Tag: Ben Roethlisberger

Steelers issues at QB are of their own making

The Steelers could have avoided this quarterback situation years ago with just a little bit of planning.

The Pittsburgh Steelers head into the 2024 offseason with more questions than answers about the quarterback position. But this isn’t a new problem. In fact, this is a problem nearly a decade in the making.

Ben Roethlisberger retired after the 2021 season and the team had no plan for his replacement. The best they could do was sign free-agent bust Mitch Trubisky and then select Kenny Pickett in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft. All moves were made after the fact and lacked any sort of proactive planning.

We have evidence that the Steelers felt concerned about Roethlisberger retiring as far back as 2018 when they drafted Mason Rudolph in the third round of the 2018 NFL draft. A move in hindsight was largely window dressing despite Rudolph’s ability to stick around.

The 2018 NFL draft will forever be the draft of what could have been for the Steelers. Knowing the team needed a quarterback enough to scout many of the top ones pre-draft, Pittsburgh passed on now-Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson in favor of safety Terrell Edmunds. If there is a move that will forever tarnish the legacy of former general manager Kevin Colbert, this is it.

After this draft, it was a matter of watching Roethlisberger limp through a few more seasons and the team turning a blind eye to the problem until it was too later.

But the Steelers have a chance to wipe the slate clean and start over. The right way. The 2024 NFL draft is loaded with promising prospects. There are also multiple veteran free agents and even a few guys the Steelers could trade for that at minimum are an upgrade over any combination of Pickett and Rudolph.

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T.J. Watt dismissive of critique by Steelers legend

T.J. Watt and the Steelers have been repeating the same mantra without results.

The dynamics of the Pittsburgh Steelers locker room were under a microscope for much of the team’s 2023 season. Star defender T.J. Watt was pressed about it in an interview during Super Bowl 58 media week, particularly as it pertained to Ben Roethlisberger’s criticism of Steelers tradition last December.

“At the end of the day, it’s all about the guys in the locker room and it’s hard for people on the outside to truly get a feel for what’s going on on the inside,” Watt said in a Feb. 8 interview with Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz.

Watt went on to talk about how the team has to “come together” as a group. This has been the unfulfilled mantra for the past two seasons, yet the Steelers continue to underperform.

Though Ben Roethlisberger is heading into his third year of retirement, he’s not too far removed from his days in the Pittsburgh Steelers locker room. He now has an unfiltered outsider’s perspective on just how tradition and culture have changed in recent years.

Winning — with consistency — will make it all better. Only they’ve been on the wrong path. We’ll see if 2024 puts them on the right one.

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Today marks the 15th anniversary of the greatest Super Bowl of all time

Super Bowl XLIII was the greatest Super Bowl of all time.

Of the 57 Super Bowls throughout history, so many have been classics. But for us, one stands about the rest. Fifteen years ago today, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals played in Super Bowl XLIII.

After the Steelers jumped out to a 20-3 lead through three quarters, the Cardinals stormed back in the second half and nearly completed one of the most epic comebacks in NFL history before falling 27-23.

This game was highlighted by perhaps the two greatest plays in Super Bowl history. First was the 100-yard interception return for a touchdown by Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison near the end of the first half that killed the Cardinals’ momentum on a drive that would have surely resulted in a touchdown.

Then, late in the fourth quarter, when the Steelers needed a touchdown, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger delivered. He threw an absolute strike to wide receiver Santonio Holmes in the corner of the end zone to secure the win.

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Potential Patriots QB draft targets draw lofty NFL comparisons

ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky has some insightful comparisons for two potential Patriots quarterback prospects in the 2024 NFL draft

Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye are two of the best quarterback prospects in the 2024 NFL draft, and the New England Patriots should have a chance to select one of them with the No. 3 overall pick.

ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky gave his NFL comparisons for the quarterbacks recently.

Maye tallied 3,608 passing yards, 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions in 2023, while Daniels recorded 3,812 passing yards, 40 touchdowns and four interceptions. His 72.2 completion percentage was the best in college football.

Orlovsky compared the two quarterbacks to a budding NFL superstar and a retired NFL signal-caller during his appearance on “NFL Live” on Tuesday.

“I think the thing that I like and was surprised about with Jayden Daniels, is his pure stroke. I love comps,” Orlovsky said, when appearing on “NFL Live”. “Throw-wise, he reminds me a lot of C.J. (Stroud), when it comes to just the pure throwing motion.

“…Drake Maye, he’s going to remind a lot of people, certainly me, of Big Ben (Roethlisberger), patient playmaking. …When it comes to Jayden, …he’s going to surprise people with just his pure throwing talent. And I think Drake, people are going to be shocked by how well he moves for such a big guy and say, ‘Well, Josh Allen,’ and those types of physical talents.”

Stroud and Roethlisberger are certainly not bad quarterbacks to be compared to. New England has had trouble finding consistency and success at the quarterback position. They split time between Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe under center in 2023.

The organization will have a chance to reshape their future, similar to what they tried to do back in 2021. New England has plenty of options to choose from and the assets to finally get the team back on track in the offseason.

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Ben Roethlisberger takes subtle shot at Mason Rudolph, says he ‘didn’t want my help anymore’

Since Mason Rudolph took over at quarterback, the story of his relationship with Ben Roethlisberger has resurfaced.

