Pittsburgh Steelers star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is a fan of Jaguars rookie Blake Bortles. Big Ben told Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he sees himself in Bortles game.
“I liked him coming out,” Roethlisberger said. “I thought he was the most ready and a guy that I thought could be the best, just because I think the things he does: He can extend plays, he can stay in, he can throw the ball, he can throw on the run. He is an impressive-type young player. He makes some rookie mistakes but he also makes some plays that you don’t expect rookies to make in a good way.”
“We come from smaller schools and wind up playing in our rookie year toward the beginning of it,” Bortles said. “So I think just stuff he talked about continuing to stay after it and work hard and the time and dedication put into it.
“He’s definitely somebody that I’ve been compared to a lot. He’s won two Super Bowls and had all kinds of success, and I’ve played a game and a half. So I don’t know how much comparison there is there. But as far as playing type, I think a big guy that can move around a little bit. Obviously, Ben does a great job in the pocket avoiding sacks and stuff like that. He’s definitely somebody that I try and model some things I do after him.”
“I typically would say to sit and watch,” Roethlisberger said as to which philosophy is better. “I had an older team, so my situation was different than most. But I think it helps you so much to be able as a young guy [to sit]. Look what Aaron Rodgers did. He got to sit behind Brett [Favre] for a while. I think it helps those guys to sit for at least a year to kind of see and get a feel for what you want to do because this is a much faster game than college.”
Both stand 6 feet 5, although Roethlisberger seems so much bigger at times. Bortles has a long way to go before the comparison holds true.