Quarterback of the future?

I'm a little PO'd at Ben at the moment, but the fact is he's had a nice run here in Pittsburgh. Ben has been a PHYSICALLY dominant QB for most of his career. The problem with that is that he has always been able to get by on sheer physicality and has used that to compensate for the fact that he is not as cerebral as many other successful quarterbacks in the league. Well, those days are over for Ben I am afraid. He looked like a sloth the last few games and it just seemed that he was slow reading the defense. I think this comes from a lack of preparation. Ben himself has admitted that he doesn't like to study film. This will cost him as he enters the downside of his career.

Having said that, do you think it's time this year to try to find the quarterback of the future? Maybe a second or third rounder who can sit behind Ben and develop into the Steelers' starting QB. With the beating that Ben has taken and his seeming unwillingness to devote the time he needs to film study and preparation, that time may be here sooner rather than later.

If you think the time is now to go after our QB of the future, any suggestions on who that should be? I don't follow the college game all that closely so I'm relying on my MB comrades that do. Thoughts?

 

i think our QB of the future is in the 8th grade

HINES

 

I'd love to bring in Alex Smith and have a competition in training camp to see who will be the starter. Let Ben know the free ride is over. Either get with the program or get the **** out.

 

In short, NO! But we do need to get this offensive line problem figured out cause they have been horrible all year.

 

With the beating that Ben takes and his less than cerebral qualities, no way will he last that long.

 

Ben is our QB I can possibly think anyone believes alex smith is better than big ben

 

At this thread

 

i think batch beat the ravens with that same line? maybe because they knew that charlie would stay in the pocket.. how can a line protect ben when tehy never know where he is or gonna be?

HINES

 

I agree that Alex Smith is not the answer. But wouldn't it be wise to at least consider someone in the second or third round as a possible successor in a few years.

 

No way. His style of play will never result in consistent success. Show me one year in Ben's career where our offence carried our team. An argument could definitely be made for 2009, and look what happened, we missed the playoffs. Like Greg Cossell says, Ben's sandlot style of play is random and arbitrary, and those things are bad for an NFL QB. Those things will not result in consistent success. Not only is that my opinion, but it's the opinion of Greg Cossell and apparently Todd Haley, since he has tried to break that habit. On top of that, the Rooney's also want Ben to play disciplined football since they got rid of BA and brought in Haley and have been saying for years they want a better running game and Ben to take less hits. Ben's style of play will get him killed.

The Rooney's need to pull Ben into their office this off-season and tell him that Haley is the OC and he can either buy into the program or he can play elsewhere. It's not about an OC being more important than a QB, it's about a QB who refuses to do what's best for the team, a QB who is constantly butting heads with coaches that try to install a disciplined system. There's no place on a team for a guy like that. Either get with the program or get lost.

 

I hate these kinds of responses. Okay, BB, since you think this thread is , now could you elaborate.

I don't think it's frivolous at all to start thinking about a QB of the future. I'm not saying someone to replace Ben next year, but he does take a beating it seems every year. Agree or disagree? He misses a few games a season due to injury. Agree or disagree? He's not considered a cerebral QB who spends a lot of time in the film room considering other teams' tendencies and studying their defensive schemes. Agree or disagree? He can't continue to rely on sheer physicality now that he's on the north side of 30. Agree or disagree?

So why is it to start thinking about a QB of the future? Would you like to just keep Lefty and Batch (aka Rip Van Winkle and Methuselah) around for another few years?

 

Alex Smith would very likely be the best backup QB in the league. He plays mistake free football and would definitely give Ben a run for his money

 

why biz?

should the team not bring someone in to be a reliable backup
who also can play the entire season if Ben goes down or simply keeps doing what he does best keep throwing PICK 6?
the othe two here are no threat to take his job permanently so why get someone who could IF need be?
I choose Bryn Renner in next years draft after we let Batch and someone else play next season. Any one but lefty.

 

Alex Smith cant hold Ben's jock.....but I agree would be a nice backup...but he would not press Ben in anyway shape or form.

HACK

 

too many holes on the team to be wasting early picks on a position that is filled.

 

We've got to be thinking post-Ben. I think that could come sooner than people think. He's taken a beating in his career and his body just will not hold up over the long haul unless he learns how to be a smarter quarterback and I don't think that's in his DNA. We missed a great opportunity when we failed to draft Kirk Cousins last year IMHO.

 

I agree that taking a young QB in the draft, maybe in round 4 or so, is a good idea. The team has drafted for the critical areas of OL and DB, and hopefully that will play out for the future there.

 

if the redskins didn't have RGIII, do you think for a second they wouldn't take a Cousins for Ben trade? he had a bad season, happens to every QB. and having a bad line with virtually no running game and a new OC contributed a great deal towards that. before we start sacking Ben we should look at a new OC (Cowher was smart enough to realize gilbride was a bad choice after 1 year) get some linemen, and develop a running game. He can't do it alone, especially when every team out there knows we cant run and just plays pass all the way.

 

But with the beating he has taken and fact that he has missed a few games each of the last few seasons due to injury, his effective age is more like 35.

 

I am a huge Ben Roethlisberger fan but If I am Rooney I immediately call him to my office first thing in the morning and ask he some serious questions about his game preparation and willingness to learn a new offense. I then call Haley to the office tell him that he will be the OC next season with or without this star QB based on the answers I got a few minutes ago.

 

No one is saying (at least I'm not) that Cousins would be a better alternative than Ben, what I said was that the Steelers should have drafted Cousins as a back up to Ben and possible QB of the future.