Steelers third-string quarterback Mason Rudolph has enjoyed a career resurgence.

However, unlike Jim Plunkett, who languished in the NFL as a journeyman quarterback and presumed bust for nearly a decade before winning multiple Super Bowls with the Raiders in the early-’80s, Rudolph’s resurgence has happened in the court of public opinion.

That’s right, Steelers comments sections are filled with people who want Rudolph to be the starting quarterback, and not Mitch Trubisky; Trubisky is now the presumed long-term Steelers starting quarterback after taking over for Kenny Pickett, who suffered a serious ankle injury against the Cardinals on December 3. Some folks were calling for Rudolph to start instead of Pickett even before Pickett was injured.

It’s not just comments sections, either. The daily polling on Steelers Twitter heavily favors Rudolph. Talk show hosts are now calling for Rudolph.

It’s the kind of success Rudolph had likely envisioned when the Steelers picked him in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft.

Actually, I’m going to assume Rudolph had bigger plans when he first entered the NFL. For one thing, Rudolph probably didn’t envision Ben Roethlisberger shunning him because of a first-round grade general manager Kevin Colbert immediately saddled him with. Unfortunately, in addition to having to deal with Passive-Aggressive Ben, Rudolph was thrown into the pool without a life jacket in the second game of his second season thanks to Roethlisberger’s year-ending elbow injury.

It might be a bit inaccurate to say that Rudolph was thrown into the water without a life jacket. Randy Fitchner, the Steelers’ offensive coordinator in 2019, seemed to go out of his way to devise gameplans that protected Rudolph. Why didn’t Fitchner just stick with his usual scheme? He was probably living in his fears–or at least head coach Mike Tomlin was.

You know how Rudolph’s de facto audition to be the Steelers’ future starting quarterback played out; he had some ups but a lot of downs. He was knocked out of the Ravens game at Heinz Field thanks to a vicious hit from Earl Thomas. Rudolph was replaced in that game by rookie Devlin “Duck” Hodges, who performed with the swagger of a Bubby Brister while almost leading Pittsburgh to victory.

Weeks later, in the final seconds of a loss in Cleveland on Thursday Night Football, Browns’ star pass-rusher, Myles Garrett, bashed Rudolph in the head with his own helmet during a scuffle and later accused the second-year quarterback from Oklahoma State of using a racial slur.

Rudolph was ultimately replaced as the starter by Hodges, who was okay for a few weeks before Rudolph replaced him against the Jets late in the year. Unfortunately, Rudolph sustained an injury in that game and never played again in 2019.

That was Rudolph’s last great moment as a Steelers quarterback…until now.

Backtracking just a bit; Rudolph’s reputation as a racist has stuck for many, even if Garrett’s claims seemed suspect then and now. Rudolph’s reputation as a bad quarterback has also stuck. It didn’t help that he led the Steelers to a tie vs. the winless Lions back in 2021.

Reputation or not, when you examine the career stats of Pickett, Trubisky and Rudolph, Rudolph’s hold up well by comparison. OK, maybe Trubisky has a much better touchdown-to-interception ratio, but he did all of that heavy lifting as the Bears starting quarterback. Since arriving in Pittsburgh in 2022, Trubisky has thrown seven touchdowns to eight interceptions.

As for Pickett? He’s thrown 13 touchdowns and 13 interceptions since making his professional football debut in Week 4 of the 2022 campaign.

In 17 career appearances for the Steelers–including 10 as a starter–Rudolph has thrown 16 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. He’s thrown for 2,366 yards and has a passer rating of 80.9. Not great, but not horrible.

And you wouldn’t think 17 games would be a large enough sample size to conclude that Rudolph just doesn’t have the potential to evolve into something more, especially since the jury is still out on Pickett, who has already appeared in 25 games.

Yet, Rudolph’s sample size is large enough, at least according to some.

But those people are now being drowned out by the pro-Mason crowd.

Why? Welcome to life without a franchise quarterback. In fact, welcome to the 1980s, when Brister was the Hodges to Rudolph’s Mark Malone. Or maybe Scott Campbell was Hodges. Who was David Woodley in this analogy?

What I’m trying to say is life sucks without a franchise quarterback–especially in the years right after he retires–and if you stick around long enough, people might support you again.

Mason Rudolph has stuck around long enough, and the people want him to start. Why? He can’t be any worse than those other two.