Ben Roethlisberger: Fantasy Advice for Big Ben Owners Following Shoulder Injury

While the Pittsburgh Steelers were able to escape Arrowhead with a win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night, they may have suffered a grave loss in the process.

According to Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports, sources close to the situation are indicating that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger separated his shoulder in the third quarter of Pittsburgh’s 16-13 victory over KC. He was reportedly taken to the hospital that night and underwent an MRI to find the extent of the damage.

While there isn’t any information available on whether or not Big Ben will miss any action due to the injury, it’s time for fantasy owners to start making precautionary moves in case the elite signal-caller is sidelined for any period of time.

For replacement QB’s, there are a number of options that should be available on the waiver wire and ripe to claim this week. The top prospect you should be targeting is Philadelphia Eagles rookie Nick Foles.

It’s an open secret around the City of Brotherly Love that coach Andy Reid is going to keep incumbent QB Michael Vick sidelined—the controversial player apparently suffered a serious concussion last week—and plans to give the first-year man out of the University of Arizona a shot in Week 11.

Foles, who took over for Vick in the second quarter against the Dallas Cowboys, completed 22-of-32 passes for 219 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He has the arm to make every throw, and it’s clear that the coaching staff trusts him to sling the rock, making him an ideal fill-in for Roethlisberger in case of injury.

Other Week 11 options include St. Louis’ Sam Bradford against the lowly Jets, Carson Palmer of the Raiders at home against New Orleans and Buffalo’s Ryan Fitzpatrick (playing Thursday night, so monitor Big Ben’s status closely up until then if you choose to go in this direction).

While we aren’t certain that the Steelers QB is even going to miss a signal snap, those who saw the injury know that there is definitely a possibility. It’s better to be safe than sorry, so go use your waiver priority to snap up a suitable backup immediately.

The fantasy playoffs are just around the corner, and you don’t want to be up the creek with a paddle—or Roethlisberger in this case.