Mason Rudolph

Mason Rudolph continues to garner praise heading into the 2018 NFL Draft.

On Tuesday, ESPN's Jon Weiner -- who goes by his radio name Stugotz -- of the Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz tabbed the former Oklahoma State signal caller as the best quarterback in this year's NFL Draft.

"I have watched the film on all these guys, and the best quarterback in the draft by far is Mason Rudolph," Stugotz said. "He's gonna be great. And not just great...Hall of Fame great."

Rudolph and Lamar Jackson have each received interest from the Pittsburgh Steelers leading up to the 2018 NFL Draft. Pittsburgh met with Rudolph during the NFL Combine, while Mike Tomlin, General Manager Kevin Colbert and offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner attended Jackson's Pro Day last week. Colbert has not ruled out selecting a quarterback in this year's draft, as the Steelers want Ben Roethlisberger's successor to be mentored by Big Ben before No.7 hangs up his cleats for good.

"Of course you have to get ready to replace him," Colbert recently told NBC Sports. "We’ve tried to add young quarterbacks into the mix. We’ve done it with Landry Jones, we’ve done it with Josh Dobbs. We’ve tried to do that just to keep some young guys in the system. But at some point, you may draft a quarterback higher. But as long as you have Ben Roethlisberger playing for you, you’re hopefully not in a position where you’re going to get Ben that high. The year we got Ben we were coming off a losing season. And that was very unfortunate — the losing season — but we were very fortunate to get him."

Rudolph, projected as a second or third round pick in this year's draft, was recently asked by NFL.com which coach he would love to play for at the next level.

“I talked to Coach Tomlin at my Pro Day," Rudolph said. "What a great guy and what an example of a player’s coach. A guy thats just, you feel like he’s so in tune with his players. Just a fun guy. He knows when it’s obviously time to go to work, but he can have a good time and small talk as well.”

The 6'5, 230 Rudolph threw for a staggering 13,618 yards and 92 touchdowns during his career at Oklahoma State. He threw for 4,904 yards with 37 touchdowns against nine interceptions last fall. He's currently projected as a second or third round pick by NFL.com.

"Pocket quarterback with good size who has shown consistent improvement as a passer," NFL.com wrote of Rudolph, who completed 63.2 percent of his passes during his time with the Cowboys. "Rudolph is more of a downfield, play-action passer than a quarterback who can win with precision and arm strength. He's a capable field reader who has the ability to operate with timing which will be important since his arm can be dull at times. Rudolph could be an early backup with the potential of becoming an average to below average starter in the league."

Rudolph was also asked by NFL.com what makes him stand out from the rest of this year's quarterback draft class that includes 2016 Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson and 2017 Heisman winner, Baker Mayfield.

“I throw the ball on the field accurately," he said. "I did that a lot at Oklahoma State. That was kind of our bread and butter. We loved to take shots, whether it was pure drop back or play-action. I did it accurately and I did that efficiently for four years. I think I do that the best out of any guys in this year’s class.”

Also slated as a first or second round pick, Jackson took a majority of his Pro Day passes from center as he performed in front of 31 NFL teams. Jackson, who is adamant about only playing quarterback at the next level, did not run the 40-yard dash on Thursday. He also didn't run the 40 during the NFL Combine. Jackson, who rushed for 50 touchdowns while averaging 6.3 yards per carry during his three seasons with the Cardinals, said that his decision to take a majority of Thursday's snaps under center was by design.

“I came out here to prove to the guys that I can throw any pass from under center instead of going to gun," Jackson told NFL Network's Mike Mayock following his Pro Day performance. "That was a lot of what guys were saying. You gotta see how fast he can get back in the pocket with velocity on the ball.”

Along with his running, Jackson made a plethora of plays with his arm during his time at Louisville. While his 57 percent completion percentage was a tad underwhelming, Jackson was bedeviled by a less than stellar group of receivers at Louisville that dropped several of his passes during Thursday's Pro Day. Despite playing with an elite receiver, Jackson still managed to throw for 9,043 yards and 69 touchdowns against 27 interceptions during his time with the Cardinals.

Jackson was also asked about former Clemson quarterback and current Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, who was taking the NFL by storm during his rookie season before suffering a season-ending knee injury midway through the 2017 season.

“Oh yeah, I watched the Bengals game," Jackson said of the game that saw Watson run and pass his way to a 13-9 victory in Cincinnati. "Deshaun did his thing. He’s a great quarterback. I think he can be one of the greatest.”

As a follow-up, Jackson was asked if he envisions a similar rookie season for himself in 2018.

“I feel I have the same ability.”

While Roethlisberger has told the Steelers' brass that he may play beyond the 2019 season, if Pittsburgh believes that they can select Big Ben's successor in this year's draft, they're going to do it. That player may be either Rudolph or Jackson, as the Steelers hope to have a seamless transition from one franchise quarterback to another.

“It’s really a double-edged sword, because you want to give Ben the best opportunity to win a Super Bowl while he still can," Colbert said. "But then you also want to recognize that great franchises go from generation to generation and are still are successful usually have passed it on because of great quarterbacks. You go from San Francisco from Montana to Steve Young, Green Bay from Brett Favre over to Aaron Rodgers.

"We’re always measuring 2018, but you never forget about the future," Colbert continued. "And when it comes time to make those decisions, we’ll take a look at what else is available."