Home 2014 Steelers Offseason Roethlisberger’s Future Could Be a Lot Like His Idol’s Last Years

Roethlisberger’s Future Could Be a Lot Like His Idol’s Last Years

by Steeldad

Ben Roethlisberger could play this weekPittsburgh Steelers’ Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger told a radio audience yesterday on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh that he believes he can play another 5-7 more years. Based on the person he idolized growing up, there’s no reason he can’t follow that lead.

Roethlisberger wears number seven to honor Hall of Fame Quarterback John Elway. Roethlisberger’s game is very similar to Elway’s in terms of his ability to create plays on the move and keep plays alive.

At the age of 32 and with many injuries in his past, questions abound about his ability to stay healthy for the next several seasons.

All Big Ben did in 2013 was go out and take every single snap on offense and ended having one of his best years statistically. 

If Roethlisberger truly wants to play as long as he claims then it isn’t impossible by any stretch and he need to look no further than his boyhood idol Elway. For those of you old enough to remember, Elway led a Denver Broncos’ team to three Super Bowls in the 1980’s behind a very good passing attack but his teams were blown out in all three of those games.

As Elway got older and more banged up, Head Coach Mike Shanahan built a more complete offense around Elway. He strengthened the offensive line and became more reliant on the running game behind Terrel Davis who rushed for over 3,700 yards in 1997 and 1998 combined.

Those two seasons culminated in Super Bowl victories for Elway and were the 15th and 16th years of his career. We can debate how banged up Elway was in those final years compared to the beating Roethlisberger’s body has seen for days on end. What’s more interesting is how the Steelers seem to be following Shanahan’s blueprint a bit in terms of planning for Roethlisberger’s final years. 

They continue to rebuild the offensive line and will do so even more in the draft this weekend. They’ve also added Le’Veon Bell and LeGaratte Blount to shoulder the load in the running game. 

Personally I believe Roethlisberger has a shot to be even better than Elway in his later years and you can look at the completion percentage for proof. Elway completed just 55.8% of his passes in ’97 and 59% of his passes in ’98 which was his final year.

Roethlisberger’s career completion percentage is about 6 percentage points higher than Elway’s so Big Ben has more to build on. Obviously there are other factors such as the defense and overall health but I believe Roethlisberger can play for the next 5-7 years.

I just hope it’s with the Steelers.

Marc Uhlmann writes for and co-owns www.steelcityblitz.com. Follow him on Twitter @steeldad and follow the website at @SCBlitz. He can be heard weekly on Trib-Live Radio talking Steelers and is a blogger for ESPN 970 in Pittsburgh.

 

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5 comments

steelbydesign May 7, 2014 - 2:05 pm

To get back to the top the defense has to get better. They don’t have to be historically good, but better than we’ve seen lately, and they have to force more turnovers.

I think that Ben, like Elway, isn’t necessarily a Peyton Manning-like technician, and he’ll make some throws in a game that make you want to cry… but he also seems to step up his game when it matters.

The Steelers have already started what they needed to in order to prolong Ben’s career, and that is build an offense that won’t get him killed. That’s the BIG reason I continue to defend Todd Haley’s system, despite many yelling at me on twitter… Haley’s kept Ben upright and healthy.

The Steelers are at crossroads here. I think the two options are you rebuild which could mean trading Ben, or drafting a young guy to groom until his contract expires… Or you realize you’ve still got a window of 3-5 years with a franchise QB and build around him to make an Elway-like late run. It seems the Steelers are choosing plan B, which is the right move… When you find a QB like Ben you don’t let him go.

bob graff May 8, 2014 - 3:16 am

The way it looks to me is the Steelers still are going to play a very old team. They have to deal with past draft failures. There still remains many holes in this roster and despite what many believe last years draft showed very little. So here we go again can this team draft well and will they even play rookies??? Chapter 7 of the Tomlin/ Colbert draft tandem is up so far they have been slightly below average. Is there anything that makes anybody think things are going to change??

bob graff May 9, 2014 - 1:59 am

Just what i said a below average pick ????? same old crap!!!

Vic May 9, 2014 - 3:40 pm

Can’t call someone with this much potential a below average pick until we see him on the field. Lets see what the kid can do. could become the best linebacking cores in the NFL in a couple years if he pans out. Worilds Timmons Jones and Shazier

bob graff May 9, 2014 - 6:15 pm

The key words you used were, could and if. This group also has the potential to be very poor. A great LB has a certain blend of speed strength and quickness. When i watch tape on Shazier i see potential but hardly a finished product he needs to gain bulk and strength which can happen in time. And with Jones you still have and OLB with 5.0 speed that’s something that can’t be taught. I’m really not trying to bash the Steelers but it seems they just don’t have a very good scouting dept. and the decline to back to back 8-8 season is there as proof. When i look at the Steeler LB corp i see 1 high quality player , 1 good player then a bunch of question marks. ‘it is what it is”

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