AB (After Bradshaw)

Cliff Stoudt, Mark Malone, Neil O'Donnell, Bubby Brister, Kent Graham, Tommy Maddox, Kordell Stewart, Mike Tomczak. These are some of the many quarterbacks the Steelers have gone through since the departure of Terry Bradshaw. These guys all have different facets that made them a starter for the Steelers. Mark Malone was athletic, once holding the Steelers record for longest reception as a wide receiver. Bubby Brister was charismatic and a good leader. Tommy Maddox had a strong arm and a few years ago the Steelers tried the pass first strategy with him behind center. That failed miserably as we all know. Kordell Stewart, aka Slash, was also athletic and if he would have given up on playing quarterback, could have been a very good receiver and his career would have been quite a bit longer. The thing that separated almost all of the guys above from Ben Roethlisberger is they couldn't manage to get the ball to their receivers consistently.

I've got to say that the Steelers have a great group of receivers right now and the first few years of Ben's career. Hines Ward would probably make half of the quarterbacks in the league look good.

The closest quarterback in terms of this part of Ben's game is Neil O'Donnell. Neil succeeded Bubby Brister. Coincidentally enough, Neil is the only other quarterback in the AB(After Bradshaw) era that has led the Steelers to a Super Bowl and might have won it had Andre Hastings been paying attention and run the right routes. Instead, Neil made the career of a cornerback who signed a big free agent contract following the Super Bowl. Neil then went on to the Jets and other teams in a mediocre career. The Super Bowl season is the reason I would rank Neil as the number 2 quarterback in the AB era.

The number one quarterback in that era is, of course, Ben Roethlisberger. The main reason for this is obvious, those two Lombardi Trophies earned by him and the rest of the team of course. But, the Steelers have had some very good teams and very good players, Rod Woodson, Greg Lloyd, Dermontti Dawson to name just a few, with the quarterbacks before Ben and those teams have a combined total of 0 Super Bowl Wins.

Ben has the tools necessary to be one of the greatest in the league. What are those tools?
The number 1 tool that I, as student of the game, hold as the most crucial element of Ben's game is that he is accurate. A quarterback needs to be able, first and foremost, to be able to get the ball to his receivers. After watching quarterback after quarterback try and fail, this is the main thing that all of those guys were missing. Announcers would come up with all kinds of reasons for them. The field wasn't flat so they threw too high. It was too windy and their arm wasn't strong enough. Too rainy and their hands were too small to grip the ball effectively. I've heard them all over the years. I could look at the stats and see what the completion percentage of these guys is, but I don't need to. Ben consistently gets the ball to his receivers, or at least close enough to give them a chance. The other guys may have had a few games where they'd hit a hot streak and have a high completion percentage, but Ben has done it since he came into the league after Tommy Maddox went down.

The number 2 tool that Ben has that none of those guys had, this is where Ben separates himself from O'Donnell, is escapability. If you look Ben Roethlisberger up in the Encyclopedia you might see a picture of Houdini next to his name. The number of times he has emerged from a conglomeration of linemen is countless. He has a second sense of being able to know when and how to duck or dodge to get away from those attacking linemen and linebackers and escape numerous sacks then make the play. In the Bengals game he was flushed out of the pocket, started outside, juked inside leaving the Bengal amazed at his agility and passed to Willie Parker for a TD. Running Backs make those moves not quarterbacks.

The number 3 tool that Ben has goes along with number 2. While he is running around trying to get away from the defense he has another ability that few quarterbacks have. He is able while scrambling around to keep looking downfield for his receivers. Most quarterbacks are able stand there looking for their receivers to get open, others have the ability to scramble clear of the defense then look for a receiver. Ben can drop back look for his receiver, if they're not open he can scramble around avoiding the rush and at the same time look for the open man extending the play.

The number 4 tool he possesses is size. This helps his ability to escape the rush. You can't bring him down by bumping into him or arm tackling him. If he is not wrapped up securely and brought down he won't go down.

It's funny that he is continuously overlooked as the best in the league. Let's see, he has 2 Super Bowl wins, that Manning guy has 1 and that Brady guy has 3. I'd say that would at least put him up there at number 2. Oh, sometimes people put him behind that guy in San Diego. Didn't the Steelers just play San Diego? I can't remember the score, but I think the Steelers won. But, that guy's better than Ben. Yeah, Ok. See you in the playoffs Mr. Rivers, IN PITTSBURGH. That's how the NFL works, the team with the better players and the better records get homefield advantage.