The Battle of the MAC QB's: Roethlisberger Vs Frye On Sunday

The Mid-American Conference isn't exactly the high profile conference like the Big Ten. The conference has, however, had a penchant for producing some big time quarterbacks in the past few years. Players like Chad Pennington, Byron Leftwich, Bruce Gradkowski, Ben Roethlisberger, and Charlie Frye have all had a substantial number of starts in the NFL in the previous few seasons. Interestingly, Roethlisberger's backup Charlie Batch started the trend as a second round pick from Eastern Michigan in the late 1990's.

So how do players from schools like Marshall, Miami of Ohio, and Akron University make the giant leap to playing with the big boys on Sunday? Part of the reason is that they have more time to develop in a smaller system. Kind of like being a big fish in a little pond. Quarterbacks showing talent will have the coaches on the staff doing all they can to develop the talents that the players possess. Another reason is playing time. A Player like Frye would have spent most of his career in a big school sitting on the bench. At Akron, he was a starter after being redshirted and went on to start 4 years for the Zips. Frye probably had the talent to play in a major conference but, at best, would have probably had the starting duties for two years.

Gradkowski, who played for the Toledo Rockets, had an opinion about why MAC QB's have had success in the NFL. Before being drafted he said:

"We play against better competition than people give us credit for," Gradkowski said. "The styles of offense we play helps us learn more about defenses, coverages and the game of football, plus how to play quarterback and become decision makers. We have a lot of good coaches in the MAC as well."

While Roethlisberger, who already has won a Super Bowl in his brief career, has a big future for Charlie Frye is anybody's guess. With rookie Brady Quinn set to replace the former fourth round pick he could either remain with the team as a long term backup or heading to another team as their starter. With the Cleveland Browns keeping Derek Anderson, who many thought would win the starting job this preseason, on the roster the franchise will eventually have to choose between the two. Whoever can garner the highest draft pick in exchange for their services will probably be peddled away in the off season. It probably also depends on the attitude of either player on how they handle sitting behind Quinn who will likely be the quarterback for a long many seasons to come.

Roethlisberger comes in this year with his own question marks. The former Miami of Ohio star comes in after a sub par year throwing a 23 interceptions after a stellar 2005 season. His 2006 was marred with injury and illness but if 2007 is another off year Pittsburgh Steeler faithful may start to jump off the his bandwagon. The NFL is truly a "what have you done for me lately" league. Roethlisberger will probably regain his stature as a top quarterback in the league but one wonders how much the disaster of last season wears on him both mentally and physically.

No matter what happens in either players careers, it is still impressive that the MAC has become such a quarterback haven for the NFL. If you would have heard ten years ago that you would see the Steelers lineup a Miami of Ohio QB vs a Browns Akron U quarterback in the big rivalry game you would probably think the had turned upside down.