Andy Benoit of SI.com/MMQB has major praise for Ben
The Most Evolved QB
Ben Roethlisberger is the only player of his era to dominate as both a sandlot-style playmaker and a cerebral field general
Ben Roethlisberger is the most underrated quarterback in the NFL. More precisely, he’s the most misappreciated quarterback. Almost everyone agrees that Roethlisberger is a superstar, but few seem to realize what makes him such a rare talent.
For the longest time, Roethlisberger’s greatness stemmed solely from the fact that he was the most physically gifted passer in the game. People marveled at the way he would shed would-be sackers and extend plays. Football insiders really marveled at how, after shedding those tacklers and extending the play, he would still make such accurate downfield throws (usually doing so while off-balance). Roethlisberger’s arm is as strong anyone’s. His precision accuracy is better than almost everyone’s. The fact that he can exhibit all this when things break down is breathtaking....
Despite a long history of injuries, Roethlisberger hasn’t lost his playmaking magic at 34. But his game no longer relies on it. And that’s why he’s a markedly better QB now than he was in his 20s....
Never would anyone who studied Roethlisberger in the 2000s guess that he’d one day be talking about the game through this prism of intellect and discipline. He’s the only player of his era to be independently dominant as both a raw sandlot-style playmaker and as a controlling field general.
http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/08/23/n...ed-quarterback
Ben is finally being recognized as more than just a physically gifted QB - if he can stay healthy this season may be the equivalent of Bradshaw finally being recognized in 1978 as more than just a big guy with a big arm