Ben Roethlisberger remains underrated on 'Top 100'

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http://www.nfl.com/videos/auto/09000d5d829cb2f9/Josh-Cribbs-Antoine-Bethea-Robert-Mathis-Haloti-Ngata-Andrew-Whitworth

• By Gregg Rosenthal
  
• Around The League editor
  
• Published: June 13, 2012 at 08:01 p.m.
  
• Updated: June 14, 2012 at 12:01 a.m.
  

• [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
  
• By Gregg Rosenthal
  

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] quarterback [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] is a two-time Super Bowl champion. Practically every game he plays is on national television. And yet he's still underrated.

Roethlisberger came in at No. 30 on NFL Network's [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] rankings, which is [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. He's the fourth-ranked quarterback on the list, which would make it seem like he's plenty respected.

And yet he was behind running backs [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] on this installment of the show alone. We love that trio, but all running backs are replaceable. Roethlisberger was behind Clay Matthews during an off year. He's behind teammates James Harrison and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. Please.

If you were starting a team from scratch, would you consider taking any of those players before Roethlisberger? Big Ben is still improving. Harrison and Polamalu are declining.

There is a misperception about Roethlisberger's 2011 campaign. He was [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. In fact, we'd argue he took big-time steps as a decision-maker and quarterback compared to his excellent 2010 season, which ended in [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].

Now 30 years old, Big Ben is at that sweet spot where his mental approach to the game has improved while his physical skills have yet to wane. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] is there. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] are already past it.

We're not saying Roethlisberger should be ranked ahead of those three players, but he deserves to be in the discussion. He deserves to be a lot higher than No. 30.