Bill Cowher hasn\’t coached in the NFL since 2006, but he still has a ton of respect for Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Cowher was a guest Thursday on NFL Total Access and was asked if he thinks his former 2004 first-round draft pick still has some good years left him, and if anything should be read into the team recently drafting Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones.
“I think he can play more,” said Cowher. “I think that one of the best things to happen was bringing Todd Haley in there, and I think Todd, with what he\’s trying to do with some of the quick passing game, and I think they\’ve addressed the offensive line; I think it\’s going to elongate his career.
“So, I think bringing in Landry Jones is good, because I think he can sit there for a couple of years and learn. I think Ben\’s going to come back. I think, from what I hear, he\’s had a very dedicated offseason. I think he\’s got many, many good years ahead of him.
“But I think the biggest thing is getting a good young quarterback that they can groom. I think Landry Jones they feel good about, and he\’ll have a chance to sit behind a pretty good quarterback and learn from him.”
In the Top 100 Players of 2013 rankings that the NFL Network is currently counting down, Roethlisberger came in 61st overall, so Cowher was asked to weigh in with his thoughts on that as well.
“That\’s pretty bad,” started Cowher. “I mean the guy is a winner; he\’s a competitor. You put him in the fourth quarter and I will take that quarterback over anybody in the league. The guy is very strong in the pocket; he can throw the ball accurately, and he can move. He\’s a better athlete than you give him credit for.
“I think if there\’s a lot of reasons for last year, I think when you look at his numbers prior to being hurt, they were his best numbers of his career, and certainly I think when you don\’t have team success the individual accolades have to suffer. But I tell you what, the guy\’s a winning quarterback; a Super Bowl winning quarterback two times. Yeah, I would say he\’s better than whatever that sixty number was.”
Roethlisberger has said and done all the right things so far this offseason and with the offense expected to evolve some in 2013, hopefully he can become a three-time Super Bowl winning quarterback this year to quiet all of his doubters, one of which definitely isn\’t Cowher.
