Ben Roethlisberger shouldn’t be considered the answer to a Steelers 2020 Super Bowl run.

As we sit early in the off-season, the Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves with the 6th best odds to win the 2020-2021 Super Bowl with a 16-1 payout, per Las Vegas sportsbooks.

Given the Steelers defensive performance in 2019 and the assumption their star quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger is coming back, the odds make sense, to some degree.

Yet, I can’t help but wonder if it’s fair to assume Ben Roethlisberger’s return will bring along a championship with it?  I’m thoroughly convinced the team would have made the playoffs this past season had Ben played and could have made a run with him.

Yet now, coming back from an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery at the age of 37, is it feasible to put the entire franchise on his back?  At this point in time, we are all still assuming Roethlisberger will be ready for training camp and the season but he hasn’t yet been cleared to begin throwing tennis balls, let alone footballs.

If he does come back to start on opening day, will he be the same guy he was before he left, after missing nearly an entire season?  I think it’s safe and fair to say he won’t.  That’s not a knock on Ben, that’s what mother nature does to all of us.  With age, injury and rust, Ben will still be far better than the quarterbacks who played in 2019 but he in all likelihood will not return to the Roethlisberger of 2018 either.

We must assume his body will be slower and with what seems to be an aging and declining offensive line to go along with little to no run game, the Steelers are going to have to rely on Big Ben far too much for a quarterback in his position.

Let’s not overlook the fact that two potential hall of fame quarterbacks from his draft class are on their way out of the NFL this off-season with Eli Manning retiring and Phillip Rivers being done with the Chargers and possibly the NFL altogether.

Time catches us all.

The Steelers said they are comfortable with the quarterbacks they have on their roster but with the threat of Ben either not being ready for opening day or possibly getting injured again sometime into the 2020 season, it’s a mistake not to sign a veteran guy to back him up.

Mason Rudolph and Duck Hodges miraculously got this team to 8-8 (though if we are being honest, the defense did that) but they cannot be counted on nor asked to get this team to a Super Bowl next year or beyond. Having a backup to Ben who is capable of filling in is a must.

What’s more of a must is finding additional pieces to help Ben on offense, a running game, better offensive line play, an additional playmaking wide receiver, and most importantly the knowledge that a 38-year-old Roethlisberger, while the best option to be the starting quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers, should not be asked nor relied upon to do it all.