Former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger tossed out a very stale take on his podcast Footbahlin this week.
While talking about Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, Roethlisberger said that NFL teams do not fear Jackson as a passer. No, really, that’s what he said.
“You don’t really fear Lamar’s arm, his accuracy, all the time,” Roethlisberger said. “He’s got a huge arm; he can make things happen when he scrambles … you don’t fear him just sitting in the pocket and picking you apart.”
As you can imagine, Roethlisberger’s take did not go over well with the grander football community. Folks were quick to call shenanigans on Big Ben’s scorching hot take about his former AFC North foe.
"You don't fear [Lamar] just sitting in the pocket and picking you apart"
– Ben Roethlisberger on Lamar Jackson 😬
🎥: Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger Podcast pic.twitter.com/wvNODh1mDG
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) April 13, 2023
In fact, Jackson has actually posted a better pocket passer rating than Roethlisberger did in throughout most of his career.
ESPN has passer rating in the pocket dating back to 2009.
Lamar Jackson pocket passer rating, 2018-22: 97.9
Ben Roethlisberger pocket passer rating, 2009-21: 94.2(If you prefer QBR in the pocket: 64.9 for Jackson, 63.4 for Roethlisberger) https://t.co/bq8XB1ovYv
— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) April 13, 2023
People just could not deal with Roethlisberger's hot take.
https://t.co/qDELN1WJyl pic.twitter.com/e7Mqe4f5de
— Joy Taylor (@JoyTaylorTalks) April 13, 2023
Kind of lame for Ben to say this. Ben not nearly as athletic as Lamar but similarly he thrived off improvising, getting out of the pocket, and making plays. That was what really made Ben elite. Not what he was as a pocket passer. I say this as a Steelers fan lol https://t.co/yKC8hFdrEe
— Vincent 🔅 (@VincentKeyes1) April 13, 2023
Career IN POCKET
LJax
66.2 Comp%
11.6 YD/Comp
5.8 TD/ATT%
EPA per play NO pressure 0.20
EPA per play WITH pressure -0.24
6.2 Deep Comp%Ben
65.0 Comp%
9.72 YD/Comp
4.4 TD/ATT%
EPA per play NO pressure 0.05
EPA per play NOT pressured -0.48
5.04 Deep Comp%https://t.co/kAuXgzLeLN— Jake Ciely (@allinkid) April 13, 2023
Not gonna lie don’t care what Ben has to say about Lamar https://t.co/10gyL2XhBg
— Jimar Cunningham (@Jimar_27) April 13, 2023
Whose even doing that now a days lol. https://t.co/mxtk4vOPco
— Trevon Diggs (@TrevonDiggs) April 13, 2023
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 pic.twitter.com/vG0ib38Hka
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) April 13, 2023
And Lamar inside the pocket is one of the most accurate QBs in the league.. but go ahead. https://t.co/CvaNfdhmL5
— Shykel Hilliard (@KelHilliard) April 13, 2023
the big ben quote about lamar is hilarious because in the time they were both in the league (2018-21), lamar was a more effective passer than him with worse receivers
EPA/pass (2018-2021):
•lamar jackson: 0.11 (11th)
•ben roethlisberger: 0.05 (28th)— Tej Seth (@tejfbanalytics) April 13, 2023
Meanwhile Lamar is better in every advanced stat when inside the pocket lmao https://t.co/rsrE2LoUGL
— STONE (@stone_2x) April 13, 2023
Lamar gets so much hate as a passer and none of his numbers support the hate. He is criminally underrated as a QB https://t.co/VFiEmxWusn
— Signor Vespa (@LilAustinsDad) April 13, 2023
Old school football people use this as an insult to any QB who can run fast lol. A lot of people having a tough time dealing with the fact that what it means to be a good QB is changing. Pretty soon it’ll be rare to be a statue in the pocket…it almost already is rare https://t.co/9p4vV1sy7H
— Savion Willis (@Savy2Smooth) April 13, 2023
He’s been better in the pocket than Ben… https://t.co/2AOFGTGZuf
— Timaal Bradford (@timaal_bradford) April 13, 2023
the lamar jackson disrespect needs to stop immediately 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️ https://t.co/rsd9Yg1IIW
— daws (@daws1999) April 13, 2023
Oh no Big Ben 🤦♂️ https://t.co/pOSby6KW5t
— Hamza (@hammytakes) April 13, 2023
ENOUGH! https://t.co/AeV3URyd2h
— Jaded Liverpool FC fan (@dBdaSportsGuru) April 13, 2023
Don’t think there’s a single player in any sport from a team I’m not a fan of/previously affiliated with im rooting harder for to win a chip than Lamar man these games are heinous https://t.co/Uw5d1LWXPf
— Oni Omoile (@Oni_Omoile) April 13, 2023
