Work in offseason gives Rudolph lift
Wherever he went during the offseason, Mason Rudolph tried to find one of his teammates to play catch. Darrius Heyward-Bey in California. Jaylen Samuels in Charlotte. Anything to get more comfortable with his receivers, more comfortable with the offense.
“A lot of guys are spread all over the place,” said Rudolph, a secondyear quarterback who could one day be more than that. “It was fun to stay fresh. You don’t have to explain to them, ‘Hey, this is the route.’ They already know it.”
The Steelers begin their mandatory three-day minicamp Tuesday after three weeks of OTAs, and Rudolph hasn’t had to travel any farther than the South Side to show off his newfound comfort with the
offense.
Spring practice in shorts is always a good time to exhibit caution and not get too consumed with how a player looks on the field. Coaches try to adhere to the same approach. But there is no mistaking the feeling and buzz around the team about Rudolph, who has looked sharper than a Ginsu knife during OTAs.
He comes to minicamp with a quicker, tighter motion, thanks to throwing workouts with former baseball pitcher Tom House. And his footwork is more precise, staccato-like, the result of additional offseason preparation. Everyone who matters has noticed.
“I feel like I threw the ball very well, took care of the ball,” Rudolph said. “There were barely any turnovers, especially in the red zone. That was an emphasis for myself — speed everything up in the red zone, make sure ball placement was good. We’re giving guys a chance to make plays.
“I thought I improved a lot. We got a lot of reps, valuable reps, so it kind of gives us a primer before we head to Latrobe.”
Minicamp will be the next and final warm-up before the team goes to Saint Vincent College in late July, and the reps Rudolph and Josh Dobbs have been getting with the first-team offense in OTAs will gradually diminish. Ben Roethlisberger attended most OTA sessions, though he didn’t always practice with the team.
Still, Rudolph has been taking advantage of the opportunities to show how much better and more confident he is compared to last year, when he came in as the 76th overall player selected in the draft. For a player who is contending merely to be a top backup to Roethlisberger, his progression and position battle with Dobbs will be among the most interesting once the Steelers get to Latrobe.
“It has always been my motto — not just be a little better, but to make huge strides from the previous year, whether high school or college,” Rudolph said. “That’s what I’ve done this year, from a protection standpoint and general knowledge of the offense, the operation, helping guys that are new. I’m the veteran now, even though I’m only a year in. I feel like my general knowledge is 100 times better than last year.”
That’s because Rudolph said he had four months after the 2018 season to get ready for this phase. And he didn’t just disappear. He visited and worked out with several teammates, depending on where he traveled. And he took his nose out of the playbook from time to time to make calls to offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner when he had a question.
“I had all this time; it’s the first time I had four months off,” Rudolph said. “You have to be able to manage it well, spend a little time in the playbook, in the rule book even.
“Obviously, throwing, working on little things, footwork, timing. Trying to get around other guys. It was fun.
“I couldn’t put one thing on it. It was staying in touch with the coaching staff, asking questions. Not being a teacher’s pet, but legitimate questions.”
The teachers noticed.