Bens replacement...

Wanted to get everyones opinion on when you would begin looking for Bens replacement. I ask the question because I'm not so sure I would draft one until Ben is finished and has one foot out the door...possibly two. I would rather have Ben than just about any other QB...especially in the 4th qtr with the game on the line. The guy wins games and performs in clutch situations....so this thread is not to imply that I think we should get rid of Ben. I want him here as long as he behaves, stays healthy and wins balls games. I'm just not so sure I would want to bring a young potential franchise QB in too early to learn under him. What bothers me about Ben is his work ethic, study habits and his performance on the field. I'm not in the locker room or at the Steelers facility....but I think it is safe to say Ben is not known for his studying of game film or adjustments during the game on the sidelines by looking at overheads and such....hopefully Haley will work with him to change that....BA certainly didn't. Ben is also not known as a timing QB but rather a backyard sandlot QB that scrambles for 7 seconds while WR's are finishing their routes...and then it is just get open however possible. It works for Ben and is probably sometimes unavoidable given the looks of our O-line for the past several years. With all that said, would you guys want to draft a young QB in the 3rd or 4th round in the near future and give him 3-4 years to hold a clipboard as Bens understudy or would you take a chance and wait until possibly the last year or two of Bens Steelers career to bring in a possible future fanchise QB?

Again....I don't want this to turn into a Ben should go, Ben should stay rant...we all know he will be here for a while barring injury or another off field incident. I just wanna know if you guys would be happy with a good college QB with alot of NFL potential learning under Ben for 3-4 years.

 

When I think of a "clipboard" holder and understudy - being prepared to start, the first person that comes to mind is Cliff Stoudt. Just the thought of him made me throw up in my mouth a little bit. So, I don't think the answer to this question lies in taking someone in the 3rd or 4th round and "grooming" him. Guys like Marsha (a.k.a. Tom) Brady do not come around very often in the later rounds. Franchise quarterbacks typically come out of the first round, almost exclusively.

So - unfortunately, the way that I see things will end up, if the Steelers are to remain dominant, is that at the end of Ben's career - they're going to need to come up with a high draft pick and draft his replacement. That may mean they end up with a horrible season and earn the pick, or become pretty comfortable with the team they have and be able to put together an attractive enough package to trade up.

At most other positions, I believe the Steelers are able to re-load on the fly. I just don't think it happens that way at quarterback.

 

I'm not particularly sold on the need for a franchise QB to be dominant. Ok, we only started to win superbowls again when Ben arrived, and his impact was huge. But also remember that in his first two seasons, we had an awesome power running game. Now the offense has been more geared around Ben's ability, a replacement will be harder to slot in, in the way that Ben was ale to slot into the QB position back in the day.

It will be interesting, when the time comes, whether the Steelers look specifically for another scrambler/sandlot QB, or a more dedicated pocket passer.

 

I read a statistic recently that showed that the VAST majority of QBs that lead their teams to and won Super Bowls come out of the first round. I don't remember what the exact percentage was, but it was pretty alarming. So, while I may not be particularly sold on the THEORY that you don't need a franchise quarterback to win it all - the numbers don't lie.

Not sure how old you are, Thigpen, but I was wondering if you remember when Cliff Stoudt took over for Terry Bradshaw. Pittsburgh media and Steeler fans were excited because Stoudt became the starter after being the "understudy". The Steelers were grooming him to take over. Well - that REALLY didn't work out so well. Thus, though I think you could POSSIBLY groom a lower round quarterback with marginal skills to lead your team, I don't think that it would be LIKELY that the team would be dominant without that Franchise QB. Think about the Steelers history. They have gotten to 7 of their 8 Super Bowls with FRANCHISE quarterbacks. And - they haven't won a single Super Bowl without one.

 

We don't need to find a future starter, I think we should already have found the next Batch though by now. I thought Leftwich would have been that guy, but apparently not.

 

I agree that it is not time yet and I agree that a capable backup is what is important at this point. My only point is that when it IS time to replace Ben we either go hard or go home. The chances of finding someone to lead us to additional SBs is going to come from the first round - and more than likely - high in the first round.

 

Agreed. I think it's very rare to have a Superbowl winning QB outside the first round. Look how many QB's the Dolphins have grabbed in round 2 over the past few years... I think you grab a project to be a backup and see if it works out, but ultimately when Ben's time is coming we got QB in round 1.

Look at the recent SB QB's...

Eli Manning (1st round) vs Tom Brady (6th)
Aaron Rodgers (1st) vs Ben Roethlisberger (1st)
Drew Brees (2nd) vs Peyton Manning (1st)
Eli Manning (1st) vs Tom Brady (6th)
Peyton Manning (1st) vs Rex Grossman (1st)
Ben Roethlisberger (1st) vs Matt Hasslebeck (6th)
Tom Brady (6th) vs Donovan McNabb (1st)
Tom Brady (6th) vs Jake Delhomme (undrafted)
Rich Gannon (4th) vs Brad Johnson (9th)

The further back I go the less it applies probably because we're going more and more towards a passing league... Proof of that is this past season's playoff teams...

