If the Steelers are going to have any success this season, they’ll need at least one more decent year from 39-year-old quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, but according to one expert, he doesn’t see that happening.
“He’s going to be bad and I expect him to be benched by the middle of the season,” said Mike Tannenbaum on ESPN’s “Get Up” Thursday.
Tannenbaum says that Big Ben was 31st in the NFL last season when it came to getting the ball down the field and with center Maurkice Pouncey retired, he thinks it’s only going to get worse in 2021.
“He’s going to get rid of the ball faster, that’s going to compress the field,” said Tannenbaum. “He’s going to make sure that he is protecting himself and getting rid of the ball, and when that happens its’ really hard to score points in this league.”
With Baker Mayfield, Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson in the same division, Tannenbaum says Roethlisberger’s done.
“He’s had a great career, it’s over,” adds Tannenbaum. “They’re paying Ben Roethlisberger for what he used to do, not what he’s going to do in the future.”
But fellow host and former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky disagrees.
He says Ben isn’t the issue, it’s the offensive line and that Roethlisberger can still chuck the ball down the field when he has time.
This issue for the Steelers though is it doesn’t matter who’s fault it is, if the offensive line can’t improve from last season, it doesn’t matter if Roethlisberger has the best arm in the league.