Don't Blame Randy Fichtner

[FrancoLambert]

Yes I've read all the articulations on this board of why he doesn't have it. I've also heard many analysts (paid ones) say he can make all the throws. Time will prove whether he is a starting NFL QB or not.

....and the cocksure critics onboard who are certain he’ll never have it are not willing to grant him that time.

[pczach]

....and the cocksure critics onboard who are certain he’ll never have it are not willing to grant him that time.

I'm with you. I get that people have doubts, but to think any of us know everything there is to know about a young quarterback after a few starts is silly.

I don't understand how people think they know what the kid will ultimately be without giving him more time. It doesn't make sense for people to definitively decide that he doesn't have it after a few games. Give the kid time. I have been critical of his game from the standpoint that there are things he is struggling with now, but I see the potential for more growth. It isn't an easy thing to evaluate a quarterback. If it were easy, everyone would have a good one. So yes, identify the weaknesses in his game or the things he struggles with because he hasn't seen them or done them before, and then watch to see if continues to work on those weaknesses and get better.

He hasn't seen everything he is going to see as a quarterback yet. Not by a longshot. There is almost as much for us to learn about him as there is for him to learn about his craft. Being a third-string quarterback really limited his reps for a full year. IMO, he is a guy that is picking things up slowly but consistently as he goes along. He certainly has guts and I like what I have seen in some big moments. He doesn't have the fear or the look of being lost like you see in so many young QB's. He has made some of his best plays in those big moments. That's the kind of stuff that you can't teach, and that's why I have been saying that I still believe he is going to get much better. Sometimes you see things in a quarterback that aren't quantifiable, but you believe he is greater than the sum of his measurable parts. I see some of that in Rudolph. Let's all give him the time to work through these things and then we will all see who he is when he comes out the other side.

[DesertSteel]

I'm with you. I get that people have doubts, but to think any of us know everything there is to know about a young quarterback after a few starts is silly.

I don't understand how people think they know what the kid will ultimately be without giving him more time. It doesn't make sense for people to definitively decide that he doesn't have it after a few games. Give the kid time. I have been critical of his game from the standpoint that there are things he is struggling with now, but I see the potential for more growth. It isn't an easy thing to evaluate a quarterback. If it were easy, everyone would have a good one. So yes, identify the weaknesses in his game or the things he struggles with because he hasn't seen them or done them before, and then watch to see if continues to work on those weaknesses and get better.

He hasn't seen everything he is going to see as a quarterback yet. Not by a longshot. There is almost as much for us to learn about him as there is for him to learn about his craft. Being a third-string quarterback really limited his reps for a full year. IMO, he is a guy that is picking things up slowly but consistently as he goes along. He certainly has guts and I like what I have seen in some big moments. He doesn't have the fear or the look of being lost like you see in so many young QB's. He has made some of his best plays in those big moments. That's the kind of stuff that you can't teach, and that's why I have been saying that I still believe he is going to get much better. Sometimes you see things in a quarterback that aren't quantifiable, but you believe he is greater than the sum of his measurable parts. I see some of that in Rudolph. Let's all give him the time to work through these things and then we will all see who he is when he comes out the other side.

Because we have so many QB gurus on here!

[Mojouw]

I've been one of, if not the loudest, critic of Rudolph posting here. What I saw during the game yesterday is consistent stretches of play-style and decision making that Rudolph had not displayed since college or maybe the preseason.

He completed passes to all levels of the field. He demonstrated improved ball placement. His decisions seemed to come quicker in the play and involve more options per play. Additionally, he finally seemed to throw balls with anticipation or at least a willingness to put it where only his guy had a chance. The TD pass to Washington may be the most aggressive throw Mason Rudolph has made to date.

The QB that played yesterday has a great deal to build on and can be successful. However, I felt I had not seen the aggressive mindset that Rudolph had against the Rams in any previous games. Remember this is a guy that it was being reported was checking things down in preseason practices. I do believe that at least for one game, Rudolph overcame his desire for being "perfect" with a desire to gamble a bit and make some plays.

