Here we go with another article in regards to the National Media disrespecting the Pittsburgh Steelers. If the Steelers want to go out there and prove everyone wrong this season they most certainly will need to show up starting from Week 1 against the Buffalo Bills. I think right now the only talking head in the National Media who has faith in Ben Roethlisberger is Skip Bayless who says 'he likes the Steeler's chances with a much more committed Ben Roethlisberger. Throw in Stephen A. Smith and that is about all of the support you hear in regards to Ben Roethlisberger returning in 2021.
CBS's Jason La Canfora has zero confidence in Ben Roethlisberger going into 2021. He recently ranked Ben Roethlisberger as a 'Tier 6' quarterback next to Sam Darnold, Daniel Jones, and Andy Dalton saying 'Good Luck' with having much success with these quarterbacks in 2021.
La Canfora on Ben Roethlisberger: "I could see the Steelers experimenting with a new QB by midseason," La Canfora wrote. "When you take that kind of pay cut to stick around to try to go out on something other than the terms of that ugly playoff loss to the Browns, chances are things won't get much better. The offensive line looks shaky at best. Lack of mobility a big problem. I just don't see this going well and things have been trending down since 2019."
He ranks Ben Roethlisberger so badly that the next group of quarterbacks are rookies and second-year players. The Steelers felt like Ben Roethlisberger is the only current quarterback on their roster who can win football games for them. They're right, but they have also pushed themselves in a corner by not addressing the quarterback position 2-3 years ago to give them a better option in 2021. That is not a knock at Ben Roethlisberger that is just a fact.
The Steelers only had Mason Rudolph, Dwayne Haskins, and Josh Dobbs on their roster going into 2021 and neither of those three players are better than Ben Roethlisberger at this point in time. They're hoping one of them will eventually take over for Ben Roethlisberger especially with young Dwayne Haskins who had a rough time in Washington but wasn't given a fair shot. He will be given a fair shot with Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh because Tomlin is a big fan of his. Ben is going into his 18th season and he is 39 years old, but there is no denying he gives the Steelers their best chances to get to the Super Bowl, but eventually, he is going to drop off.
Right now I view Ben as a 'Tier 2' quarterback who was the best quarterback in the AFC North in 2020 without a running game. I believe he should be much healthier in 2021 because he won't have to throw the football around 50 times a game and will finally have a new best friend in the backfield. I have way more faith in Ben Roethlisberger than much of these talking heads and Yinz should too. I won't believe Ben Roethlisberger is falling off a cliff until we finally see it with our own eyes. I don't need Jason La Canfora telling me otherwise. He should stick with reporting the Baltimore Ravens news.
