Steelers' Great Ben Roethlisberger Detailed The Difference A Quality Back Up Quarterback Makes For A Starter

The Pittsburgh Steelers are still in a very odd situation with their quarterback room. Mason Rudolph is currently preparing to be a starter, but that can change on a dime if/when Aaron Rodgers finally signs his deal with Pittsburgh. At the very least, Rudolph does have experience in both roles (starter and backup), even though he has never been named the Day 1 starter before. If Rodgers does come, then he has a very quality player behind him to help out and take over if needed. 

Ben Roethlisberger was asked about the backup quarterback role for other teams while hosting his podcast, Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger, and he explained how it worked when he was the starter.

"I've had some amazing guys back me up, and their job is to always make sure you are prepared," Roethlisberger said. "The job is to make sure you are prepared to play if something happens to the starter, but you also need to make sure the starter is ready and doesn't need anything. I would talk about Charlie Batch: He'd ask me, 'Hey Ben, how do you audible this play? How would you use your cadence here,' because he wants those guys to be so familiar with me that when even he comes in, it just rolls."

Charlie Batch was a backup in Pittsburgh for many years with multiple quarterbacks ahead of him. During that time, he was 6-3 whenever he had to be the starter. He was always seen as one of the best backups in the NFL, and Roethlisberger was lucky to have someone like him in the locker room for the first big chunk of his career. 

Roethlisberger continued and spoke about his situation with Rudolph back when they were teammates, and how he was annoyed with the team originally drafting the Oklahoma State product. In that situation, Roethlisberger felt like that draft pick should've went to a higher need other than backup quarterback. This caused initial friction between the two. Rudolph was there to sit and learn, and hopefully replace the veteran at some point in time down the road.

Roethlisberger and Rudolph were not close at all during their time in Pittsburgh, and the Super Bowl champion explained why there. He was not focused on helping the rookie be better while he was trying to get ready to play every game that season. 

Steelers Had Batch-Like Backup For A While

While Batch was helpful, it seemed like Roethlisberger saw him as more of a coach/mentor, as he wanted the veteran's help to be prepared. Rudolph was a rookie, so he couldn't necessarily help like that. However, in the previous year, the Steelers used a fourth-round pick on a super intelligent quarterback that eventually took over in a pseudo-coaching role: Joshua Dobbs.

In Pittsburgh, Dobbs embraced the role of an assistant quarterback coach-type. Roethlisberger has previously credited Dobbs for some of the touchdown passes that he threw while they were teammates. That's why they got along, while Rudolph was busy learning to be a starting quarterback so he could eventually take over and run the show himself -- even though that never came to be.

When you play quarterback for 18 seasons, there are a lot of things that you see and experience, like the mixture of veterans and young backups. Roethlisberger was never truly interested in being a teacher; he wanted to be taught and to have that veteran presence behind him to help teach him, and step in when needed. 

What do you think about Roethlisberger's experiences with Batch, Rudolph, and Dobbs? Let us know in the comments or on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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