Mark Snyder

Detroit Free Press

As he experienced the pre-draft process leading up to his sixth-round selection by the Detroit Lions, Jake Rudock simply acted like himself.

Which was enough to make the former Michigan quarterback different than many other prospects.

All those red flags filling those draft boards and dominating the draft television coverage? He didn't have one.

When he met with the Lions' brass, the conversation ranged all over the place, but not really into a dangerous territory. Because with Rudock, there isn't any.

In graduate school, working on his Masters in kinesiology -- he's nine credits short and plans to finish in the off-seasons -- there wasn't much to dig on.

"We'd talk ball, you talk obviously family life, why'd I leave for Iowa to come to Michigan," he said Monday at the Ufer Quarterback Club dinner about his graduate transfer a year ago. "That's what everyone wants to know. Because I don't have any off-the-field stuff, that becomes the off-the-field stuff. They want to know what happened, what's the deal."

The deal was that Iowa chose C.J. Beathard over in January 2015. Rudock realized he wanted to play, saw a graduate program he liked at Michigan and two quarterback coaches in Jim Harbaugh and Jedd Fisch who could take his game to the pro level and it was an easy decision.

Kinda boring.

"I watched some of the draft and they'd talk about this kid did this but he did it early and had no problems since and it's good because it was a good learning experience," Rudock said. "With me, it was like, yeah, he's my blank card with my name and my phone number."

When all they can come up with is how much he wanted to be a doctor -- his answer was that he wants to play football as long as he can, then go to medical school -- character wasn't going to be a problem.

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Of course, they needed to see some football skills but Rudock handled that just fine as well, getting up on the white board and making the circles they asked.

Five years in a pro-style system -- at Iowa for four and then Michigan last year -- gave him a significant head start. And living with another quarterback in Ann Arbor this spring, his roommate John O'Korn, vying to be his Michigan successor, had him set up.

"I just felt really confident going into (team meetings,)" he said. "Some guys come from a spread they have to study a lot more in the off-season getting prepared for these meetings. Me, I just do my normal study like I normally would. And obviously I live with (John) O'Korn, so he'll talk things and I'll talk through it. And I'll say ask me something. It's easy when you've been talking like that for five years versus a guy learning it quicker."

The terminology wavered from team to team and Rudock said that was the only obstacle, not the plays or formations.

With the Lions, he connected with coach Jim Caldwell chatting about Iowa, where Caldwell was also an undergrad, and with the offensive coaches, including quarterbacks coach Brian Callahan.

"We were able to communicate really well in the brief time we were together, which is obviously very important," Rudock said. "I met coach (offensive coordinator) Jim Bob Cooter and he's a very straight shooter, which for me personally I really like that. Maybe he saw that in me, I don't know."

There weren't many instructions leading up to Thursday's rookie minicamp. Team officials asked him about the logistics of him getting to Allen Park, which thrilled them when he said he planned to drive, given that he's only 20 minutes away in Ann Arbor.

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There's likely a slotted multi-year contract involved at some point, but Rudock doesn't know or isn't focused on that part of it.

He's been waiting for this opportunity for years and now has the chance to make it happen in an area where he's relatively familiar and fits his low-key personality.

Standing before the packed banquet room, as the last and most prominent U-M senior athletes to give a speech, he related a different experience than the others on Monday night.

All were extremely successful and had built resumes over their four years. Rudock, just the second U-M QB to throw for over 3,000 yards in a season and the first with five straight 250-plus yard passing game, noted his time was shorter, but appreciated it all from the football to the community.

"We learn so much in our film rooms, obviously Coach Harbaugh and his entire staff, we're an NFL team, that's how they train us, that's how we go about things," Rudock said. "There's 20 hours (allowed per week) so we go to exactly 20 hours, zero minutes, zero seconds. We would go 55 hours if that were possible. I'm just so honored. I have a different story, obviously, I haven't been here four years.

"I wish I had after seeing all of you and meeting all these wonderful people. But there's a reason, God had a reason for one year. ... And I'm truly blessed by that."

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