2018 NFL Draft: Mason Rudolph is getting vastly underrated

2018 NFL Draft: When discussing the top quarterbacks in this year’s class, Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph is criminally underrated. Here’s why…

When discussing the top quarterbacks for the 2018 NFL Draft, one player that is often left out of the top five is Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph.

I suppose the reason that’s not terribly uncommon is because this year’s quarterback group is quite strong — Rudolph included.

Despite not having as strong of an arm as Josh Allen, or as much experience in a pro-style system as Josh Rosen, or the speed/athleticism/arm combination of Heisman winner Lamar Jackson, Rudolph brings arguably the most well-rounded skillset to the table for a quarterback this year.

Rudolph is also one of the only players in this year’s class that got markedly better in every major statistical category over his past three seasons as a starter.

Finishing his collegiate career with some of the most prolific numbers in Oklahoma State history, Rudolph improved in a few major areas that I think tell quite a bit of the story of his development as a player from 2015-17.

In each of the past three seasons, we’ve seen Rudolph improve upon his passing yards, completion percentage (despite an increase annually in attempts), yards per attempt, touchdowns, touchdown to interception ratio, and sacks taken.

Rudolph has also been surprisingly effective in the run-pass-option game. Over the past two seasons, he has a total of 16 rushing touchdowns, including 10 this past year.

That means this past season, Rudolph accounted for 47 total touchdowns, and threw just nine interceptions.

Does he have the arm strength of an Aaron Rodgers? No, he doesn’t. But this is a very talented player who is going to be well-liked by coaches, and he hasn’t just stayed stagnant in terms of his production in an offense that caters to the quarterback position.

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His 10.1 yards per attempt from this past season seem to indicate to me that Rudolph has become much more effective, efficient, and confident as a downfield passer. The tape backs that up.

His athleticism might not blow anyone away, but this was a guy that was one of the best I evaluated at avoiding pressure in the pocket and making some off-balance throws, and he also had those 10 rushing touchdowns I mentioned before.

Considering he started 42 games in college, I feel like NFL evaluators and coaches are going to be much higher on Rudolph than the majority of media will be. To me, his production and consistent improvement and ability to play at a high level over a very long period of time are going to be viewed as incredibly valuable traits to NFL teams.

For that reason, I think it’s time we stop underrating Mason Rudolph, because he has a bright future ahead.

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