Week 4 QB projections   •  PIT Stats

QB Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers

HT: 6-5, WT: 241, Born: 3-2-1982, College: Miami (OH), Drafted: Round 1, Pick 11

2011 Projections

Average draft position

Current as of September 6th. [Full ADP list]

Overall: V Davis (56), P Harvin (57), Ben Roethlisberger (58), A Boldin (59), J Maclin (60)
Position: M Schaub (51-QB7), M Ryan (54-QB8), Ben Roethlisberger (58 - QB9), P Manning (61-QB10), J Freeman (75-QB11)
Click here for a comparison of these players.

PPR Average draft position

Current as of September 6th. [Full PPR ADP list]

Overall: F Jackson (65), C Ochocinco (66), Ben Roethlisberger (67), A Collie (68), O Daniels (69)
Position: M Schaub (58-QB7), M Ryan (61-QB8), Ben Roethlisberger (67 - QB9), P Manning (72-QB10), M Stafford (80-QB11)
Click here for a comparison of these players.

 Click here to go to the Ben Roethlisberger spotlight, our staff's most detailed analysis.

Best Case

This year is likely to get off to a better start than last year for Ben Roethlisberger. He was suspended for the first four games of the 2010 regular season and it certainly cut into his total fantasy numbers for the year. Upon his return he got off to a hot start and was really helped by the ground game and Rashard Mendenhall. Keeping the pressure off Big Ben was key for the Steelers and he responded by only throwing five interceptions on the season. Pittsburgh also has a great group of young wideouts for Roethlisberger to throw to. Emerging talents like Mike Wallace, Emmanuel Sanders, and Antonio Brown will help the Steelers have a very effective passing game. Throw in savvy veteran targets like Hines Ward and Heath Miller and it equates to Roethlisberger throwing for around 4,000-yards with 25-30 TD passes in 2011.

Worst Case

Roethlisberger has never been consistent. He's finished in the top 10 for fantasy QBs a couple of times, but the following seasons he fell out of the top 15. He also plays with reckless abandon and has little regard for his body. We've seen him bent around, hit hard, and his face was smashed in last year. Durability could prove to be a problem for Roethlisberger as he gets older, and it doesn't look like his playing style is going to change anytime soon.

Outlook

Roethlisberger's career has had it's fair share of ups and downs. Last year was a down year because of the suspension, and he still finished as the 17th best QB in fantasy football. We feel this season will be a big bounce back year for Roethlisberger. His current ADP is QB 10 and he could easily outproduce his draft spot.

Relevant Articles

Why he is undervalued

David Dodds - Despite playing in only 12 games, he managed 3,200 passing yards and 12 TDs. The team added Jericho Cotchery and has a developing Mike Wallace while playing the easiest schedule against the pass in 2011. By playing less than 16 games in 2010, he is flying a bit below the radar right now in drafts.

Will Grant - He's not flashy, he doesn't command the big contracts and he isn't on insurance commercials or a Wheaties box. But the one thing that Big Ben does year after year is put up solid fantasy numbers. In only 12 regular season games last season, Ben had six games with more than 25 points. Not bad for a 6th round pick.

Steve Holloway - Roethlisberger has averaged 275 yards passing per game over the past two seasons. If he had played the full 16 game season each year that would equate to just over 4,400 yards. He has also averaged 1.59 passing TDs per game and added two TDs rushing in each of the last two seasons. The combination of his four game suspension and his off the field behavior definitely impacts his ranking, but not his performance.

Aaron Rudnicki - After sitting out the first half of the 2010 season, Roethlisberger put up numbers like a top-5 QB the rest of the way. He threw for multiple touchdowns in 7 of the 12 games he played and averaged 267 passing yards/game. While the Steelers like to rely heavily on their run game, it also helps open up big plays downfield for a big-play WR like Mike Wallace. Roethlisberger has some added fantasy value thanks to the plays he makes running the ball, but he's also surrounded by solid veterans like Hines Ward, Heath Miller, and now Jerrico Cotchery. He'll put up numbers like a Tony Romo or Matt Schaub but can be drafted several rounds later which makes him an excellent value play.

Latest News

Steelers | Ben Roethlisberger wants continuity (Fri Feb 10, 11:36 AM) - Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger said he hopes new offensive coordinator Todd Haley does not drastically change the team's philosophy on offense. Roethlisberger feels players, particularly the young receiving corps, could have trouble adjusting to a new scheme. 'It would probably be easy for him to do,' Roethlisberger said about Haley possibly introducing a new offense to the Steelers. 'I don't know if it would be easy for us to learn it. We're so young on offense and the most-talented room in this whole building is probably wide receiver, no disrespect to anyone else. And they're also really young. They're still the tip of the iceberg in this offense and they did as well as they did last year. And they're just getting to the point that 'OK, this makes sense to me.''

Our View: The relationship between Haley and Roethlisberger will be one to keep an eye on. Both are strong willed, but Haley uses a very aggressive passing game and that could make Big Ben happy.
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Steelers | Ben Roethlisberger receives feedback about Todd Haley (Fri Feb 10, 08:13 AM) - Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger said that he's heard both good and bad things about new offensive coordinator Todd Haley from people around the NFL. 'Everybody has an opinion, as we all know, and they're letting me know what their interaction with him was - good, bad and indifferent,' Roethlisberger said.

