PHOTOS BY KARL ROSER | PITTSBURGH STEELERS

Mason Rudolph has played the last two games with a command, professionalism and a level of execution that suggests he should have been the Steelers’ starting quarterback all along, particularly in light of what we saw from the two guys who got shots at starting before Rudolph’s unlikely and potentially season-saving ascension.

But as Bill Cowher used to say, perception is reality.

And the perception of Rudolph prior to his carving up the Bengals on Dec. 23 and then the Seahawks last Sunday in Seattle was that of a fringe NFL quarterback, at best.

Not just on the South Side of Pittsburgh, but across the NFL.

Rudolph was drafted by the Steelers in the third round out of Oklahoma State in 2018 to be a backup. His early exposures included getting concussed against the Ravens, the Browns’ Myles Garrett removing Rudolph’s helmet and hitting him over the head with it in Cleveland, and getting benched in favor of an undrafted duck-caller from Samford (Devlin “Duck” Hodges) against the Bengals.

That all occurred in 2019, the year Ben Roethlisberger was lost for the season in the second game of the season.

“A Football Life” documentary about Rudolph on the NFL Network was still on hold at that juncture.

In 2021, Rudolph quarterbacked the Steelers to a 16-16 tie against the Lions, who were 0-8 at the time and on their way to 3-13-1.

So it was hardly a shock that after Roethlisberger retired following the ’21 campaign the Steelers sought a veteran quarterback in free agency (Mitch Trubisky) and a first-round quarterback candidate in the draft (Kenny Pickett).

It was, likewise, no surprise Trubisky began OTAs in the spring of 2022 as the new No. 1. He’d arrived with a 29-21-0 record through 50 career starts in Chicago. He’d started a pair of playoff games for the Bears. The suggestion the Steelers would even consider beginning the search for Roethlisberger’s replacement anywhere but with Trubisky was met with bewilderment by at least one Steelers veteran.

At training camp that summer a competition was staged, but it wasn’t a race. Three players with three different starting points were put through their paces. The most important item on the agenda was to prepare the eventual starter for the season.

It wasn’t “Punt, Pass & Kick.”

Trubisky had extensive experience but he was new to the organization. He needed as many first-team reps as he could get and he got them. His camp was inconsistent, but he teased a high ceiling. He performed well in the preseason games and did nothing to lose his spot atop the depth chart.

Pickett, the perceived sooner-than-later-heir-apparent, improved the most among the three that summer, but as a rookie, he was starting from scratch. He wasn’t yet ready.

Rudolph was steady and played the best football of his then-five-year career. He overcame an annoying habit of holding onto the ball too long and also improved his accuracy.

That was enough to get Rudolph demoted from the second to the third team, unfair to an extent but unremarkable given the circumstances (chasing a veteran free agent and trying to stay ahead of a rookie No. 1 pick, both of whom had perceived higher upsides).

Then came last season. Trubisky failed as the starter but impressed as the backup. Pickett steadily progressed after being thrown in as Trubisky’s replacement and Rudolph never played.

The improvement Rudolph had displayed in the preseason was still just a projection as it related to appearing in actual NFL games. It wasn’t on tape in such situations.

Rudolph became a free agent on March 13 this spring and didn’t re-sign with the Steelers until May 17, which means the entire rest of the league had a shot at him and passed.

There are probably a few teams by now that wish they hadn’t.

But there was little if any actual evidence to suggest they shouldn’t have.

Once the season started the offense faltered, Pickett didn’t stay healthy again and this time Trubisky wasn’t able to prove an effective replacement.

That was the perfect storm that preceded Rudolph being given an unanticipated opportunity to change the narrative.

Rudolph has done so, not by inspiring reminders of Roethlisberger or Lamar Jackson but by making the plays that should be made, the ones that are supposed to be made way more often than not.

See it, trust it, throw it.

Prepare, compete, perform.

Who knew he’d be that guy this time?

It’s a great credit to Rudolph’s resiliency, to his ability to seize the moment and make the most of it.

But it’s not as if anybody had any reason to see that guy coming.

I’d have played that quarterback a lot sooner, too.

But he didn’t get here until just before Christmas.

Better late than never.