Who Should I Start? Joshua Dobbs or Mason Rudolph

Monday, March 10, 6:18 PM

Free-agent veteran quarterback Joshua Dobbs reached an agreement with the New England Patriots on Monday on an undisclosed two-year deal, according to his agent, Mike McCartney. The 30-year-old journeyman signal-caller will head to the AFC East after spending the 2024 campaign with the San Francisco 49ers as a backup to Brock Purdy. Dobbs only appeared in two games (one start) for the Niners a season ago and went 32-for-47 for 361 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He saw his most action (13 games) with the Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings in 2023 and threw for a career-high 2,464 yards with 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 2023, also adding 421 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 77 carries. Dobbs has gone 3-12 in his 15 career NFL starts. Turnovers and decision-making have been an issue, but he'll provide experience as a backup to second-year QB Drake Maye.

Wednesday, May 28, 11:59 AM

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph opened OTAs with the first-team offense on Tuesday, according to Brooke Pryor of ESPN. This news isn't much of a surprise, but it does confirm head coach Mike Tomlin's vision as full-team practices get underway this summer. Presumably, the starting quarterback job is Rudolph's to lose, barring an external quarterback addition such as Aaron Rodgers or Kirk Cousins. Rudolph's internal competition comes from Skylar Thompson and rookie Will Howard. Thompson has completed just 58.7 percent of his career passes with one touchdown, three interceptions, and two fumbles. He primarily served as a backup over three seasons in Miami. Meanwhile, Howard is a rookie who impressed at Ohio State, but he has suboptimal draft capital as a sixth-round pick. On the other hand, Rudolph has shown flashes of potential during his time with the Steelers (2018-2023) and Titans (2024). In Tennessee last year, he completed 64 percent of his passes for 1,530 yards, nine touchdowns, and nine interceptions.