Since Mason Rudolph took over as the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback, the story of his relationship with Ben Roethlisberger has resurfaced.

Rudolph recently intimated that the quarterbacks room wasn’t such a cohesive group as they are now when Roethlisberger was QB1. “… There’s been other times when it’s been not as cohesive as a group, and people aren’t as forthcoming with ‘Hey, how do we help?’”

Roethlisberger denied he didn’t help Rudolph, instead stating that it was extended but not accepted.

“When Mason played for me, I was trying to help Mason as much as I could,” Roethlisberger shared on his “Footbhalin'” podcast on Dec. 31. “Then he just he never… he didn’t want my help anymore, so I backed off.”

The future Hall of Famer said he never had an issue with Rudolph as a person, only where the Steelers took him.

“I never had an issue with Mason when he got drafted. I’m going to put it out there now. I had more of an issue with the pick.”

The Steelers jumped the Cincinnati Bengals, trading up in the third round for Rudolph in the 2018 NFL draft. This was immediately after snagging wide receiver James Washington, Rudolph’s top target at Oklahoma State. It certainly had the makings of Pittsburgh preparing for its post-Roethlisberger future. But he claims that didn’t bother him (nor did it work out as such).

“We were a really good football team, and he was drafted early. I just felt like we could have maybe picked a player that could have helped us at the moment. We were still a team that was that was competing,” he said. “I was not worried about him taking my job. I know some people probably… I thought that was not an issue for me.”

“I felt that we could have drafted a position — offense or defense — that could have helped us. Not a guy that was going to be a potential backup, sure maybe have the the job in the future. That’s where I was more frustrated. It had nothing to do with Mason personally.”

Five years later, Rudolph is doing his damnest to prove he was worthy of the draft selection. And maybe — just maybe — earn top billing ahead of the 2024 season should he remain in Pittsburgh.

https://www.youtube.com/live/vEjktsvQ7zY?si=4J-igx7u1m-1I4nJ

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Former Steeler Ben Roethlisberger on the QB situation: ‘Go with Mason’

Ben Roethlisberger says if Kenny Pickett isn’t 100 percent, go with Mason.

The Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves with something of a quarterback controversy with just two games left to play. Kenny Pickett is the team’s starter but is coming back from an ankle injury that cost him all of three games and most of a fourth.

The team originally named Mitch Trubisky the replacement starter but he didn’t last two full games after being unable to do anything with the offense. Meanwhile Mason Rudolph sat back and waited and took over as the starter and led the team to a huge win on Saturday.

We expect head coach Mike Tomlin to make a decision early in the week to allow plenty of reps for his starter but former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger offered his input on who he would start when he spoke on his Footbahlin’ with Ben Podcast.

“I think you go with Mason,” Roethlisberger said. “I think part of it, because, listen, Kenny’s your future, Kenny is your guy, I think you need

to protect him a little bit, too. Obviously, you’d like to get him on the field and play, but if he’s not 100 percent, why not give Mason a shot?”

The key to this is Pickett’s health. Knowing how head coach Mike Tomlin operates, If he considers Pickett fully healthy, he’s going to start him no matter how well Rudolph played.

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Former Steeler Rashard Mendenhall takes to Twitter with yet another tirade

Rashard Mendenhall never holds back when it comes to Ben Roethlisberger and the fans who criticize him.

Few former Pittsburgh Steelers do less for themselves in the eyes of fans than former running back Rashard Mendenhall. The grudge he carries for his former team, especially his former quarterback and the fans is heavy and seems to take over his personality at times.

Mendenhall’s latest Twitter rant centers on the discontent Steelers fans have with head coach Mike Tomlin and his ongoing hatred for former Steelers quarterback and future Hall of Famer Ben Roethlisberger.

Mendenhall seems to think the reason the Steelers didn’t win in the playoffs was because of Roethlisberger and nothing else but this level of pettiness is nothing new for him. And to make it about black and white is a new low for him.

Mendenhall has a somewhat successful NFL career after a stellar career at the University of Illinois. I’m sure there are many topics related to football and life he would be highly qualified to talk about.

But unfortunately, he fumbled this one.

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Ben Roethlisberger praises Steelers rookie Nick Herbig

There are a couple young players who haven’t quit on the Steelers — and Nick Herbig is one of them.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. That is, unless you’re young and immature, as many are on the 2023 Pittsburgh Steelers roster — then you fold and stop fighting. Diontae Johnson, George Pickens, Najee Harris. They’re all lost and lack direction.

But if you look closely, there’s one guy younger than all of them and hasn’t quit.

Linebacker Nick Herbig, Pittsburgh’s fourth-round selection of the 2023 NFL draft, has shown some gusto in his first season. If he continues to play his cards right, he could very well be the Steelers’ future on the outside. In the meantime, he’s paying his dues as a reserve and a stellar special teamer.

Herbig combined with Connor Heyward — another youngster whose heart is still in it — to set the Steelers up for their first of two Week 15 touchdowns. Heyward blocked a punt, and Herbig instinctually recovered it.

“He does have Steeler heart,” Ben Roethlisberger said on Saturday’s “Footbahlin” podcast after the recovery. “He came to play football.”

And the Steelers are better because of it.

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