[teegre]

Rudolph threw at Ramsey four times yesterday... and showed no fear in doing so.

Ramsey, btw, looks like he simply does not care about anything. This is not the same level of CB that he displayed last season. That said, I was impressed with Rudolph's confidence.

[Mojouw]

Rudolph threw at Ramsey four times yesterday... and showed no fear in doing so.

Ramsey, btw, looks like he simply does not care about anything. This is not the same level of CB that he displayed last season. That said, I was impressed with Rudolph's confidence.

Both true. I simultaneously hate and love Rudolph going right at some CBs. Part of me wants to celebrate it and part of me wants to scream that he needs to read jersey #'s and stay the heck away from guys like Howard and Ramsey.

[teegre]

Both true. I simultaneously hate and love Rudolph going right at some CBs. Part of me wants to celebrate it and part of me wants to scream that he needs to read jersey #'s and stay the heck away from guys like Howard and Ramsey.

I read something years ago... that Deion Sanders lived off of his reputation for a few seasons. Teams shied away from him... but, towards the end, once everyone realized that they "could" throw at him, he retired.

I'm not saying Deion is not one of the the best CBs to ever play (he is), but in Super Bowl XXX, Andre Hastings proved that sometimes shying away from a player is due to the mythos (as opposed to what one can actually do against them) is overrated.

[Shoes]

Rudolph threw at Ramsey four times yesterday... and showed no fear in doing so.

Ramsey, btw, looks like he simply does not care about anything. This is not the same level of CB that he displayed last season. That said, I was impressed with Rudolph's confidence.

JuJu said all Ramsey was doing yesterday was cussing. Words he never heard before.

[Shoes]

....and the cocksure critics onboard who are certain he’ll never have it are not willing to grant him that time.

Agreed!

[86WARD]

JuJu said all Ramsey was doing yesterday was cussing. Words he never heard before.

Lol. Is there video of JuJu saying that?

[tube517]

Lol. Is there video of JuJu saying that?

[86WARD]

Thanks! He looked like he wanted to laugh.

[Blue Marvel]

Who gives a shit about this being Ben's offense. As soon as Ben went down, this became Mason's offense and our OC should be busting his ass to design plays that work for him and the receivers. How about some fucking rub routes? How about utilizing our TE's like other teams do? How about more play action when it's 3rd and 4 or less if they want to pass the ball. No they continue to trot out the 5WR sets with no one in the backfield telling the defense all it needs to know and allows them to pin their ears back and come after Mason. No, this mismanagement of our players and the calls on their field are solely on Fichtner. He is doing a shitty job and his offensive system is stale and lame as hell! Ben ran this offense for too long and our OC doesn't seem up to the task of taking over!

Amen

[Mojouw]

https://steelersdepot.com/2019/11/wa...-on-his-reads/

I found this piece interesting and I know a bit more about football than I did a few minutes ago.

Largely complimentary of Rudolph, but does show how he still has some work/growth to do - specifically with moving through reads.

A question for others that know better than I -- I have to wonder if it is not only working through progressions, but footwork as well? In both the plays highlighted in the video, if I am understanding things properly, doing what Alex K is calling for would have required that Rudolph move his feet and reset his base to throw. Maybe that goes back to some of the mechanics stuff that others have pointed out? Perhaps Rudolph is not comfortable moving his eyes AND his feet at this point?

Anyways, I found it interesting so I thought I would post it here.

[HollywoodSteel]

https://steelersdepot.com/2019/11/wa...-on-his-reads/

I found this piece interesting and I know a bit more about football than I did a few minutes ago.

Largely complimentary of Rudolph, but does show how he still has some work/growth to do - specifically with moving through reads.

