It's been surprising to me how little fondness there is for Ben Roethlisberger in early rankings and drafts. He finishes outside the top 15 in the Experts Poll, and wasn't particularly coveted in either of our draft or auction competitions.

Roethlisberger is coming off elbow surgery and is 38 years old, so to some extent I get it. There's risk in assuming he'll be his normal self on the field. But if he is, he's been a pretty productive quarterback.

In 2018, he was the 2nd-best fantasy quarterback. That was his third top-1o finish in his last five years. He ranked in the top 20 his two other seasons since 2014.

Table shows all top 10-performing quarterbacks since 2014, sorted by fantasy points.

TOP-10 FANTASY QUARTERBACKS, 2014-PRESENT
YearPlayerPaYdsTDRuYdsTDFFRk
2018Patrick Mahomes5097502722496.11
2019Lamar Jackson31273612067463.01
2015Cam Newton38373563610455.51
2016Aaron Rodgers4428403694446.31
2014Andrew Luck4761402733443.41
2018Ben Roethlisberger512934983429.22
2018Matt Ryan4924351253428.23
2019Jameis Winston5109332501426.52
2016Drew Brees520837202422.42
2017Russell Wilson3983345863415.81
2016Matt Ryan4944381170414.93
2019Dak Prescott4902302773412.83
2014Aaron Rodgers4381382692412.02
2015Tom Brady477036533410.42
2015Blake Bortles4428353102406.43
2018Andrew Luck4593391480405.94
2015Russell Wilson4024345531398.54
2018Deshaun Watson4165265515397.45
2018Jared Goff4688321082397.26
2014Peyton Manning472739-240394.03
2014Drew Brees495233681393.54
2019Deshaun Watson3852264137389.54
2016Andrew Luck4240313412386.14
2019Russell Wilson4110313423383.75
2014Ben Roethlisberger495232270383.75
2015Carson Palmer467135241382.05
2016Kirk Cousins491725964379.55
2014Russell Wilson3475208496379.46
2015Drew Brees487032141378.96
2015Eli Manning443235610367.77
2018Aaron Rodgers4442252692367.07
2017Cam Newton3302227546366.52
2017Tom Brady457732280363.73
2015Aaron Rodgers3821313441363.58
2015Matthew Stafford4262321591363.49
2014Matt Ryan4694281450363.27
2015Kirk Cousins416629485363.110
2018Kirk Cousins4298301231360.18
2018Drew Brees399232224356.99
2016Philip Rivers438633350354.86
2017Kirk Cousins4093271794354.64
2016Blake Bortles3905233593354.27
2018Philip Rivers43083270354.110
2017Matthew Stafford444629980352.15
2019Kyler Murray3722205444350.56
2019Matt Ryan4466261471350.07
2014Eli Manning441030311349.68
2014Philip Rivers4286311020348.59
2014Ryan Tannehill4045273111348.010
2017Alex Smith4042263551347.66
2016Matthew Stafford4327242072347.18
2019Josh Allen3089205109345.58
2016Jameis Winston4090281651345.09
2019Carson Wentz4039272431344.39
2019Patrick Mahomes4031262182341.410
2016Dak Prescott3667232826339.610
2017Philip Rivers451528-20337.67
2017Carson Wentz3296332990334.78
2017Ben Roethlisberger425128470333.39
2017Dak Prescott3324223576325.910

Yesterday Roethlisberger himself posted a video on Twitter, showing him completing passes to JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Conner and Ryan Switzer. He had a Grizzly Adams beard and haircut initially, but got it all shaved off once he was comfortable with what he can throw.

We'll see, but I think you could do worse than invest in Roethlisberger and the Steelers passing game this season. Most everyone will come at a discount.

--Andy Richardson