Big Ben - Can we expect this all year? (1 Viewer)

[tombonneau]

Haven't watched the Steelers too close this season but Ben looks pretty good. Can we expect this consistent 250/2 production most of the year? If so I'll take it and be thrilled. Got him as the 14th QB off the board and he seems like one of the better value plays so far (unless rg3 fell really far in your draft).

In all, with he top 5 QBs not exactly storming out of the gate and guys like Ben, Alex and Phil (why should Big Ben be the only QB we refer to by first name?) showing nice early returns, this is shaping up to be a good year to have waited on QB (some will argue every year is )

 

[Lott's Fingertip]

Took Ben as my starter at QB13 in round 9 of a ten team redraft. Followed up with Griffin III as QB16 in round 10. So far, so good.

It is still early, who knows how the rest of the season will go, but I felt strongly that most of he big 5 QBs from last year were going to take a pretty big step back. They all looked like they would be QB1-5, but not nearly the VBD as last year. I would have bet that 1-2 of them would be well ahead of the pack, but couldn't reliably predict which one or two.

I'm hoping the big 5's production stays more normal (last year was the outlier so far), since I have none of them in any of my leagues.

 

[Tanner9919]

two reasons:

Pitt cannot run the ball..partly due to defenses they've faced, partly due to a porous o-line.

Todd Haley loves to call passing plays..

perfect storm for Ben..if he stays healthy..

 

[fred_1_15301]

When Ben stays healthy, he's a pretty underrated fantasy qb. I think he can definitely average 250 with 2 tds. He doesn't have much of a running game and has three talented wrs and a very good tight end that he trusts in the red zone.

 

[ponchsox]

Nice match up against the Raiders this week.

 

[mphtrilogy]

pernnially underrated as a passer... I think he will be a top 8 guy

 

[Cliff Clavin]

The better thread title would have been "Can we expect Ben to stay healthy this year". Still taking a lot of hits. The production will be there if he is playing.

 

[tombonneau]

Thought I'd revisit this to get a discussion on Big Ben's market value. Right now he's sitting at QB2 in my league and his owners are thrilled. If you grabbed him as a backup, are you looking to move him now after his bye (should make for a great selling point) or move your starter and ride Ben post-bye?

Pitt homers, do you see a healthy Ben keeping this up? I mean we seem to be talking about a QB whose floor is 250/1 and we just saw his upside last week.

 

[brewer]

Thought I'd revisit this to get a discussion on Big Ben's market value. Right now he's sitting at QB2 in my league and his owners are thrilled. If you grabbed him as a backup, are you looking to move him now after his bye (should make for a great selling point) or move your starter and ride Ben post-bye?Pitt homers, do you see a healthy Ben keeping this up? I mean we seem to be talking about a QB whose floor is 250/1 and we just saw his upside last week.

Will Ben stay healthy is the question. The offensive line is still mediocre at best and the running game is nonexistent. The good news for Ben fantasy wise is that the defense looks old and slow. This will likely be the case even with Troy and Harrison coming back. So, the Steelers will need to put up some points in order to win and may have many scenarios where they are behind at the end.My guess is that we might be looking at Ben's best career fantasy numbers this year and looking at a Steelers team that will finish somewhere around .500 at the end of the year.

 

[Shutout]

It won't hold up. At some point, Mendy will be back and they will run more. That's not saying Mendy is all-world but he's better than what they have. his return and the weather changing and the toll of the season (thinking Tomlin doesn't want to subject Ben to the potential hits of dropping back 40 times a game) will all factor to a reduction over time.

 

[Godsbrother]

two reasonsitt cannot run the ball..partly due to defenses they've faced, partly due to a porous o-line.Todd Haley loves to call passing plays..perfect storm for Ben..if he stays healthy..

You forgot to mention that Redman & Dwyer have been awful. The run blocking hasn't been great but there have been holes that both have missed.

 

[Frenchy Fuqua]

I think the Steelers would like to run more/better when Mendenhall returns but this O will still be about Roethlisberger.

 

[fantasy stud]

I would not be suprised at all to see him finish top 10. The running game will never be spectacular. His coach loves to pass. He has good weapons in Wallace, Brown, Miller, and Sanders. I drafted him and Cutler. Luckily, it looks like the Ben pick might pan out.

 

[Coeur de Lion]

If he returns 100%, Mendenhall is better than Redman / Dwyer, but he's still going to struggle to consistently produce behind Pittsburgh's o-line. Plus, the defense is more vulnerable than it has been for a while. They're going to need to move the ball through the air to win games all year. If Ben can still walk by the end of the season, he'll probably be looking at a bunch of career highs.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

I went to one of my dynasty leagues at random and pulled these #s, so YMMV. But in the last six years Ben has finished with a Pts/Game ranking of:

2011 - 14th

2010 - 7th

2009 - 3rd

2008 - 22nd

2007 - 5th

2006 - 9th

No idea why people are down on him -- maybe it's the ##### factor -- but the dude has had some really good years and is still in his prime. If he doesn't get killed he could easily put up another top five year and it would be as much the norm as the exception.

 

[MAC_32]

two reasonsitt cannot run the ball..partly due to defenses they've faced, partly due to a porous o-line.Todd Haley loves to call passing plays..perfect storm for Ben..if he stays healthy..

Yep, the defense has been horrid without Troy and Harrison too. Bad defense means the STeelers need to score more points, so more passing opportunities.

 

[tombonneau]

FWIW, on a side note, I'm getting lots of trade offers for Ben this week. Might be time to sell high.

 

[VaTerp]

Just bought Ben.

I will be rotating him and Peyton but I really think he is about to put together a career year and could finish right around the top 5. As noted above that would be his 3rd top 5 finish the last 7 years.

He probably has the deepest and most explosive set of weapons he's ever had and he and Haley seem to be really clicking despite the off season chatter.

The O-line sucks but IMO they are better at pass blocking than run blocking and the D not being its typical dominant self just helps for FF purposes in many regards.

I like Big Ben a lot this year.