Who Should I Start? Mason Rudolph or Brock Purdy

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.

Monday, May 19, 12:05 PM

A part of his five-year, $265 million contract extension, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy received a full no-trade clause for the duration of the deal, sources told NFL Network's Mike Garafolo. Purdy gets financial security and control over his future in a deal that is expected to be finalized and become official soon. It wasn't completely Purdy's fault as to why he fell from being the QB6 to QB13 in overall fantasy points in the 2024 season. San Francisco's offense was behind the eight ball from the beginning of the year when they didn't have star running back until the second half of the season, and then he suffered a new injury that caused him to be shut down. Top wideout Brandon Aiyuk also suffered a season-ending injury. The 25-year-old signal-caller could rebound to QB1 levels with better health of his offensive weapons.