Big Ben Out Week 1
Ben Roethlisberger missing the first game of the season wouldn’t have qualified as shocking news back in June, but with Big Ben fully recovered from an offseason motorcycle accident it’s now a surprise. Roethlisberger underwent an emergency appendectomy over the weekend and has officially been ruled out for Week 1. It sounds like he may also miss Week 2, which means the Steelers will be going with Charlie Batch for a while.
Batch is a capable backup who played relatively well in Roethlisberger’s place in limited action last season—as opposed to Tommy Maddox, who looked about as bad as humanly possible trying to do the same—and the Steelers’ playing style lends itself to a conservative passing game anyway. Batch is worth a pickup as a QB3 in deep leagues, but you’ll want to avoid playing him if at all possible.
Hines Ward and Heath Miller can probably be downgraded a bit until Roethlisberger returns, although Ward caught eight passes for 124 yards and a score when Batch started against the Browns last November. If you’re curious, wide receiver Cedrick Wilson is now the Steelers’ No. 3 quarterback, which means Maddox’s phone might be ringing as you read this.
