NFL Draft: The Myth of the Sure Thing QB
Jan 3, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) looks on from the sidelines against the Baltimore Ravens during the second half in the 2014 AFC Wild Card playoff football game at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Jason Bridge-USA TODAY Sports
Big Ben. A big miss by the Cleveland Browns. In the same draft class as Rivers and Eli Manning, Roethlisberger came out of small school Miami of Ohio as somewhat of an unknown. The biggest knock on Ben was the level of competition that he played against.
There is actually very little negatives that we can find about Big Ben coming into the draft. Here is how one site noted his negatives:
"Negatives: There’s not much to dislike about Roethlisberger’s game. The only knock on him is that he played in the MAC, but with guys like Pennington and Leftwich coming out of the conference in recent years, I doubt his draft status will be adversly affected."
So, while there were very few negatives to Big Ben’s game, he was still seen as much of a mystery. So much so that he was the 3rd QB taken and 11th pick overall. Doesn’t speak well for the Browns decision but it doesn’t seem that he was a “sure thing” guy but pretty close.
Next: Luck