AFC By Seed
1. Tom Brady (6th)
2. Joe Flacco (1st)
3. Matt Schaub (3rd) ...kinda
4. Tim Tebow (1st)
5. Ben Roethlisberger (1st)
6. Andy Dalton (2nd... barely)

NFC By Seed
1. Aaron Rodgers (1st)
2. Alex Smith (1st)
3. Drew Brres (2nd)
4. Eli Manning (1st)
5. Matt Ryan (1st)
6. Matthew Stafford (1st)

 

Oh yeah, I agree that the superbowls wouldn't have come without Ben or Bradshaw. I'm not sure I'm really disagreeing at all with what you're saying. I suppose my point was, lets not forget that we were only a few plays away from reaching superbowls with Kordell, and as for XXX... well, I'm sure I don't need to bring that up.

 

Thigpen... you're right, they were close to Superbowls with Kordell... but fell short. They were CLOSE because they had a good defense, but the lack of good QB play kept them from getting over the hump.

Obviously it's not impossible. Brady is the extreme exception. The Ravens won with Trent Dilfer, the Panthers went with Delhomme, the Bucs won with Brad Johnson... but ALL of those teams had legendary type defenses.

 

Great topic! IMHO... Because this has had me scratching my head for a while now...
I just don`t know...
I guess, like a lot of things in life... It comes down to...
Timing is everything.
Obviously, at some point, Ben is not going to be able to take the pounding, his style of play gets him.
The problem (as I see it), is...
It is VERY difficult to keep a good QB on the bench, to grow into a starting role.
This league is so starving for good QB`s, that if you have a decent one on the bench, he will most likely go to another team, and be a starter, rather than wait his turn behind your superstar qb.
(Is Matt Flynn still in G.B.?)
Aaron Rodgers is one of the few exceptions to the rule, I can think of, other than Marcia Brady, behind Bledsoe...
I would love to see us either draft a replacement for Ben, now, Or get Troy Smith, or Jerrod Johnson, used to how we do things here in the `Burgh,
But, I have a hard time believing ANYONE(young and talented), would be content to sit on the bench until Ben is done.
And I have a hard time believing if we had one of those, another team wouldn`t offer them enough money, and a chance to start, that they would stay here...
So, as much as I do believe that we need to at least THINK about getting our next QB, I just don`t see how we can do it, until Ben is out the door...
We are just gonna have to hope that fortune smiles upon us, and there is a good qb available, when Ben`s time is up. raying:
I would much rather PREPARE for that time, than trust in luck, but I don`t know if that`s possible, when the whole league is looking for talented qb`s, that you may have stashed on your bench, to "grow" into their position, like we do with every other position on our team?

 

i like what NE did last year in picking mallet. he was a good qb in college and on the edge of figuring in with the group that were considered possibly franchise qb's. sort of a weeden or kirk cousins type guy. that wasen't a bad way to go for NE with alot of picks, but for us this year, we have to many holes to fill and that type of guy would be good to get next year.

we also have to see what johnson has. he is essentually that fringe kind of player or would have been without the injury to that throwing shoulder. he's healed now. be patient and see what HAS or may fall in our laps. we are not in a big time crunch with ben and can play this game right now.

johnson could at the very least prove enough to remain a backup. if a new or fringe franchise guy drops a little and lands in front of us next year or the year after then we snatch him. johnson could still remain as a backup. teach him since we have him. the kid is a good qb. he's another huge qb like ben.

he just has more upside then alot in this draft beyond cousins. if he was in this one, thats right around where he would have been slotted. though if cousins fell to the 3rd round he would be inviting. teamed with ben and johnson we would be sitting pretty when ben has had it. we could even dangle one of them out there as trade bait by then.

 

Flake-O anybody?..

 

There's this 8th grader here in ky that everyone is high on maybe him?

 

Macdaddyo, you mentioned that Cousins would be inviting if he falls to the 3rd round this year. In SBD's mock draft thread , I have him doing just that and the Steelers selecting him.

3. Kirk Cousins, QB, Michigan St.
Make no mistake about it, Tomlin loves this guy. Ben will not have a long career like Manning or Brady and with his physical style he could go down at any time. Cousins is not ready to start year one and if he's groomed for 3-4 years, he'll be a great successor to Ben.

 

The right time to get a replacement for Ben will be in 2015 draft. He'll be 33. Even if he's still effective, he'll be on the downside, and I'd argue there's a reasonable chance his accumulated injuries will be starting to take their toll.

You figure 'the replacemment' can sit on the bench for 2 yrs, and target to replace Ben in 2017 or 2018.

Between now and the 2015 draft, the perfect Backup QB is a experienced former-starting has-been/journeyman who can fill in 2 or 4 or 6 games a year for Ben if necessary.

 

i saw that jack. i have liked cousins from the beginning. he just wins. he works hard to win. seems like a good kid too. that would be tough to pass up.

 

It's easy to see, after watching this, why everyone is so carried away with Cousin's intangibles. I believe that if we give him 3 or 4 years to develop behind Ben he'll be the next generation Super Bowl QB for the Steelers. He's a cerebral guy who isn't afraid to challenge his teammates. If he's there in round 3, meet Ben's successor.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=7819406