When you have a first-round draft grade on a player, regardless of where you drafted him—if you even acquired him in the draft—you expect him to be good. The Pittsburgh Steelers actually pretty much acknowledged that they had a first-round grade on quarterback Mason Rudolph, whom they drafted in the third round a year ago.
While he is firmly entrenched behind Ben Roethlisberger of course, who is under contract for the length of Rudolph’s rookie contract, the Oklahoma State product still has the opportunity to move up this season, trying to take the backup role away from Joshua Dobbs, who did the same to Landry Jones last year, in his own second season.