Regional Futures Tournaments

Roethlisberger on Friday told radio station 93.7 The Fan that he was surprised the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Rudolph in the third round over players who can “help this team now,” and he hedged when asked about playing any sort of mentor role.

Appearing on NFL Network over the weekend, Rudolph seemed to understand Roethlisberger’s perspective.

“If I was Ben, I’d probably say the same thing,” the former Oklahoma State quarterback said on the network’s “Path To The Draft” broadcast. “He’s a competitor. Obviously, he has a lot of confidence in himself, like I do. And, yeah, he’s going to be a future Hall of Famer, and I would expect him to say that. So I’m just looking forward to going in there and learning the system, competing, raising my level of play, preparing like I’m the starter even though obviously I won’t be the starter and just waiting and being prepared for whenever I get my time. Whenever my time comes, to be ready and take advantage of it.”

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was surprised the Steelers selected Mason Rudolph in the third round of last week’s draft. Roethlisberger had informed management early in the offseason that he planned to play at least three more years.

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