Former Michigan and current Detroit Lions quarterback Jake Rudock appears to be solidifying himself as Matthew Stafford’s backup in the Motor City.
According to an article on Lionswire by Tim Twentyman, Rudock is currently “light years” ahead of rookie Brad Kaaya, who was chosen in the sixth round of this past April’s NFL draft out of Miami (FL).
Twentyman writes that because Rudock has already spent a year working with offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter, he has a leg up on Kaaya in terms of knowledge and understanding of the scheme.
“Rudock’s experience and knowledge of Jim Bob Cooter’s scheme is light years ahead of Kaaya’s right now,” Twentyman wrote. “And that’s shown on the field in minicamp. Rudock appears to have clearly established himself as the No. 2 quarterback heading into training camp.”
Twentyman also explained how the former Wolverine was basically in the same situation last year that Kaaya is currently in.
“Playing quarterback in this league as a rookie is tough business,” Twentyman wrote. “Jake Rudock realized that very early last season. He was drafted to compete with Dan Orlovsky to be Matthew Stafford’s backup, but Orlovsky’s experience and knowledge of the offense gave him a clear advantage. Orlovsky ended up winning the job.”
Rudock and Kaaya each took very different paths to get to the NFL.
Kaaya came out of high school as a heralded four-star quarterback from California who had offers from the likes of USC and UCLA. Rudock, on the other hand, finished his prep career as a three-star whose best offers were from Iowa and Wisconsin.
Kaaya was successful right off the bat at Miami, throwing for 3,198 yards and 26 touchdowns as a freshman in 2014, before tossing 43 more touchdowns over the next two seasons.
The same can’t be said for Rudock, who redshirted as a freshman at Iowa in 2011, and didn’t see any action in 2012. He did throw 38 touchdowns throughout the 2013 and 2014 seasons, but eventually fell out of favor and transferred to Michigan for his fifth-year senior season.
Jim Harbaugh worked wonders with Rudock in 2015, helping him throw for 20 touchdowns while completing 64 percent of his passes, which eventually led to him being selected in the sixth-round of the NFL draft – a feat that was considered unthinkable a year prior. Rudock did not appear in any games this past season for Detroit.
Check out the full article here.
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