Here are a few football things that I have been thinking about recently…
Big Ben
It has been nice to see Ben Roethlisberger change his style of play to fit with the personnel. In years past he has held the ball for a long time and allowed his receivers to get open. Those things led him to get banged up, but they also opened up some of those really long deep throws. Now though, he is getting rid of the ball faster and relying on his receivers to gain yards after the catch. It works, especially with a fairly weak running game. The short passes end up working almost the same as a running game.
The other thing that I have liked seeing is that he does not seem to have a favorite receiver. He does not have someone that he tries to get the ball to even if they are not open. I felt that his final few years with Antonio Brown were highlighted by Ben throwing to AB when he would be triple covered because he did not want to upset the receiver. Maybe not, but it definitely seemed that way to many fans.
Anyways, watching Big Ben and some of the other older QBs in the league has me thinking about the future. Who will be the Steelers successor at quarterback? Clearly they will need to find someone in the draft. As most people know, I liked when they drafted Mason Rudolph, but we have seen him and he does not look like a guy that will be a dominant starter.
Obviously Trevor Lawrence will end up on the Jets (unless he decides to come back to Clemson). The Steelers should look at using their first round pick on Kyle Trask. He is a big QB (6’5, 240) and he has great pocket presence. Although, if he wins the Heisman this year, then he may rise in the draft rankings.
If that does not tickle your fancy, maybe wait a year or two. If the Jets take Lawrence, maybe try to get Sam Darnold as your backup and wait for the Clemson backup to mature and prove himself (D.J. Uiagaleilei). I liked what I saw from him when Lawrence was out with COVID-19 and maybe he is the answer (but it would probably be 2023 when he comes out).
Hines Ward HOF Debate
I feel like every year or so there is some player from the Steelers that people debate whether or not they should be in the HOF. Hines Ward seems to be that guy now. It is easy to forget that Ward played during a more run dominant era. It will be difficult in a few years to compare career yards to some of these guys from now. Last year there were 29 receivers over 1000 yards, in the early 2000s, there were seasons with like 14 players.
It is also hard to gauge because Hines Ward’s career with the Steelers started with some mediocre quarterbacks. And even when Ben took over, the team was still a very run-heavy team. By the time they started to be a more pass reliant team, Hines Ward was on the downward trajectory of his career.
Steelers fans would probably argue that you have to take his intangibles into consideration. The fact that he was a great blocker. He always seemed to be happy, everyone remembers him smiling while playing.
My verdict is that if he gets in, then you probably have to put a few other receivers in that were very similar. What does HOF mean to you? Is it reserved for the very elite or is it the very, very good? I do not know, I can see both arguments.
