Here's my new theory, designed to give hope to other Rothlisburger owners all over the Fantasy universe;
Due to his recent foot injury, and assuming that the pain messages can penetrate his giant thick skull, he will now be less inclined to run around the field like an idiot trying to make fantastic plays out of 2nd-down-and-4-yards-to-go throw aways.
This need to get rid of the ball faster and run actual planned plays from scrimmage will help this fantastic, uncoachable, play-making, oaf into a real NFL quarterback. And he might even be worth trading for at a bargin right now.
Am I crazy and desperate cause my only other QB is Colt McCoy, or am I some kind of genius?
The problem is that you're thinking about him removing the part of his game that makes him different and special in comparison to a lot of the QBs in the league. The thing that sets Ben apart is his ability to improvise, make a couple tacklers miss and then hit the big play down the field. Unfortunately right now if you watch them play at all, the offensive line is so bad across the board that it's not just 1 or 2 guys getting through where he can make them miss and make a play, it's pretty much everyone getting through so quick he doesn't have a chance.
His sprained foot won't change the way he plays, he had a broken foot last year and still played exactly the same so I wouldn't expect that but until the offensive line picks it up a little bit there won't be much room for him to do much of anything. He's got speedy, big-play receivers but an offensive line that won't give them the time to get downfield and get open...it's an offense built for a nice spread out passing attack but with just one missing and vital element, a good pass-blocking offensive line (actually, even a mediocre pass-blocking line would work right now...)
Something else to look at is according to my analysis I've been running on Matchups and things, Big Ben has had the 5th hardest schedule so far among QBs. The downside is that I've also run his remaining schedule through and he has the 7th hardest remaining schedule for QBs as well. I would probably look to try to deal him after a few of his upcoming games where he plays 3 pretty nice matchups in a row (JAC, ARI, NE) in weeks 6-8. After that it only gets harder through the end.
I will qualify it though by stating that his playoff schedule isn't actually rated too tough as the 10th easiest where he plays KC, CIN, and CLE.
like matt touched on....the main thing thats a problem with him isnt his foot...his line is absolutely horrible. he would be in enough trouble with all of his mobilty...with the foot injury he is now looking at getting sacked and taking hits even more often. i wouldnt be surprised to see him with another injury soon. not to mention he looks like he is in the worst shape of his life this season. i wouldnt want him on my squad. and thats not just because of my deep rooted hatred for the steelers
McDuff wrote:So that two votes for desperate and crazy then huh?
And I think everyone knows how to spell Rotslizburger
I don't think it's a horrible idea, especially when your only other option is McCoy, but only if you can get him at a pretty big discount. I expect him to get better, and expect the line to at least get it together a little bit, but I wouldn't think you'd have to give up anything great for him.
The only other thing I would suggest is seeing if Painter is out there on the waiver wire. He'd at least be a decent option to platoon with McCoy.
Thanks Matt Something else to look at is according to my analysis I've been running on Matchups and things, Big Ben has had the 5th hardest schedule so far among QBs. The downside is that I've also run his remaining schedule through and he has the 7th hardest remaining schedule for QBs as well. I would probably look to try to deal him after a few of his upcoming games where he plays 3 pretty nice matchups in a row (JAC, ARI, NE) in weeks 6-8. After that it only gets harder through the end.
I will qualify it though by stating that his playoff schedule isn't actually rated too tough as the 10th easiest where he plays KC, CIN, and CLE. I guess I underestimated the injury risk for the Steelers but I may have Overestimated the playoff schedule advantage. It could still be great, i should make the playoffs without too much trouble, but will Ben survive that long?
Not unless he can start getting rid of the ball quicker.
We do have some wire candidates and I can start to grab someone next week as nobody wants to trade. Orton, Tarvaris J, Alex Smith, Grossman, Dalton and Cassel are all out there.
McDuff wrote:Here's my new theory, designed to give hope to other Rothlisburger owners all over the Fantasy universe;
Due to his recent foot injury, and assuming that the pain messages can penetrate his giant thick skull, he will now be less inclined to run around the field like an idiot trying to make fantastic plays out of 2nd-down-and-4-yards-to-go throw aways.
This need to get rid of the ball faster and run actual planned plays from scrimmage will help this fantastic, uncoachable, play-making, oaf into a real NFL quarterback. And he might even be worth trading for at a bargin right now.
Am I crazy and desperate cause my only other QB is Colt McCoy, or am I some kind of genius?
Gradually, as in years, yes I believe Ben will calm down a bit. Not much though, his style is what started his career off to such a monumental start and what's kept him in champion status. He won't change that style drastically. I see his success as more a function of what the Steelers do around him. They should try to build a more conventional offense because of Ben's condition and the tools available. With Wallace and Mendenhall you don't need your QB to take big risks outside of throwing deep balls to Mike. Obviously the O-Line is issue #1, the Steelers addressed that by (re) signing Max Starks. His conditioning issues are apparently no longer and he'll start, so Mendenhall/Redmond should benefit from big time run blocking. This should open up more conventional passing for the Steelers, but here's their biggest weakness no one is talking about - tight end and how they use the position. The Steelers need to add a more progressive, Fred Davis-type tight end and if Heath Miller is still able, get him the ball more.
So no, I don't think Roethlisberger is a good buy low target this year, but he will be good over time. I believe McCoy will be a startable QB1 until week 12 and after that it's no too bad for Ben, so I feel you should be OK at QB. I am a bit of a McCoy optimist, but look at everything he has going for him, Holmgren's belief in him and his track record. Cleveland could be trowing it a bit more with Hillis potentially gone and don't think McCoy doesn't see himself as being a great QB.
Asked by the radio station whom he would compare himself to in the NFL, McCoy said, "It is funny. I just left the Browns and Coach Holmgren kind of compared me to Steve Young and Joe Montana and just said that I have the intangibles that I have at this point in their career when they were coming out of college. He expects me to be just like they were.
"I think that is a good comparison and obviously people would compare me to Drew Brees a little bit because of our height. I was about 6-1 1/2, so you never know.
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by McDuff » Thu Oct 06, 2011 1:29 pm 
