I'm not exactly sure what's going on with the valuable and currently injured right foot of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, but I didn't take this situation into much account when updating my Week 13 rankings on Friday morning. At first it was announced Roethlisberger had a sprained foot, then the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported the fifth metatarsal was broken, then the team said there was no new fracture but rather aggravated scar tissue at the site of an old injury. Regardless, there doesn't seem to be a major question about his availability for Sunday's game against the Baltimore Ravens.
I ranked Roethlisberger seventh at quarterback earlier in the week and, for now, will stick with that. I couldn't help but notice his staff rank dropped a few spots, to where his overall rank is now behind Eli Manning, Jay Cutler and Matt Cassel. Colleague Matthew Berry discussed Roethlisberger in his love/hate column and focused on the tough matchup. I see that as somewhat an impediment to a big statistical performance. Now we've got a foot that is hurting, too.
The thing is, I haven't lost confidence here. I see a major divide in the quarterback tiers and Roethlisberger doesn't belong in the class below him, at least in my mind. The quarterbacks at the back of my top 10 are the resurgent Cassel, steady Manning, road-challenged Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco, who has to face Roethlisberger's just-as-difficult Steelers. Even on one good foot and against a really good defense, I trust Roethlisberger. No, he didn't light up the Buffalo Bills in Week 12, but he did have 26 and 34 fantasy points in the two games prior. Mike Wallace is an emerging fantasy monster. Hines Ward is probably injured but remains productive and, after some interesting comments this week, motivated. I don't want to overrate the Ravens or Roethlisberger's history in their stadium -- the quarterback has actually played in Baltimore once the past three seasons, getting 246 passing yards and a touchdown in that game.
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Eric Karabell | email
ESPN.com Senior Writer- ESPN contributor on TV, radio, podcasts, blogs, Magazine
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Eric Karabell
Eric Karabell is an ESPN.com senior writer. He has worked at ESPN since 1997 and covered fantasy sports for ESPN since 2001, specializing in baseball and football. Eric appears several times per week on SportsCenter, NFL Live and other ESPN shows, contributes to ESPN Radio and ESPN The Magazine and is the host of the Baseball Today Podcast. He has been honored twice as fantasy sports writer of the year by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, his blog was named best fantasy baseball series for 2007 and he was inducted into the inaugural FSWA Hall of Fame class in 2010.
Eric grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs, and accordingly, favors Philly teams first, his fantasy teams second. He previously served as ESPN.com's lead NBA editor, and is a former Washington Post and Philadelphia Inquirer sports writer. Eric is also the author of "The Best Philadelphia Sports Arguments," published by Source Books and available in bookstores and online.
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