Daily Blitz: Eli, Ben add to legacy of draft class
Posted by on November 1, 2012 – 9:00 am
Ten picks separated Ben Roethliserger from Eli Manning in the 2004 NFL Draft. Since then, the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback has been keeping tabs on the first overall selection out of Mississippi.
Roethlisberger, the 11th pick out of Miami (Ohio), confirmed as much on a conference call with Giants beat reporters on Wednesday, saying there is also a fraternity among the draft class.
Said Big Ben, “I think early on for me, it was more wanting to do better than him and I don’t want to say animosity, but he was the number one pick and I think as a guy that’s not picked number one or anytime someone is picked ahead of you, you want to beat that guy out. But as I’ve gotten older, it’s more neat to see his success, to see him getting two Super Bowls because I think it just adds to the legacy of our draft class and all four quarterbacks, Matt Schaub, Philip [Rivers], myself and Eli that were drafted there. I hope that we can play well enough that one day they talk about us as maybe the best quarterback draft class of all-time.”
While both quarterbacks have won two championships and made two Pro Bowls, Manning edged Roethlisberger out with two Super Bowl MVPs (wide receivers Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes were the MVPs in Roethlisberger’s Super Bowls).
Sunday will be just the third time their teams have met in their careers (the Giants and Steelers split the first two games), but Roethlisberger says it’s more than “Eli vs. Ben.”
“He’s obviously a great player and it would be fun to play him [more],” Roethlisberger said. “But I think you lose the fact that it’s not him versus me. It’s their team versus our team and I think he’ll tell you the same thing.”
QUARTERBACKS DRAFTED IN 2004
| RD | SEL # | PLAYER | POSITION | SCHOOL | TEAM |
| 1 | 1 | Eli Manning | QB | Mississippi | San Diego Chargers |
| 1 | 4 | Philip Rivers | QB | North Carolina State | New York Giants |
| 1 | 11 | Ben Roethlisberger | QB | Miami (Ohio) | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| 1 | 22 | J.P. Losman | QB | Tulane | Buffalo Bills |
| 3 | 90 | Matt Schaub | QB | Virginia | Atlanta Falcons |
| 4 | 106 | Luke McCown | QB | Louisiana Tech | Cleveland Browns |
| 5 | 148 | Craig Krenzel | QB | Ohio State | Chicago Bears |
| 6 | 185 | Andy Hall | QB | Delaware | Philadelphia Eagles |
| 6 | 187 | Josh Harris | QB | Bowling Green State | Baltimore Ravens |
| 6 | 193 | Jim Sorgi | QB | Wisconsin | Indianapolis Colts |
| 6 | 201 | Jeff Smoker | QB | Michigan State | St. Louis Rams |
| 7 | 202 | John Navarre | QB | Michigan | Arizona Cardinals |
| 7 | 217 | Cody Pickett | QB | Washington | San Francisco 49ers |
| 7 | 218 | Casey Bramlet | QB | Wyoming | Cincinnati Bengals |
| 7 | 225 | Matt Mauck | QB | Louisiana State | Denver Broncos |
| 7 | 248 | B.J. Symons | QB | Texas Tech | Houston Texans |
| 7 | 250 | Bradlee Van Pelt | QB | Colorado State | Denver Broncos |
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Tags: Eli Manning
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- Nov 1, 2012: Daily Blitz: Eli, Ben add to legacy of draft class | Big Blue United
By fredsfocus on Nov 1, 2012 | Reply
Perhaps when one has absolutely nothing to do, one may be tempted to give a fuzzy rat’s tail as to who is rated the best QB (currently playing the game) even if one thought the one doing the ranking actually “knew” more than they might. When their careers are over, that eems when it might be worth a flyer….