Cosell Talks: Re-Examining Roethlisberger

[DBR96A]

Apparently Greg Cosell has been doing film studies of QBs lately. He just did an article about Philip Rivers, which was discussed here earlier, and now he's done one about Ben Roethlisberger. Here's the Cliff's Notes version of the article:


1. Roethlisberger has always been considered a winner, even though he played poorly in his first Super Bowl

2. His ability to read defenses was inconsistent early in his career, but has improved markedly in the last few seasons

3. Despite his "sandlot" reputation, most of his big plays are made from the pocket

4. He has a strong arm, but also has excellent touch on his passes

5. Expect less improvisation as he continues to perfect the nuances of being an NFL QB


This is easily the most in-depth analysis of Roethlisberger's skills that I've ever read, and it aligns pretty nicely with my perspective of him. He was the most raw of the top three QBs in the 2004 draft class, so he was bound to need more coaching, and to have a longer learning curve. He didn't even play QB until his senior year of high school, so he only had four years of experience as a QB at any level before the Steelers drafted him.

Over the years he's become a more refined QB, but a lot of people aren't aware of it because of the "sandlot" label that's been given to him. A lot of his learning the nuances of the position was done on the fly early in his NFL career. His improvement in those aspects is why I believe that his best days are still ahead of him, and that he'll be remembered as a better QB in his 30's than he was in his 20's.

[ring91013144043]

Nonsense. If a quarterback plays for a team with a good defense, that QB is overrated and owes all his success to said defense.

[NormSizedMidget]

I don't argue this a bit but he made himself into the QB (where he's ranked now) as a more sandlot QB. Nobody's even noticed that he's........getting better.

He's like Favre in that regard IMO.

[GMenFanSince90]

Nonsense. If a quarterback plays for a team with a good defense, that QB is overrated and owes all his success to said defense.

Yep, Big Ben and Eli suck

[Alpha Dog]

Apparently Greg Cosell has been doing film studies of QBs lately. He just did an article about Philip Rivers, which was discussed here earlier, and now he's done one about Ben Roethlisberger. Here's the Cliff's Notes version of the article:


1. Roethlisberger has always been considered a winner, even though he played poorly in his first Super Bowl

2. His ability to read defenses was inconsistent early in his career, but has improved markedly in the last few seasons

3. Despite his "sandlot" reputation, most of his big plays are made from the pocket

4. He has a strong arm, but also has excellent touch on his passes

5. Expect less improvisation as he continues to perfect the nuances of being an NFL QB


This is easily the most in-depth analysis of Roethlisberger's skills that I've ever read, and it aligns pretty nicely with my perspective of him. He was the most raw of the top three QBs in the 2004 draft class, so he was bound to need more coaching, and to have a longer learning curve. He didn't even play QB until his senior year of high school, so he only had four years of experience as a QB at any level before the Steelers drafted him.

Over the years he's become a more refined QB, but a lot of people aren't aware of it because of the "sandlot" label that's been given to him. A lot of his learning the nuances of the position was done on the fly early in his NFL career. His improvement in those aspects is why I believe that his best days are still ahead of him, and that he'll be remembered as a better QB in his 30's than he was in his 20's.

Roethlisberger just turned 30 but his body is at least 40 years old. Brett Favre looked more mobile than Ben in his last couple of seasons.

[DBR96A]

Roethlisberger has never been very quick on his feet; he's just been hard to bring down. Aaron Rodgers and Tony Romo are more mobile than Roethlisberger is, but once you get to them, they're easy to take down. Roethlisberger looks kind of clumsy when he runs, which is why his 30-yard TD run against the Browns in 2007 is one of the most memorable plays of his career. (I was at the game but missed the run because I'd just left the concession stand with a fresh bucket of chicken wings when it happened. I heard the gradual crescendo of the crowd, though.)

He has some extra wear on his body, but that's why the Steelers invested a first-round draft pick in 2010, a second-round draft pick in 2011, and a first- and second-round draft pick in 2012 on offensive linemen. And everything I've heard about Todd Haley's playbook is good too; he wants to involve Heath Miller in the passing game more, and the Steelers just drafted Chris Rainey, who's sort of a Darren Sproles-type player. These things should greatly reduce the wear and tear on Roethlisberger's body in the next few years.

[DerekRE_3]

good to see people getting on the Cosell bandwagon

[DBR96A]

good to see people getting on the Cosell bandwagon

It's interesting how Greg Cosell and Trent Dilfer can watch the same film of a player and come up with two totally different opinions of him. I'll put my trust in the guy who's made a career out of football film and watched it for decades.

[mberr]

It's been interesting to see the shift of the franchise's focus as Roethlisberger has improved. What made them successful during the early part of Roethlisberger's career was the running game and the defense. As he's improved, the team has shifted in the same direction that the NFL has shifted- towards a more spread, fast-paced offense. Not saying that they're not successful (they're perennial SB contenders), but their defense and running game is not what it was a few years ago. Now they go as far as Roethlisberger takes them, which is not something you would've said about the Steelers franchise at any point in their history.

[Pinstripe power]

Nonsense. If a quarterback plays for a team with a good defense, that QB is overrated and owes all his success to said defense.

unless they are mark sanchez, which in that case they are the greatest thing since sliced bread

[ManofSteel(ers)]

Big Ben hasn't ad a good/great O-line since Faneca left. So his "sandlot" mentality served him well over that time.

IF this line gels with all the high draft picks spent on it the last two years, the Ben will have every opportunity to raise his performance level. And he would not have to run for his life on a regular basis.

That fact alone will alter his sandlot mentality.

[DBR96A]

Big Ben hasn't ad a good/great O-line since Faneca left. So his "sandlot" mentality served him well over that time.

IF this line gels with all the high draft picks spent on it the last two years, the Ben will have every opportunity to raise his performance level. And he would not have to run for his life on a regular basis.

That fact alone will alter his sandlot mentality.

In recent years, the easiest way for me to tell if I've been dealing with a moron is if he insists that the Steelers have a dominant running game. The running game hasn't ranked in the top 10 in total rushing yards or YPC since 2007. It's been average at best in the last four seasons. (It was bad in 2008.) In spite of this, the Steelers have been to two Super Bowls during that period of time, winning one of them. (The running game was a non-factor when they won.)

The other problem was Bruce Arians. When he took over as the offensive coordinator in 2007, he whittled down the playbook, which was a good idea considering it'd become a hodgepodge of plays from several different offensive coordinators during Bill Cowher's tenure (Ron Erhardt, Chan Gailey, Mike Mularkey, Ken Whisenhunt), and some of them hadn't even been used in years. The problem is, I think Arians whittled it down too much, to the point that the plays became predictable, so Roethlisberger's improvisational skills were often necessary just for the offense to be functional.

The good news is, the days of poor offensive lines and half-assed game plans are done, so there won't be nearly as much need for "sandlot" football as before, and Roethlisberger's other skills will be noticed a lot more.

[whooligun]

Cosell.......bah!