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Mason Rudolph traded from the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Tennessee Titans and found himself in a similar situation.

The Titans' backup quarterback made his team debut as a replacement for the ailing Will Levis in Monday's game at the Miami Dolphins.

Rudolph has an ideal mix of experience as a productive spot starting quarterback and his age of 29 as a modern backup quarterback in the NFL. Last year, Rudolph began the season as QB3 behind second-year passer Kenny Pickett and veteran Mitchell Trubisky as the franchise evaluated the long-term viability of both at the position. This year, Rudolph is supporting Levis, who is in his second NFL season and is still relatively unknown as a professional QB.

Here's what you should know about the Titans' QB2:

Rudolph had one of the best QB careers in Oklahoma State history as a three-year starter from 2015-17, throwing for more than 4,000 yards in each of his final two seasons.

In those three seasons, the Cowboys won 10 games each and finished in the top 20 at the end of the season. Oklahoma State's QB-friendly style of play helped, but Rudolph finished his OSU career with the most career wins in program history while also ranking fourth Ranks in Big 12 history in passing yards. Rudolph was honored as a third-team All-American by the AP in his senior season.

The Rock Hill, S.C. native entered the 2018 NFL Draft among Day 2 quarterbacks in a historically strong class that included first-rounders Baker Mayfield, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson.

Selected 76th overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round, Rudolph was not immediately the QB2 for the Steelers behind Ben Roethlisberger as Joshua Dobbs was also in the position room. But he was the top backup entering the 2019 season and made his NFL debut in Week 2 against the Seahawks after Ben Roethlisberger suffered a season-ending elbow injury.

Rudolph suffered a concussion a month later after losing two of his first three starts, missed one start and then won three straight games before throwing four interceptions in a loss to Cleveland and finally in a Week 12 game against Cincinnati was benched for Duck Hodges.

Rudolph started 2020 with mediocre results in Week 17 against the Browns and started again in 2021 in Week 10 against Detroit.

The Steelers made a few QB changes in 2022 following Roethlisberger's retirement, recruiting Kenny Pickett in the first round and signing Mitchell Trubisky to serve as competition for the rookie. Rudolph was resigned to third-string duties.

Trubisky and Pickett struggled to find their footing as the Steelers entered the 2023 season at QB, giving Rudolph another chance in the final three games of the season when Pittsburgh was 7-7.

Rudolph led the Steelers to three straight wins and a postseason berth to end the regular season, then threw two touchdowns as a starter in Pittsburgh's 31-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills in the wild-card round.

Rudolph's play at the end of the 2023 season helped raise his free agent profile, and the Titans signed the QB to a one-year contract to compete with Malik Willis for the No. 2 quarterback job in the preseason.

Rudolph was clearly the better option in the preseason and won the job as Levis' replacement.

Speaking to local media this spring, Rudolph pointed out that coach Brian Callahan and his system were the main reason he signed with the Titans.

“It’s a quarterback-friendly offense,” Rudolph said on April 18. “That was of course also attractive. The drop-back pass and the way Coach (Brian) Callahan teaches makes a lot of sense.”

On By John Fenwick

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