Just two days after his young, rookie quarterback threw four interceptions in the Steelers 17-10 loss to the Bills at Heinz Field on Sunday Night Football, head coach Mike Tomlin announced that Devlin Hodges would retain his starting role against the Jets in Week 16.
- Not much of a surprise.
While Devlin Hodges didn’t do a whole heck of a lot to match the “Duckmania” that was born during the 2009 National Duck Calling Champion’s previous three starts and 16 quarters of action in total, fact is, he “didn’t kill us” as Tomlin famously summed up Hodges’ relief efforts, when he rescued a struggling Mason Rudolph in the second half of a game against the Bengals on November 24 and did just enough to guide Pittsburgh to a come-from-behind victory.
Mason Rudolph launches a 45 yard touchdown to Diontae Johnson. Photo Credit: Barry Reeger, PennLive
Even though his four-interception performance did help kill the Steelers chances against Buffalo, I believe Devlin Hodges retaining his starting role is the logical direction to take for a Steelers team that’s 8-6 and still has the inside track on the sixth seed in the race to qualify for the AFC playoffs.
However, if you were to go by the reactions of a lot of fans and even media members following Sunday’s rather frustrating loss to a Bills squad that appeared to be ripe for the picking, you would have thought the next logical step would be to go with Rudolph in the penultimate game of the 2019 regular season.
Based on what?
In Rudolph, we’re talking about a quarterback that really hadn’t shown a whole heck of a lot of special talent or even an “it” factor during his first nine games as the replacement for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who suffered a season-ending elbow injury in a Week 2 loss to the Seahawks at Heinz Field.
- This isn’t to say Manson Rudolph was terrible.
- This isn’t to say he didn’t have his moments.
But he was a guy whose foot-work, accuracy, pocket presence and, eventually, confidence were all called into question. Sure, these things can be corrected. Heck, for all we know, he may have already taken huge steps in fixing these problems during his three weeks as Hodges’ backup — after all, Mason Rudolph may not be a rookie, but in terms of NFL experience, the second-year man from Oklahoma State is essentially at that level.
- But we don’t know if Mason Rudolph has improved his game while not playing. How could we?
The only thing we know about Mason Rudolph is that he went from looking just okay during his first seven games of action, to looking completely lost during his final six quarters — including that abysmal performance against the Browns on Thursday Night Football, in-which he threw four interceptions and became the center of a national NFL scandal, thanks to an ugly brawl with defensive end Myles Garrett in the game’s final seconds.
- Fact is, the offensive production hasn’t been much better under Devlin Hodges than it was with Mason Rudolph.
The Steelers have scored just one offensive touchdown in six of the last seven games–including Hodges’ last two games as a starter.
Although, in fairness to Devlin Hodges, he does look more capable of moving the offense and making plays downfield. Yes, that hurt him the other night, as the game-plan seemed to call for more passing than running against a Buffalo team that was elite while defending the former and just okay while defending the latter.
But Rudolph may have made those same mistakes against Buffalo. When you’re dealing with quarterbacks this young and green, a conservative approach seems to be the best one–why the Steelers didn’t stick with that approach is an article for another time.
At the end of the day, it’s hard to find much to love about Mason Rudolph or Devlin Hodges in terms of talent and performance. Let’s face it, if Hodges didn’t have a cool nickname and backstory, and if he didn’t remind old-time Steelers fans of Bubby Brister, he may never have endeared himself to the faithful in the first place.
At his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Mike Tomlin was asked if Hodges will have a short leash if he continues to struggle against the Jets this Sunday. To paraphrase the veteran head coach, he said he does not anticipate failure, and that he will cross that bridge if and when he comes to it.
- Obviously, Devlin Hodges does have a short leash, especially with the playoffs on the line.
But if Tomlin does go to Mason Rudolph during the game, it won’t be because his talent dictates that he’s the better option. He’d just be the quarterback currently not “killing” the Steelers offense.
Even though I agree with most of what you said I do think they should go back to Mason Rudolph . I like Hodges but in my opinion hes lacking arm strength for the Passes that are 15 yd or more. We both know that if Pittsburgh gets into the playoffs I don’t see them getting very far so I would rather see them go back to Mason Rudolph To see if he has learned anything from his time on the bench plus it gives Pittsburgh some more time to evaluate whether Rudolph is going to be the heir apparent or not. Hodge is a great story indeed but hes not the answer We need more time with Root off to see if hes the answer. Thank you for your time.
Thanks Jeff,
Part of me agrees with you. Clearly of the two QB’s Rudolph has a higher ceiling, although at this point I also don’t wonder of Duck has a higher floor. For my money, Duck was getting a little better each week following that very shaky start against Miami. Against the Rams, I thought he looked in control of the huddle and at the line of scrimmage to a level I’d not seen.
Then came the Cleveland game. Which honestly, given that it was on the road, and on a short week, shouldn’t be so damming.
But Rudolph did not look good against Cincinnati.
That last pass he threw to the knees of a wide open Diontae Johnson reminded me of Kordell Stewart in 1999.
Based on what I’ve read from some reporters I trust, I think that sticking with Hodges is the right move.