Ben Roethlisberger - A Historical Perspective

Ben Roethlisberger � A Historical Perspective

By: Steel Perch

It�s has been a hotly debated topic for some time now where Ben Roethlisberger stands in the hierarchy of today�s QB�s, and how he ranks historically vs. the greats.� Take a look at any local Sunday paper, any message board, or watch any pre-game show and you�ll hear a ton of opinions ranging anywhere from Ben is equal to Rex Grossman to Ben is John Elway reincarnated.� Typically you�ll see little statistical facts to back the arguments.� Well finally, here is the article you have been looking for.

I decided to pull some stats and compare Ben to �The Big Nine� QB�s of the modern era.� Simply put, I threw out any QB�s that played before the rule changes became more liberal for passers, so I�m only looking at the 9 HOF QB�s that played their career from 1980 - 2007.� Anyone who played before that most likely won�t have stats that are as good as these modern guys (apples and oranges).� The �Big 9� guys are: Montana, Marino, Young, Moon, Elway, Kelly, Favre, Manning, Brady, with Ben Roethlisberger for comparisons sake.�� Looking solely at the first four years of the career here is where these guys rank:

The Rankings amongst Ben and the �Big Nine�:

Ben Roethlisberger ranks as follows through their first four years:

#1 in Completion percentage

#1 in yards per Attempt

# 2 in QB rating behind only Marino

# 3 in TD�s (projected through end of year)

# 5 in yards (projected through end of year)

# 2 in win percentage behind Brady

QB Effectiveness:

My thoughts on QB play are that any knucklehead can throw for yards.� Bad teams trail hence throw more.� A quick look down the All time Passing Yardage charts will turn up Vinny Testaverde, Steve Deberg, Kerry Collins, Dave Kreig, and Jim Hart in the top 20!� Those guys are hardly great QB�s.� A John Kitna, Brad Johnson, or Tommy Maddox can end up near the top of the league in passing yards for a season.� The best QB performance indicators are Yards Per Attempt (YPA), Completion % and QB Rating.� Roethlisberger has shown he is the most efficient passer of this entire group over his first four years of his career.� He has played in a fairly ground oriented system so his attempts, yards, and TD�s aren�t as high as some others, but when Ben has thrown the ball, he�s done so more effectively than anyone on this HOF list over his first four years.�

For comparisons sake:

Ben will have three of his first four years with YPA over 8.0, a QB rating over 98, and a completion % over 625.� For comparisons sake:

YPA - John Elway never broke 8 YPA for a season in his entire career, nor did Joe Montana, Warren Moon, or Tom Brady (until this year).� Manning has done it only twice, Kelly 3 times.� Ben will match that in his first 4 years.� Mr Gunslinger himself, Brett Favre has never hit the YPA mark for a season!

Comp% - Elway, Kelly & Marino only broke 61% 3 times in their careers. Ben has done it 3 out of 4 years.

QB Ratings � Ben is head and shoulders above everyone but Marino for the first 4 years of their career.� Ben is on pace to end his career as one of the top 3 highest rated QB�s to ever play the game.

The Number 23 & the third year slump:

Manning, Favre, Marino, Elway, Moon all had at least one 23 INT year in their first four years.� Ben has taken a lot of heat for last year�s performance, but he went through the windshield of a Buick, had an appendectomy, and a concussion in a few month span just coming off an emotional playoff run and SB win.� The funny thing is Ben�s worst year (75 QB rating) was better than the first four year total of Moon, Young, and Elway.� You�ll never hear any national media folks cite that little tidbit.�

Also, Elway, Moon, Kelly, and Favre all had set back years in their 3^rd season.� Brett Favre�s season 3 is eerily similar to Ben�s, sans windshield excuse.

The playoffs and SB:

Do you know who the highest rated passer in the playoffs is over the past two years?� Ben Roethlisberger.� While Tom Brady was intercepted at crucial times and threw away games for losses in 3 of his last 4 playoff games (although they ended up beating SD), Peyton Manning took a whooping vs. Pittsburgh two years ago and was pretty average in their SB run last year,� Ben out performed all other QB�s.� You�ll always get the �Ben sucked in the SB� argument.� Yeah, he laid an egg, but the three road wins he had leading up to the big game were historically great, and he is 5-1 all time in the post season.� Only Tom Brady has a better post season win%.� People always forget how Marino wasn�t so hot in his only SB performance, Elway lost his first three, Kelly lost 4, and Moon never made one.� They get a pass though I suppose.

Summary:

The typical media perception of Roethlisberger has been that he is a good QB that simply manages games, but pails in comparison to the great QB�s in the history of the game.� I think the chart below proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Ben in his first 4 years is as good, or better than any HOF QB we have seen in the past 25+ years.

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The Chart: