Mark Madden: Steelers' level of risk taking will make, or literally break, Ben Roethlisberger

Jacksonville may not start rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence right away, mostly because the Jaguars’ suspect offensive line would put this year’s first overall draft pick at too much risk.

Cincinnati would have done well to follow that path with last year’s No. 1 pick, Joe Burrow.

As a rookie, Burrow was sacked 32 times in 10 games and had his season cut short by a knee injury that required reconstructive surgery.

The trickledown from a rotten offensive line can be cataclysmic.

Despite optimism manufactured by an encouraging training camp and the felony theft of inside ’backer Joe Schobert from Jacksonville, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive line is a constant buzzkill. It lurks like a murderer in the shadows. It could undo a lot of good.

But the Steelers won’t stink like Jacksonville — no matter who plays quarterback — and like Cincinnati did. Ben Roethlisberger is a bit more seasoned than Lawrence and Burrow. He needs protected from the aging process as much as he needs protected from the blitz.

The Steelers expect to make the playoffs. Roethlisberger is running out of time.

So, how much risk will Roethlisberger be exposed to by the Steelers’ gameplan?

We still haven’t seen Roethlisberger run new coordinator Matt Canada’s offense in a competitive setting.

Last year’s offense was a complete joke despite the Steelers’ 11-0 start. It was predictable, got figured out, and the Steelers were toast after that (as their 1-5 finish indicated).

Roethlisberger had the NFL’s quickest release time from snap to throw: 2.17 seconds. It got like bad flag football: line up in the shotgun (an absurd 82.5% of the time), take the snap and immediately chuck the ball. “Pass short, run long” was the mantra, but those were just words.

The Steelers passed on 63.8% of their plays last year. Rookie back Najee Harris can help fix that imbalance, but he, too, is at the mercy of the offensive line.

The Steelers ran play-action just 6.6% of the time in 2020. Canada can fix that, if Roethlisberger lets him. If Roethlisberger doesn’t, then it’s not really Canada’s offense.

The Steelers need Roethlisberger under center more. They need to run play-action more. They need to throw deep more.

That puts Roethlisberger at risk. But more risk is needed if that offense is to make more plays. How much risk is too much, especially given so little proven quality on the offensive line?

There were plenty of scapegoats last year: Roethlisberger’s surgically repaired elbow, since-fired offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner and the (mostly different) offensive line.

A lot has changed. But will the Steelers’ offense really evolve?

If Roethlisberger takes a few big hits early in the season, it’s easy to see him again turning to that quick release out of the shotgun and Harris reduced to sidecar handoffs.

The Steelers can’t win enough that way. They won’t get better that way

But they won’t win enough if Roethlisberger gets hurt, either.

Here’s a scenario that’s both likely and best-case: Roethlisberger misses the odd game because of being dinged up; the Steelers stick faithfully to the Canada blueprint and grow offensively because of it; Harris protects Roethlisberger by running well and providing balance; the Steelers sneak into the playoffs with a 9-8 record.

Roethlisberger makes his exhibition debut Saturday at home vs. Detroit. But that won’t reveal much. He’ll be running the very basics of Canada’s offense, nothing more.

But Roethlisberger has had a solid camp. His deep ball looked solid Tuesday. Perhaps he needed to get further clear of that elbow surgery in 2019.

Roethlisberger has the skill, savvy and weaponry to have an excellent season. But the element of risk will make him or break him — perhaps all too literally in the latter instance.