Ben The Best in AFC North?

ESPN: Ben named named the number one player in AFC North, do you agree?

http://espn.go.com/blog/afcnorth

 

Here are their reasons why:

BEN ROETHLISBERGER

Steelers quarterback

RoethlisbergerJason Bridge/US Presswire

Few quarterbacks are better than Ben Roethlisberger at improvising to make big plays.
Why Roethlisberger is ranked No. 1: Roethlisberger is an elite, Super Bowl-winning quarterback. Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Peyton Manning would all be ranked as the top players in their divisions, and Roethlisberger has earned the right to be mentioned in the same breath. Roethlisberger has put up the impressive numbers (4,000 yards passing and 100-plus quarterback ratings) over his career, but those who watch him know his value goes beyond statistics.

Roethlisberger carried the Steelers' offense last season and he did it through pain. He sprained his foot (which required a metal plate in his shoe), broke his right thumb and then suffered a high-ankle sprain. He was still able to lead the division with 4,077 yards passing, 21 touchdowns and a 63.2 completion rate. Roethlisberger threw five touchdowns against Tennessee, out-dueled Brady and beat Cleveland in the first meeting on one leg. He isn't a coveted player in fantasy football, but ask NFL coaches who they would want to lead a last-minute drive with the game on the line. Big Ben would be on that list with his "backyard football" style of extending plays and making that laser throw into the end zone while on the run.

One could argue that Roethlisberger shouldn't be at the top of this list because he's not going to be at the top of his game this year. He is learning a new system under first-year offensive coordinator Todd Haley. I see the change from Bruce Arians to Haley as a positive for Roethlisberger, especially if Haley can duplicate the passing success from his days running the Arizona Cardinals offense.

Roethlisberger's reputation is built on being a winner. In his eight seasons, he's led the Steelers to the playoffs six times and guided them to the Super Bowl three times (winning twice). The scary part is he just turned 30, which is hitting the prime of a quarterback's career.

 

That`s all awesome.
Took me a few to dig through the recent stories, to find it, and after I did, I saw an interview with P. Manning, that reminded me, why he is considered to be such a "consumate professional".
They started by asking him about the recent shootings in Colorado, and he answered in a very sincere, and at the same time, media savvy, way.
Talking about how his fellow teammates are "very involved in the community", etc...
Then, when asked how comfortable he was in his new home, he honestly admitted, he was "still settling in"...
All this, off the cuff, live, without the benefit of someone to tell him what questions were coming, or how to handle them(I Assume)...
Something our QB, is still learning, IMHO...
But, I had to laugh, when the questions turned to the status of his recently healed neck, And he said "I could take a blind-side hit from James Harrison, and pop back up"....
Then he realized what he just said, and amended with...
"Now, don`t take that as a personal challenge, James"...
LMAO... How else would Silverback take it?!?!
Sounds like payback time, to me!!!!
Let`s start the season, by dismantling the team that sent us home early!!!!
GO STEELERS!!!

 

I'm confused why IYHO you think Ben is still learning. I think Ben or any of us would be able to say my team mates are involved in the community and if he had moved to another city would be able to come up w/ the hefty cerebral answer I'm "still settling in ." (LOL) AND, I think he can handle all those questions without the help of having the questions fed to him before hand or an agent there telling him how to handle it? (ROFL)

I'm not in Pitt so enlighten me here, has Ben ever had handlers at his pressers? Has he ever been pre-fed the questions? Or more to the point what does he need to learn? Every-time I hear him he gives all the right answers. You know the God blesses, get wells, my charity foundation has raised, We will, yada yada yada and all that

(LOL) Sorry man but what does he need help with in your opinion?

 

Yeah, I was really surprised that Antonio Brown was ranked 22nd best in the AFC North out of the 25 best players. That makes me think that ESPN really didn't pay attention last year to the Steelers.

I was really surprised the Ben was ranked the best player in the AFC North when the AFC North writer is a former Raisin writer for the Baltimore Sun. (Don't ever buy or read that newspaper, it is horrible!) Then again, I really couldn't think of a player in our division who is better then Ben. (I also considered Woodley, Troy, Harrison, but really couldn't think of anyone else who I think of as a game changer and yes I am biased.)

I just wondered if any of you think there is a better player in our division?

 

I don`t think he needs help with anything.
IMHO, sometimes he is just too honest for his own good.
Personally, I think it is refreshing, and I like it, but he sure doesn`t "buy into the program", and just give the "politically correct", answers that most other players in the league, do.
When he tries to, it doesn`t come off, very well, like in an earlier thread on this board, where they showed an interview after a game in Cleveland, when he had played with a seperated(.. Ahem, I mean, "injured"), shoulder, and he just absoluteley refused to answer the question about how he played with it/ how it affected him, even tho the reporter asked him about it point blank, like three times in a row.
He simply kept repeating the same answer... "My O-Line did great tonight".
I get what he was trying to do, but he could be a little better about it, and whoever posted that thread, used it as an example of how he has gotten "better", with the media.
I disagree.
Manning, is a very media savvy, polished, spokesman, that`s why he makes GAJILLIONS of dollars on advertising deals (well, that and his squeaky clean image).
Personally, I am still glad that we have Ben as a qb, but, that is due to his on field talent, not his ability to smooth talk the media.
Just My Opinion.
Honestly, I am tired of athletes, that sound like they are a buncha clones, reciting the same lines from the same public relations manual handed out by their agents, but that is what`s expected of them now, and Ben is still working on that part of his "game"...
Hope that helps you see where I`m coming from..
(And by the way, Manning was being asked about the shootings at the movie theater, in his new home state,originally, and I just really didn`t wanna get into all that, I just thought he handled that pretty well, watch the interview, from the link in this post if you want to.)
Bleed.