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Steelers | Ben Roethlisberger hopes offense will be similar (Thu Feb 9, 03:24 PM) - Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger said he hopes offensive coordinator Todd Haley's offense will be similar to the one they have been running because everyone was starting to get a good grasp of that offense. Haley did not say what his offense will look like next season.

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Steelers | Ben Roethlisberger has not spoken with new OC (Thu Feb 9, 03:23 PM) - Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger said he has not spoken with offensive coordinator Todd Haley at this point but has receive messages from people with both positive and negative comments about Haley.

Our View: Haley's relationship with Ben Roethlisberger could be a great one, or it could be a very volatile one. Both have strong personalities so it's a situation worth keeping an eye on. Haley is known to have a very aggressive passing game, so that could put him on Roethlisberger's good side.
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Bengals | A.J. Green hauls in TD at Pro Bowl (Sun Jan 29, 11:47 PM) - Cincinnati Bengals WR A.J. Green had two grabs for 42 yards and a touchdown for the AFC in the Pro Bowl Sunday, Jan. 29. His scoring strike came from AFC North Division rival Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger.

Our View: Green's accomplishments as a rookie were overshadowed by Cam Newton's, but he was still outstanding, having the kind of debut that portends superstardom in his future. The Pro Bowl was a fitting punctuation mark for his season.
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More News

2011 Schedule

2011 Game Summaries

Week 1 - If Roethlisberger has played a worse game as a pro, I can't recall it. The only thing worse than the execution of his throws was the decisions that led to them. When Roethlisberger leaves the pocket, typically a big play can be expected. Usually, however, that big play is for Pittsburgh -- not their opponents. Exhibit A of Big Ben's misery came on a play that was designed to be a play-action fake and hit Hines Ward coming across the formation along the line of scrimmage. Ward was blown up by a Ravens' defender so Roethlisberger had to scramble and improvise. He ran left and then saw a streaking Heath Miller near the goal line. The problems with the decision, however, was the he had to throw back left across his body, and he didn't see Ed Reed (should be difficult to miss the NFL's interception leader from last year). The throw wobbled and ended up woefully short of Miller and in the hands of Reed. Roethlisberger threw another pick to Reed on a similar play later in the game. He left the pocket again and threw a pick on which one can only assume he didn't even see Reed. He faced pressure all day, but constant pressure is something Roethlisberger is used to and sometimes thrives on. His decision-making has to be better if the Steelers are going to be a contender this season -- even against a weaker schedule.

Week 2 - This was the "day" to Roethlisberger's "night" performance at Baltimore last week. He couldn't have been worse last week but was very efficient this week. In a stark contrast to Seattle's offense, he averaged 9.9 yards per attempt due to the team's willingness to take shots downfield. Roethlisberger's day could have been even better if a pass from Seattle's 40 to Mike Wallace had been a touchdown instead of the pass interference penalty Wallace drew by burning cornerback Brandon Browner (whose name was heard early and often in negative sentences during this game). Another reason Roethlisberger's day could have been better was his inaccuracy in the first half. He missed Heath Miller on a rollout to the left for a play that would have been more than 10 yards at the catch and potentially 20-25 because Miller had running room. That throw -- along with one in tight near Seattle's end zone just before halftime to Hines Ward -- came out a bit high on Roethlisberger. Even one play that ended in a catch by Isaac Redman was one that Redman had to leap for and bail out his QB. Roethlisberger could have been 25/31 for 350 yds and 3 TDs had everything gone his way and he hit all the throws he should have. He did briefly leave the game with a knee injury that looked serious at first when Raheem Brock came in low, but he returned to the game after just a few plays and looked fine for the remainder of the contest.

Week 3 - The first quarter of this game was an absolute clinic from Roethlisberger. He came out using play action on the very first play and hit a rhythm throw to Mike Wallace on the right sideline for 19 yards. Two plays later, it was another 29 yards to Wallace. The drive stalled on a 3rd down play where Roethlisberger threw for Emmanuel Sanders in the middle of the field. Roethlisberger threw a very accurate pass that was dropped by Sanders. Later in the quarter, Roethlisberger connected with Wallace on an 81-yard bomb where he very deftly looked off the safety just enough to get Wallace the room necessary to run by him. The throw was high and deep and was caught beautifully in stride. The rest of the game, however, was a bit of a struggle for Roethlisberger. He was pressured all night long, and it affected his performance. His interception was simply terrible. He overshot the receiver so badly that the deep safety who picked the ball off was nearly 15 yards behind the intended receiver. It's also worth noting that the Steelers lost multiple linemen in this game. Right tackle Marcus Gilbert had a shoulder injury and left the game; right guard Doug Legursky left the game; and then left tackle Jonathan Scott (who was being abused by Dwight Freeney all night long) left as well -- which caused Gilbert to have to re-enter. It will be interesting to see how Roethlisberger performs with tackles who will come off the scrap heap. After the scary knee-shot last week and all the hits this week, he may be far from a lock to make it all the way through the season