Ben Roethlisberger takes unnecessary, scathing shot at Lamar Jackson
By Mark Powell
Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger took some shots at Ravens QB Lamar Jackson on his podcast. Jackson is currently a free agent.
Ben Roethlisberger and Lamar Jackson’s rivalry dates back to when the latter was drafted, as those Steelers and Ravens battles will go down in NFL lore. For most former players, there’s a level of mutual respect that goes into any rivalry, especially among quarterbacks.
Apparently that is not the case with Big Ben, who had plenty to say about Jackson and his current free-agent negotiations.
“You don’t really fear Lamar’s accuracy all the time. He’s got a huge arm, he can make things happen when he scrambles, but you don’t fear him just sitting in the pocket and picking you apart,” Roethlisberger said on the Footbahlin Podcast. “You can bring safeties down because you fear him running, because he’s a different-level runner. So you fear that, so you can bring safeties down.”
Did Ben Roethlisberger take a shot at Lamar Jackson?
It should be noted that Big Ben did not play against Lamar Jackson last season, in which he took another step forward with his accuracy from the packet. And if you think Roethlisberger is one to watch non-Steelers film, you’re mistaken.
Nonetheless, even Roethlisberger noted that the addition of Odell Beckham Jr. is a game changer.
“But now if you’ve got (Beckham) on the outside, you better put a safety back or it’s one on one, you could just throw it to himm” Roethlisberger added. “It definitely creates some potential opportunities for that offense and for Lamar to run if he has to or take those big shots down the field if he needs to if they bring those safeties down.”
Lamar hasn’t had an actual weapon on the outside since the Ravens drafted Hollywood Brown, and even he pales in comparison to a fully-healthy OBJ. This changes the game for Baltimore if they’re able to convince Jackson to stay.