those negatives all been complaints about Rudolph, too?

There is no rule that says Rudolph can’t come off the bench for Hodges if “Duck” doesn’t fly straight on Sunday. In fact, in terms of fan response to Rudolph at the stadium, he’s likely to get a lot more support coming on in relief if Hodges fails than he will as a starter.

The first time that Rudolph throws an incompletion the quacking from the 500 level will be deafening.

I don’t know what the right answer is between these two. “Neither” is probably the best option.

But I do know this, if Tomlin decides to stick with Rudolph and he’s asked why, one answer that won’t be acceptable is, “Next.”