Not only is Roethlisberger unlikely to throw as much this year - his previous high was 608 in 2014, his only other season with 600-plus attempts - but he'll be playing without Antonio Brown for the first time in a decade. While he had 94 red-zone attempts (4th), he converted only 22.3 percent into scores (19th). He wasn't especially effective throwing more than 20 yards downfield, ranking 17th in YPA (12.9) and 24th in completion percentage (30.3), and his average depth of target overall was 8.1 yards (21st). He did it, though, on a career-high 675 attempts - the fourth most in NFL history. Roethlisberger topped 5,000 yards last season for the first time in his career, leading the league in passing yards and throwing a career-high 34 touchdowns. But without rushing yards to pad his stats, and likely far fewer attempts than the last time we saw him, Roethlisberger is now probably more QB2 than QB1.

If it's not obvious, health is the biggest factor for the offense, and especially for the 38-year-old Roethlisberger, who is expected to be ready for the season opener. The Steelers also signed Eric Ebron to team with Vance McDonald at tight end, while a committee backfield is led by James Conner, who averaged 4.9 yards per touch and scored six touchdowns in the first eight weeks of last season before injuries destroyed his second half. Wideouts Diontae Johnson and James Washington showed promise despite a dire passing game, and rookie second-round pick Chase Claypool is a 6-4 wide receiver who runs a 4.42 40. 1 receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster should bounce back after being victimized last season by injury and Big Ben's truly awful replacements. What Roethlisberger has going for him, though, is a good collection of skill players to target. That's not likely to be the scenario this year - Roethlisberger has had only one other season in his 16-year career with 600 attempts (and Brown is long gone).

In short, his career year was all built on volume. Roethlisberger was not especially effective throwing downfield, nor in the red zone, in 2018.

Of course, it took the fourth-most pass attempts in NFL history (675) - and Antonio Brown - to accomplish the big stat line two years ago. Fewer attempts on a weak arm isn't a fantasy-friendly recipe.Ĭoming off career highs for passing yards and touchdowns in 2018, an elbow ligament injury ended Roethlisberger's season in Week 2 last year. But even with those weapons, a declining Roethlisberger isn't likely to average 40 pass attempts per game again, as the Steelers have first-round pick Najee Harris replacing James Conner (Cardinals) as the lead back. Despite the drops, the Steelers have a talented group of wideouts, with Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool and JuJu Smith-Schuster. It wasn't all his fault - his receivers dropped a league-high 39 passes. Roethlisberger completed only 31.3 percent (23rd) of his attempts of 20-plus yards and threw a league-high 359 attempts within five yards of the line scrimmage. No surprise, his 6.3 YPA ranked 31st of 35 QBs, and despite all those attempts and 33 TD passes, he finished QB14 in fantasy. He had the third most attempts in the league last season (608), yet finished 16th in passing yards at 3,803 - the fourth fewest yards on 600-plus attempts in league history. Roethlisberger is back for his 18th season, but at 39 he doesn't appear to have much left in his arm.

Ben roethlisberger stats 2019