Pros and cons of Steelers potentially benching QB Ben Roethlisberger
By Tommy Jaggi
The Pittsburgh Steelers might have a tough choice to make at quarterback soon. Here are the pros and cons of benching Ben Roethlisberger.
I can’t say that I’m shocked we are in this predicament. In fact, I predicted this would happen early in the offseason if the Pittsburgh Steelers decided to bring Ben Roethlisberger back for one more season.
Though the veteran was technically under contract, there was no way he was coming to back to this team with the way his contract was structured. After taking a pay cut and reworking his deal that extends voidable years and dead money into the future, Pittsburgh agreed to give it one last go.
That was a mistake — and one that is proving to not only hurt the Steelers now but into the future as well. Over the first four games of the 2021 season, Big Ben has arguably been the worst quarterback in all of football, and his statistical efficiency would concur. According to Player Profiler, Roethlisberger currently ranks 30th or worse in major efficiency categories like true passer rating (30th), yards per attempt (31st), and clean-pocket completion percentage (30th).
The topic of potentially benching Ben Roethlisberger has been at the center of discussion after his fourth dismal performance in as many games this year.
So what should the Steelers do with their aging veteran? Here are the pros and cons of letting him ride out his final season on the bench: