Over the course of the next 14 games, the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to get a very good luck at what the future of quarterback position might look like. Mason Rudolph is in for Ben Roethlisberger and if his first half as a starter is any indication, he is ready to be a starting NFL quarterback.
Having said that, there are still some things Pittsburgh can do to make life easier on Rudolph as he transitions to running the Steelers offense.
Keep it simple (sort of)
No one is saying the Steelers have to cut the playbook in half for Rudolph. Quite the contrary. We saw on Sunday he seems more than capable of running the gameplan as it’s written. But now with nearly a full season to go, offensive coordinator, Randy Fichtner can make subtle changes to the offense that plays to Rudolph’s unique strengths.
More play-action passing
This goes hand in hand with a legitimate commitment to running the football. The Steelers’ coaches cannot get one-dimensional with Rudolph under center. If teams don’t fear the run they will just be able to tee off on the young quarterback. This also means the struggles of the offensive line in the run game need to be shored up. Who misses Mike Munchak right now?
Defense does its part
This group is littered with former first and second-round picks and it is time they play like it. And as much as we all want to blame defensive coordinator Keith Butler for this group’s woes, he’s not making these guys miss tackles, lose players in coverage and get stuffed at the line of scrimmage by offensive linemen. It’s easy for a defense to get complacent when you have a Hall of Fame quarterback to bail you out but accountability goes way up with Rudolph at quarterback.
