Will Mason Rudolph have a successful NFL career? History doesn't paint a pretty picture - CBSSports.com

Here's a quick refresher of what Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has said since the end of the 2016 season:

• In January 2017, Roethlisberger wouldn't commit to playing the next season and conceded a few months later that he considered retirement.
• After the 2017 season, Roethlisberger reportedly told teammates he wanted to play three more seasons. But here's what he said in January 2018: "I'm just playing it one year at a time. I'm excited to come back next year. I know [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter] Ed [Bouchette] said that he heard that some guys said something about me playing for another three years. I'm not going to look past one year. I'm going to look forward to next year and give it everything I have."

Fast-forward to early May, shortly after the Steelers traded up in the third round to take quarterback Mason Rudolph, whom they considered a first-round talent. Perhaps coincidentally, Roethlisberger found some clarity about his future.

Big Ben told the Post-Gazette he's fine with Rudolph succeeding him, adding "But I plan on playing for 3-5 more years, depending on how the line goes and staying healthy, if I can stay healthy."

So there you go: Anywhere from three to five more years, which means the 36-year-old could play into his 40s. But there's a caveat; several days later, Roethlisberger told CBS Sports radio station 93.7 the Fan in Pittsburgh that the 3-5-year timeline is fluid.

"The key is, for me, I'm always going to take it one season at a time," he said. "I'm going to give everything this year and lay it all on the line like I do every week, for this season, for my guys. And then just really kind of at the end of the season, it's the same thing. You go through the evaluation process of how you feel."

Which brings us back to why the Steelers took Rudolph. Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert said it was a "very easy decision" to draft the Oklahoma State quarterback in the third round.

"He was with the group of the top quarterbacks. That was a really good position ... to be able to get one of those guys in our situation; this kid was available at a very easy selection point, and that's a critical position."

Drafting Rudolph was the easy part. Now he has to prove he's capable. And before we entertain any thoughts of him replacing Roethlisberger, Rudolph needs to prove he's better than 2017 fourth-rounder Joshua Dobbs, who didn't see the field last season, and Landry Jones, the 2013 fourth-rounder who is No. 2 on the depth chart and has a 3-2 record as a starter.

What to expect from that third-round pick

So what does history tell us about the success rate of quarterbacks drafted in the third round? Since 2004, the year the Steelers took Big Ben with the 11th overall pick, 19 quarterback have been taken in Round 3.

Here are the career stats of 17 of those quarterbacks, courtesy of the indispensable Pro-Football-Reference. Note that David Greene and Davis Webb aren't included because Greene never played in an NFL game and Webb didn't see the field during his rookie season in 2017.

Rk	Player	From	To	Draft	G	GS	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	Int	TD%	Int%	Rate ▼	W	L	T
1	Russell Wilson	2012	2017	3-75	96	96	1815	2834	64.04	22176	161	56	5.7	1.98	98.8	65	30	1
2	Matt Schaub	2004	2016	3-90	145	92	2093	3274	63.93	24867	133	90	4.1	2.75	89.1	47	45	0
3	Nick Foles	2012	2017	3-88	49	39	833	1386	60.10	9752	61	29	4.4	2.09	87.4	22	17	0
4	Cody Kessler	2016	2017	3-93	12	8	139	218	63.76	1506	6	3	2.8	1.38	87.4	0	8	0
5	Mike Glennon	2013	2017	3-73	25	22	467	770	60.65	4933	34	20	4.4	2.60	83.2	6	16	0
6	Jacoby Brissett	2016	2017	3-91	19	17	310	524	59.16	3498	13	7	2.5	1.34	81.9	5	12	0
7	Colt McCoy	2010	2017	3-85	35	25	508	842	60.33	5586	26	23	3.1	2.73	78.9	7	18	0
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