Ben Roethlisberger now has joined the countless number of former athletes to get on podcasts and say something that will be clickbait. He also joined the list of people to take an unwarranted shot at Lamar Jackson.
The former Steelers quarterback and future Hall of Famer started a podcast called “Footbahlin” following his retirement. He spoke about the Ravens signing Odell Beckham Jr. and the impact it would have on the team’s offense.
Roethlisberger Comments
Roethlisberger gave a deep insight on Jackson and here’s what he said:
“With Lamar, you want to bring safeties down to help stop the run. You don’t really fear Lamar’s accuracy all the time. He’s got a huge arm, he can make things happen when he scrambles, but you don’t fear him just sitting in the pocket and picking you apart. So you bring safeties down because you do fear him running because he’s a different level runner, so you fear that … But now, if you’ve got that guy on the outside, you better put a safety back or it’s one-on-one; you can just throw it to him. So it definitely creates some potential opportunities for that offense and for Lamar to run if he has to or to take those big shots down the field if he needs to if they bring those safeties down.”
The video made its rounds on Twitter and fans gave their opinions on the two quarterbacks. They pointed out that Roethlisberger has played with much better receivers than Jackson. Roethlisberger has played with receivers such as Antonio Brown, Hines Ward, Plaxico Burress, Mike Wallace, Martavis Bryant, Antwaan Randle El, tight end Heath Miller, Emmanuel Sanders and many more. Jackson, on the other hand, has only had two targets to go over 1,000 yards receiving in a single season since he became the full-time starter in 2019.
Former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III also chimed in on the conversation.
“Ben Roethlisberger on Lamar Jackson; ‘You don’t fear him sitting in the pocket and picking you apart.’ Teams FEAR Lamar the runner MORE THAN the passer, but don’t use that to tear him down. For example, Lamar’s Career Passer Rating and QBR in the pocket is better than Big Ben,” wrote Griffin in a tweet.
Griffin compared the two players’ career passing ratings in the pocket and their quarterback ratings from the pocket.
Both QBs By The Numbers
It’s no secret that Roethlisberger has had the better group of receivers. Jackson started in seven games during his first full season.
Jackson has thrown for 12,209 passing yards, 101 passing touchdowns, and 38 interceptions through five seasons.
Roethlisberger threw for 14,974 passing yards, 101 passing touchdowns and 69 interceptions in his first five seasons.
There is no real comparison when it comes to the two quarterbacks because of the two vastly different play styles, but Roethlisberger has to live by the old saying of “can’t throw rocks from a glass house.”
More news from our partners:
