Aaron Schatz of Football Outsiders recently ranked the best seasons by rookie quarterbacks in the last 25 years. While Pittsburgh Steelers QB Kenny Pickett unsurprisingly did not make the list, former Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger did, coming in at No. 4.
“Roethlisberger ranked second in the NFL with 8.9 yards per pass attempt and was fourth with a completion rate of 66%. He had 17 touchdown passes with 11 interceptions. One problem was taking sacks. Thirty sacks doesn’t sound like a lot, but that was a 9.2% sack rate because he had fewer drop backs than other starting quarterbacks,” Schatz writes of Roethlisberger’s 2004 season.
Roethlisberger had the fewest drop backs of any quarterback on the list with an average of just 23.3 per game. He benefitted from a strong run game, but he also had to go against a lot of talented defenses, something Schatz notes.
“Roethlisberger excelled despite a difficult schedule. The Steelers faced the fifth-hardest schedule of opposing pass defenses in 2004,” Schatz writes. “He missed Week 1 against their easiest opponent, No. 30 Oakland, and Week 17 against their hardest opponent, No. 1 Buffalo. But half of the 14 games he played came against top-10 pass defenses by DVOA, including against division rivals Baltimore (second) and Cincinnati (sixth).”
The biggest thing Roethlisberger had going for him was his 14-1 record and the fact he led Pittsburgh to 13 straight wins. He also won a playoff game, helping Pittsburgh beat the New York Jets in overtime in the divisional round before falling to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game.
Roethlisberger was ranked ahead of Cam Newton (No. 7), Matt Ryan (No. 6) and Robert Griffin III (No. 5) on the list, but below C.J. Stroud (No. 3), Russell Wilson (No. 2) and Dak Prescott (No. 1). While Stroud has yet to complete his rookie season, he’s been paramount in the Houston Texans becoming a playoff contender after being one of the worst teams in the league last season. He is currently dealing with a concussion that has sidelined him for Houston’s last two games.
I don’t have any real issues with Roethlisberger’s placement on the list, and it’s worth noting he’s one of just three quarterbacks on the list who has won a Super Bowl, with Wilson and Peyton Manning, who came in at No. 9. Schatz put together the listed using an adjusted version of his DYAR (defense-adjusted yards above replacement) stat, which is why things like team success weren’t necessarily taken into account.
Obviously, Roethlisberger went on to have a long and successful career for the Steelers, who are still trying to find someone they think can be their next franchise guy. Pickett hasn’t shown that he can be that guy yet for Pittsburgh, and it will be very telling what they think of Pickett with how the Steelers handle this offseason. But it’s fun to look back on just how good Pittsburgh was with Roethlisberger, even during the early days of his tenure.
