Ben Roethlisberger is an idiot©

After the incredible over-exposure by the media, Roethlisberger will now fade away until training camp starts and everyone wonders – “where is he?”. Okay, so mostly PIT fans but at least Big Ben had the luck of having an accident right when football fans were getting interested and there was nothing else notable happening for a couple of weeks on either side of the event.

But to me – he is not an idiot. At least not unless his decision to ride without a helmet was pure hubris thinking that he could not possibly be injured. It doesn’t really matter in the big picture. He is an adult that has the freedom to choose what he does with his life. He knew the risks – perhaps not the odds – but he knew what could happen and he made the choice to disregard risk and accept the perceived benefits of riding without a helmet. There are 1000’s of activities that are dangerous and he simply chose one. Players drive cars recklessly, go on drunken deer hunting trips and any number of activities that could result in bodily harm. His one was one of safety mostly unless someone else did something wrong. Sure, they did. But he could have been in a car at that time anyway. Or walking as a pedestrian. It was just an accident. Even had he worn a helmet he could have been seriously injured.

He paid a price for what someone else did. That doesn’t make him an idiot. It just makes him one of the people that we always figure we won’t be.

I remember about 8 or 10 years ago, back when I had a “day job” in addition to The Huddle. I was talking with one of my fantasy league mates about whatever player we were discussing. After giving a decent reply to his question (if I say so myself), he just said “well sure, you are the expert”. Then he stopped for a second and then looked at me and said “you know, you really are an expert.”

It was certainly the first time I had been called such (local pizza place reviews not counting) and I just replied “oh shut up and go away.”

He was adamant. Like he had some epiphany. “You are an expert. This is like all you do (unfortunate since I did have a day job at the time). You know the answer to every question. You are… an EXPERT.”

I rolled my eyes figuring he was trying to soften the resistance to some trade offer but little did I know on that day long ago just how pervasive the term “expert” would become in fantasy football. There are expert leagues, expert analysis and expert drafts. As if there are different players being selected in those drafts by some gifted group of people with magical wisdom. Having been on the internet for over ten years now, I have finally come to the conclusion just exactly what that moniker means to most people.

It’s just a big old floppy red hat.

It’s something that people like to wear to be noticed regardless of how the hat was acquired or what it really means. It’s amusing to me to see the number of people claiming to be an expert at this stuff. It is equally amusing to see how the effect that term has. Either it is received with some sense of awe or just as likely it is considered some sort of a challenge. Our demographic core – professional males 18-45 – is hardly one that likes someone to tell them that they are supposedly wiser or better because they decided to wear some big ass red hat.

It comes up every year in some way – on the boards typically. It is sort of like walking into a wild west bar wearing a t-shirt that says “bet I can kick your ass”. I’ve never been big on the term personally because you have to figure that being considered an expert is something that other people either consider you to be or not. It is hardly a hat to wear yourself. Whenever I am on radio stations, I am invariably termed “expert” by the DJ guy who is trying to pimp the segment to the listening audience and it finally all came together for me last year when I was on a spot in Phoenix. The interviewer asked something like “so what is it like being an expert?”

I told him that while I spend 24×365 on fantasy football and the NFL and maybe I know my share of things, but that I had the one quality that to me describes a true expert.

“Being an expert doesn’t mean being right about everything, all it means is that you can explain in detail why you were wrong”.

I already have enough hats as it is…

Came up on the message boad.

Something you have to take into account is that the Martz system of five and seven step drops coupled with an average offensive line results in defenders getting a nice head of steam before slamming into the QB – note Trent Green and Kurt Warner both were similarly injured in that system. Trent Green certainly seems to have done better away from it.

Linehan has recognized the problem that has resulted in every STL QB taking too many hard hits and is implementing new features like audibles and shorter drops (down to 5 and 3 step) expressly to decrease the amount of hits that Bulger is taking, plus he intends to use the running game more so that second and third downs do not automatically mean a deep pass is coming.

Gus Frerotte in MIA had a career best 18 TDs last year playing in a Linehan system and his second best ever yardage in his six years as a starter. I believe Bulger > Frerotte and that Holt/Bruce/Curtis > Chambers/Booker/Welker.

STL allowed 46 sacks last year to rank 27th in the NFL.
MIA allowed 26 to rank 4th best.

In 2004, STL allowed 50 sacks to rank 28th.
MIA allowed 52 sacks to rank 29th.

I think Linehan made a big difference in MIA last year.

In 2003, STL allowed 43 sacks to rank 28th.

The problem is less about Bulger being injury prone than it is the Martz system is hard on QBs as it has been on virtually every QB that has played in it for any amount of time. Continually place a QB in a seven step drop and even Peyton Manning would not last.

While stats can be read to suggest that Bulger is injury prone, it goes deeper than just his history. It is the history of his team and the changes that will be made to me. I guess I better keep a copy of this when people complain I have him ranked 7th this year. The increase in rushing is the only factor in STL that bothers me about Bulger.

David Dorey was raised in East Texas and spent about 20 years in Northern California to see what the other side of the world was like. He is married with one son and a German Shepherd that defies the typical nobility of the breed. David has been writing about fantasy football on the internet since 1996 and was a co-founder of The Huddle in 1997. Incredibly one-dimensional, David spends all his time on football 365 days a year and squeezes in a fondess for history (indians and the old west).