{"id":49857,"date":"2025-05-21T02:47:55","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T02:47:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=49857"},"modified":"2025-05-21T02:47:55","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T02:47:55","slug":"mason-rudolph-breaks-silence-on-steelers-george-pickens-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=49857","title":{"rendered":"Mason Rudolph Breaks Silence on Steelers-George Pickens Trade.."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-1878260216.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-1878260216.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-1878260216.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-1878260216.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Mason Rudolph\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" data-img-load-time=\"607\" data-dom-ready-time=\"621\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph addressed the team trading wide receiver George Pickens.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Quarterback\u00a0Mason Rudolph\u00a0experienced quite a bit of success throwing to wide receiver\u00a0George Pickens\u00a0during his three starts for the\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0at the end of the 2023 season. If Rudolph is going to have that kind of success again should he start for the Steelers this fall, he will have to develop chemistry with new targets.<\/p>\n<p>Rudolph suggested that\u2019s what has to happen when he shared his reaction to the Pickens trade with Steelers insider Mark Kaboly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI tried to feed [Pickens] as much as we could when we played because good things tended to happen when you did,\u201d\u00a0Rudolph told Kaboly on Monday. \u201cBut I understand the way things go. There was just a need, I guess, for a fresh start.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Steelers agreed to trade\u00a0Pickens to the\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0on May 7. Pittsburgh sent Pickens and a 2027 sixth-round pick to Dallas for a 2026 third-rounder and a 2027 fifth-rounder.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Steelers\u2019 Mason Rudolph Could Really Miss George Pickens<\/h2>\n<p>Rudolph experienced the best stretch of his career during the final three 2023 regular season games. Pickens made a significant impact during that stretch.<\/p>\n<p>During 2023,\u00a0Rudolph completed 74.3% of his passes for three touchdowns in four games. Rudolph was also 3-0 as a starter and averaged 9.7 yards per attempt.<\/p>\n<p>Pickens played in all of those contests.<\/p>\n<p>In his Steelers career without Pickens, Rudolph is 5-4-1 with a 61.5% completion percentage and 6.2 yards per pass. Last year with the\u00a0Tennessee Titans, Rudolph was 1-4 and completed 64% of his passes for 6.7 yards per attempt.<\/p>\n<p>Ironically, though, Rudolph likely understands better than the average Steelers player the value of a potential fresh start. He received that with the Titans last season after a roller coaster first six years with the Steelers.<\/p>\n<p>At one point, the franchise appeared to view Rudolph as a potential Ben Roethlisberger successor. But Rudolph found himself buried on the Steelers quarterback depth chart before receiving another opportunity at the end of 2023.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Rudolph Moving Forward With Steelers Current Receivers<\/h2>\n<p>Rudolph won\u2019t have the connection with Pickens anymore in 2025. On paper, the Steelers receiving depth probably isn\u2019t as good right now as it was in 2023 either.<\/p>\n<p>But the cupboard isn\u2019t completely bare.<\/p>\n<p>The Steelers still have tight end\u00a0Pat Freiermuth, who was playing during Rudolph\u2019s 2023 hot streak. Pittsburgh also traded for two-time Pro Bowl receiver\u00a0DK Metcalf\u00a0in March.<\/p>\n<p>Behind Metcalf, the Steelers will be counting on\u00a0Calvin Austin III\u00a0continuing his development, and former third-rounder\u00a0Roman Wilson\u00a0bouncing back from an injury-plagued rookie season.<\/p>\n<p>Rudolph sounds excited about working with those receivers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re moving forward with the guys we\u2019ve got on this roster, and DK [Metcalf], he\u2019s a pro\u2019s pro,\u201d\u00a0Rudolph told Kaboly. \u201cThe way he takes care of his body and how inquisitive he is asking question.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Veteran receiver\u00a0Brandon Johnson\u00a0is also on Pittsburgh\u2019s offseason roster. He played just three games for the Steelers last season, but Rudolph included him on his list of targets he\u2019s thrilled to be working with in his Pittsburgh return.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a solid group of guys. Just looking forward to the start of practice here in a couple weeks,\u201d said Rudolph.<\/p>\n<p>The big question around Rudolph is whether he will actually receive a chance to start or will the Steelers finally be able to sign\u00a0Aaron Rodgers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph addressed the team trading wide receiver George Pickens. Quarterback\u00a0Mason Rudolph\u00a0experienced quite a bit of success throwing to wide receiver\u00a0George Pickens\u00a0during his&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Mason Rudolph Breaks Silence on Steelers-George Pickens Trade.. - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=49857\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mason Rudolph Breaks Silence on Steelers-George Pickens Trade.. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph addressed the team trading wide receiver George Pickens. 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