Pittsburgh Steelers

Appearing in just two games for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2019, Ben Roethlisberger went down with an elbow injury to his throwing arm that later required season-ending surgery. This makes it difficult to have lofty expectations for the 2018 leader in categories including pass completions, pass attempts, and passing yards.

During his most recent full-season, Roethlisberger went 452-of-675 (67.0%) on pass attempts resulting in 5,129 yards, 34 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions. It was arguably the best season of his NFL career from a stats standpoint, but did the volume of throws wear his elbow down?

The Steelers no longer have the Roethlisberger-Brown-Bell trio but they do have some intriguing weapons, nonetheless. JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Conner thrived with Roethlisberger and Pittsburgh added some big targets in Chase Claypool and Eric Ebron earlier in the offseason.

The ESPN projection for Roethlisberger in 2020 features him completing 339-of-530 (64.0%) pass attempts for 3,875 yards, 25 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. That would mark a stark decline in his pass attempts from the total of his most recent full season with the Steelers.

At this stage in Roethlisberger’s career, it’s all about winning for him but they will need him to throw at a high volume. Regardless, it’s highly unlikely he will throw quite as much as he did in 2018, but it will bring a major boost to a Steelers team that sorely lacked reliable quarterback play last season.