Washington Redskins reportedly interested in QB Mason Rudolph

The Washington Redskins are expected to be in the market for a quarterback come draft season.

Many mock drafts have connected the franchise to Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield recently, but a recent report has surfaced, suggesting that the Washington Redskins are interested in a different Big 12 signal caller.

So, who is Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph? He’s arguably one of the more successful passers in the NFL Draft, but yet, scouts aren’t sold on him, for a number of reasons.

There are certainly many positives to Rudolph’s game. He’s 6-foot-5, 230, and he threw for 4,904 yards, 37 touchdowns, and just nine interceptions in his senior season, as well as maintaining a healthy 65.0% completion percentage.

The stats may be pretty, but draft experts are hesitant to commit to Rudolph as a Day One, or even a Day Two pick. Per Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, more than a few scouts don’t care for the quarterback.

One scout says “[Rudolph is] not as good as the media wants everyone to believe; he’s a Day 3 guy. His accuracy isn’t as good as the numbers show—his receivers make a lot of tough catches for him. Arm strength is adequate, not tops. What’s the difference between him and Bryce Petty?”, while another describes his arm strength as “lacking”.

For statistics hounds, Rudolph might be the top dog. But in terms of tape and film, he leaves plenty to be desired. Many believe Rudolph to be the beneficiary of both a quarterback-friendly system and a universally weak defensive conference in the Big 12. Rudolph has some things going for him. As mentioned earlier, he’s big. He’s more athletic than he gets credit for. And he isn’t short on confidence, either. Here’s what he had to say to Jim Rome when asked about his draft standing, courtesy of Joe Buettner of Oklahoma Die Hards.

"I think I’m the best quarterback in this class, for sure. You look at the tape and you look at what I’ve done over four years, the experience I’ve had, the starts, the ability to push the ball down the field and athletic enough … more athletic than people give me the credit for and get out of situations.But I think I’m a leader, first and foremost, and I think Joe Gibbs used to say it. The way he evaluated quarterbacks was, ‘does the guy get the team down the field?’ That’s something I do. I’ve done it for four years and I’ll continue to do it at the next level."

The mention and acknowledgement of Joe Gibbs will likely sell Rudolph to many Washington Redskins fans, but the team must be careful when mulling over his selection. As good as Rudolph’s college stats are, he’s not worth a first round, or even a second round pick.

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If the Redskins decide to trade down into the later first round to draft Rudolph, they would be missing out on some major value picks. But one shouldn’t expect anything else, with Bruce Allen in charge. Rudolph isn’t a bad prospect. But he’ll need time to acclimate to the pro level, if he even can. The Washington Redskins’ interest in Rudolph, relative to their draft range, should worry fans a little. Scot McCloughan wasn’t perfect, but at least we knew what to expect.