In 18 years, Ben Roethlisberger completed 5,440 career regular season passes. Only four quarterbacks – Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Brett Favre, and Peyton Manning – have completed more.
With Roethlisberger’s retirement announced, I wanted to remember all 5,440 of those completions. Who caught all those passes? Below is a list of every player who caught a pass from Big Ben and the number of receptions they hauled in. Everyone from Antonio Brown to some guys long forgotten.
This info comes largely from Pro Football Reference’s Play Finder, though over the years, there were some slight inaccuracies with their table that I had to sift and sort through.
| Player | Receptions |
|---|---|
| WR Antonio Brown | 796 |
| TE Heath Miller | 540 |
| WR Hines Ward | 513 |
| RB Le’Veon Bell | 283 |
| WR JuJu Smith-Schuster | 272 |
| WR Santonio Holmes | 214 |
| WR Mike Wallace | 209 |
| WR Diontae Johnson | 188 |
| WR Emmanuel Sanders | 146 |
| WR Chase Claypool | 115 |
| TE Jesse James | 114 |
| WR Martavis Bryant | 110 |
| WR Markus Wheaton | 101 |
| WR Nate Washington | 90 |
| RB Mewelde Moore | 90 |
| RB James Conner | 90 |
| TE Vance McDonald | 77 |
| WR Jerricho Cotchery | 76 |
| WR Antwaan Randle El | 75 |
| RB Willie Parker | 75 |
| WR Cedrick Wilson | 73 |
| WR James Washington | 71 |
| WR Eli Rogers | 71 |
| RB Najee Harris | 70 |
| TE Eric Ebron | 66 |
| RB Rashard Mendenhall | 66 |
| TE Pat Freiermuth | 55 |
| RB DeAngelo Williams | 53 |
| WR Ray-Ray McCloud | 48 |
| RB Isaac Redman | 44 |
| TE Matt Spaeth | 42 |
| WR Ryan Switzer | 42 |
| RB Verron Haynes | 38 |
| RB Jaylen Samuels | 35 |
| WR Plaxico Burress | 35 |
| RB Najeh Davenport | 32 |
| TE David Johnson | 27 |
| FB Will Johnson | 27 |
| FB Dan Kreider | 21 |
| WR Darrius Heyward-Bey | 21 |
| WR Sammie Coates | 20 |
| TE Xavier Grimble | 19 |
| TE Ladarius Green | 18 |
| TE Jerame Tuman | 18 |
| RB Jonathan Dwyer | 18 |
| TE Zach Gentry | 17 |
| FB Carey Davis | 14 |
| WR Lance Moore | 13 |
| WR Justin Brown | 12 |
| WR Cobi Hamilton | 11 |
| RB Benny Snell | 11 |
| TE David Paulson | 11 |
| RB Jerome Bettis | 10 |
| RB Chris Rainey | 10 |
| WR Lee Mays | 8 |
| RB Felix Jones | 8 |
| RB Duce Staley | 7 |
| WR Justin Hunter | 7 |
| RB Dri Archer | 7 |
| WR Quincy Morgan | 6 |
| WR Limas Sweed | 6 |
| RB Anthony McFarland | 6 |
| FB Roosevelt Nix | 6 |
| RB LeGarrette Blount | 6 |
| TE Jay Riemersma | 5 |
| WR Willie Reid | 4 |
| TE Wesley Saunders | 4 |
| RB Baron Batch | 4 |
| WR Cody White | 4 |
| WR Sean Morey | 3 |
| TE Sean McHugh | 3 |
| RB Stevan Ridley | 3 |
| TE Leonard Pope | 3 |
| WR Donte Moncrief | 3 |
| QB Ben Roethlisberger | 2 |
| WR Derek Moye | 2 |
| RB LaRod Stephens-Howling | 2 |
| TE Michael Palmer | 2 |
| RB Kalen Ballage | 2 |
| FB Derek Watt | 2 |
| WR Tyler Murphy | 1 |
| TE Matt Cushing | 1 |
| WR Walter Young | 1 |
| WR Tyler Grisham | 1 |
| RB Fitzgerald Toussaint | 1 |
| WR Demarcus Ayers | 1 |
| WR Dallas Baker | 1 |
| RB Stefan Logan | 1 |
| WR Anthony Miller | 1 |
| TE Kevin Rader | 1 |
| OL Maurkice Pouncey | 1 |
| RB Gary Russell | 1 |
Let’s recap that long list of names. By position, here’s how many caught passes from #7:
Wide Receiver: 39
Tight End: 23
Running Back: 27
Fullback: 5
Offensive Line: 1
Quarterback: 1
If you’re wondering what’s going on with those last two categories, O-line and quarterback, Roethlisberger has one career completion to Maurkice Pouncey. And he completed two passes to himself (here’s a look at one of them).
Some other musings from that list of names:
– 95.1% of Antonio Brown’s catches in Pittsburgh came from Roethlisberger. 85.8% of his career receptions came from #7.
– 51.3% of Hines Ward’s career receptions came via Roethlisberger.
– Heath Miller is the tight end with the most receptions from him and the second-most of anyone. Le’Veon Bell is the most by a running back. Will Johnson has the most of any fullback (the Play Index gives him just 26 but he has 27. One catch was incorrectly attributed to offensive lineman Wesley Johnson).
– JuJu Smith-Schuster has the most receptions of any current Steeler, fifth on this Roethlisberger list.
– Roethlisberger’s first career completion was caught by Plaxico Burress (35 total). His last career completion was caught by Zach Gentry (17).
– Cedrick Wilson Sr. caught 73 passes from Big Ben. His son, Cedrick Wilson Jr. who plays for the Dallas Cowboys, has 67 career receptions. We are all very old.
– Isaac Redman with 44 receptions, Verron Haynes with 38…who would’ve guessed!
– Jerome Bettis with ten catches in his two years with Roethlisberger.
– Limas Sweed. Six catches. And probably six drops.
– A couple “Let’s Remember Some Guys” Roethlisberger-completion edition: LaRod Stephens-Howling, Matt Cushing, Donte Moncrief, Justin Hunter, and Lance Moore.
– Players whose only NFL catches came from Roethlisberger: Maurkice Pouncey, Dallas Baker (The Touchdown Maker), Tyler Grisham, Tyler Murphy, Walter Young, Derek Moye, Cody White, Baron Batch, Willie Reid, Dri Archer, and Justin Brown. Brown had the most to come solely from Roethlisberger, all 12 of his career catches.
