Ben Roethlisberger has already won 2 Super Bowls for the Pittsburgh Steelers and there’s no reason to think he can’t do it again provided that the pass blocking improves.  It was a weakness last season for the Steelers as Roethlisberger got jacked up quite a few times.  He holds the ball too long sometimes and that’s part of the reason he gets hit so many times, but, it’s also the reason that he makes a ton of big throws.  Roethlisberger is not the kind of player that will ever likely throw for 4,000+ yards but he’s a winner in the mold of ex-Steeler great Terry Bradshaw.  With Byron Leftwich off to Tampa, the Steelers have retained Charlie Batch to back up Roethlisberger.  Batch has been great whenever called into action for the Steelers.  He doesn’t have a great arm but he makes whatever throw the Steelers need him to.  2nd year man Dennis Dixon will battle undrafted rookie Mike Reilly for the #3 QB job on the Steelers.  The likely scenario is that Dixon winds up being the #3 QB and Reilly makes the practice squad.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON:  A