4 reasons to be concerned with Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger
By Tommy Jaggi
Yards per attempt are concerningly low
Despite having an offensive line that has done well in pass protection this year (ranked 7th by Football Outsiders), Roethlisberger hasn’t taken a lot of shots down the field. When he has, the Steelers have found success – usually with Chase Claypool coming down with a big catch or drawing a pass interference.
However, Ben has looked to dump the ball underneath too often this year. His 7.1 yards per attempt is good for 21st in the NFL entering Week 5, and it is just 0.5 yards per attempt more than what Devlin Hodges offered last year.
Just below Roethlisberger on the list are players like Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jeff Driskel, Mitch Tribusky, and Dwayne Haskins. Unsurprisingly, just one of these quarterback remains as the starter for their team. On the opposite end, top quarterbacks like Dak Prescott, Deshaun Watson, and Aaron Rodgers are all averaging at least 8.4 yards per attempt, while Josh Allen and Russell Wilson are at 9.0 yards per attempt or higher.
We might be able to live with Roethlisberger being just average in this department in 2020, but dinking and dunking the ball down the field will really limit the team’s offensive ceiling this year.