A question for others that know better than I -- I have to wonder if it is not only working through progressions, but footwork as well? In both the plays highlighted in the video, if I am understanding things properly, doing what Alex K is calling for would have required that Rudolph move his feet and reset his base to throw. Maybe that goes back to some of the mechanics stuff that others have pointed out? Perhaps Rudolph is not comfortable moving his eyes AND his feet at this point?

Anyways, I found it interesting so I thought I would post it here.

Thanks for this.

I see what you’re saying. In the example where they showed the Saints, Bridgewater did an excellent job of quickly resetting his feet when he progressed from his first read to his second. Rudolph does seem to have problems resetting his feet. Part of that is obviously the pass rush closing in, but it’s also because he takes too long to abandon the first read and see the second one.

So it’s a double problem. He’s not good at resetting his feet quickly and he’s not good at diagnosing his reads quickly enough to compensate for his inability to reset his feet quickly.

I guess the third problem for him is that he doesn’t have the natural arm strength to compensate for not setting his feet. His mechanics are going to have to be darn near perfect in order to be a really good QB in this league. He’ll never be Ben who makes ridiculous throws from awkward positions.

But I’m confident he’ll get better at reading and reacting quickly as he gains experience. I assume he’s also practicing the mechanics of resetting his feet quickly. That’s definitely something that can be improved upon with practice.

[Blue Marvel]

https://steelersdepot.com/2019/11/wa...-on-his-reads/

I found this piece interesting and I know a bit more about football than I did a few minutes ago.

Largely complimentary of Rudolph, but does show how he still has some work/growth to do - specifically with moving through reads.

A question for others that know better than I -- I have to wonder if it is not only working through progressions, but footwork as well? In both the plays highlighted in the video, if I am understanding things properly, doing what Alex K is calling for would have required that Rudolph move his feet and reset his base to throw. Maybe that goes back to some of the mechanics stuff that others have pointed out? Perhaps Rudolph is not comfortable moving his eyes AND his feet at this point?

Anyways, I found it interesting so I thought I would post it here.

Interesting....especially about footwork...i remember when Ben was injured some years ago , he went to work out with a private QB coach before rejoining the team...this was very telling to me because Fitchner was QB coach at the time...I think if ben wasn't so fond of him, he'd be coaching D III right now...to me he's no better than Adam Gase when he was Mannings OC in Denver

[NCSteeler]

https://steelersdepot.com/2019/11/wa...-on-his-reads/

I found this piece interesting and I know a bit more about football than I did a few minutes ago.

Largely complimentary of Rudolph, but does show how he still has some work/growth to do - specifically with moving through reads.

A question for others that know better than I -- I have to wonder if it is not only working through progressions, but footwork as well? In both the plays highlighted in the video, if I am understanding things properly, doing what Alex K is calling for would have required that Rudolph move his feet and reset his base to throw. Maybe that goes back to some of the mechanics stuff that others have pointed out? Perhaps Rudolph is not comfortable moving his eyes AND his feet at this point?

Anyways, I found it interesting so I thought I would post it here.

You know who teaches QBs how to control thier feet and get them set ? I heard there is this thing called a QB coach that the Rooney's can't afford

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk

[teegre]

https://steelersdepot.com/2019/11/wa...-on-his-reads/

I found this piece interesting and I know a bit more about football than I did a few minutes ago.

Largely complimentary of Rudolph, but does show how he still has some work/growth to do - specifically with moving through reads.

A question for others that know better than I -- I have to wonder if it is not only working through progressions, but footwork as well? In both the plays highlighted in the video, if I am understanding things properly, doing what Alex K is calling for would have required that Rudolph move his feet and reset his base to throw. Maybe that goes back to some of the mechanics stuff that others have pointed out? Perhaps Rudolph is not comfortable moving his eyes AND his feet at this point?

Anyways, I found it interesting so I thought I would post it here.

100% I’ve been saying this for a while.


Rudolph not setting his feet nor stepping into his throws: our current QB

Rudolph setting his feet & stepping into his throws: the QB of our future

[DesertSteel]

After 108 posts, I'm still blaming Fichtner.