5 Steelers players we should be careful not to overrate
By Tommy Jaggi
Ben Roethlisberger
Let me start by saying that I have no major complaints about Ben Roethlisberger this year. And how could I? At 38 years old and coming off major elbow surgery, his team is 5-0 and he’s now thrown 11 touchdowns to just 1 interception.
But let’s not kid ourselves into thinking that no other NFL quarterbacks could be doing what Big Ben is doing right now. Roethlisberger clearly has been blessed with one of the best defenses in the league, while rookie Chase Claypool, by all accounts, looks to be a future superstar.
In addition, this offensive line has performed remarkably well despite being down two starters since the beginning of the season. While Roethlisberger’s touchdown-to-interception ratio is terrific, there are other aspects of his game that are not. His 7.1 yards per attempt is very modest, and his 6.9 intended air yards per pass attempt is remarkably low, according to Player Profiler.
On top of that, his air yards per attempt (26th in the NFL), red zone completion percentage (29th), and deep-ball completion percentage (30th) are all in need of major improvements. Ben is currently good enough to get this team far into the playoffs, but he no longer should be considered close to a top 5 quarterback in the NFL at this point.
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It’s never fun to dwell on which players on the Steelers are being overrated, but it’s important to know that numbers don’t always tell the whole story. All five of the guys I mentioned are very good football players, but none of them should be considered the best of the best at their positions.