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Seven NFL stars likely to fade in 2017

Richard Sherman

Ben Roethlisberger, quarterback, Pittsburgh Steelers

Proof has been in the pudding for some time regarding Big Ben. Heck, the future Hall of Famer has contemplated hanging them up completely.

At 35 years old and with myriad of injury issues in the recent past, Roethlisberger simply isn’t the same quarterback that led his Steelers to two Super Bowl appearances earlier in his career. It’s nature. It’s Father Time.

Interestingly enough, Pittsburgh is no longer asking Big Ben to be the primary force on offense. Instead, that role goes to all-everything running back Le’Veon Bell. Here’s a dude that put up 1,884 total yards on 336 touches in just 12 games last season.

To put this into perspective, Bell accounted for 31 percent of Pittsburgh’s total yards and touched the ball 33 percent of the time. Did we mention he sat out four games? It goes without saying that Pittsburgh’s offense now runs through Bell (quite literally).

This in and of itself will lead to Big Ben’s numbers and importance fading as time moves on. Now add in the fact that he’s accounted for 29 interceptions over the past two seasons after putting up 31 in the three years prior to that and there’s surely reason to believe continued regression will be the name of the game.

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