By John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The only thing keeping Ben Roethlisberger from being the top quarterback and likely No. 1 pick of the NFL draft is that he didn't play in the Southeastern Conference or Atlantic Coast Conference.

"If he had, we wouldn't even be having this conversation," said draft guru Jerry Jones. "In potential, he may be the best. In immediate readiness (to play in the NFL), it's Eli Manning (of Ole Miss of the SEC). Philip Rivers (of North Carolina State of the ACC) might go before Ben. But there's no way these three won't be gone after the first 11 picks."

Leigh Steinberg, Roethlisberger's agent, thinks Roethlisberger could wind up with one of these teams: Oakland (second pick), New York Giants (fourth), Cleveland (seventh) or Pittsburgh (11th).

But a lot could happen between now and the first round of the draft on Saturday, said Steinberg, noting there could be some trading.

And where does Roethlisberger want to go?

"It doesn't matter - I just want to play football," he said this week from his hometown Findlay.

The draft begins at noon Saturday in New York City, at the Theater at Madison Square Garden.

Roethlisberger has never been to New York City. He is hoping to attend an NBA playoff game between the New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets (Roethlisberger was a star high school point guard) and the New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox game at Yankee Stadium (Roethlisberger was a star shortstop at Findlay High School).

With him will be his dad, mom, sister and Miami football coach Terry Hoeppner, whom Roethlisberger still has not beaten in golf.

"We tied the last two times out," Roethlisberger said.

"My days are numbered," Hoeppner said. "It came down to our final putts last Friday at Indian Ridge. We both missed. He keeps getting better (at golf) like he gets better at everything else."

When one reads some draft publications, one might think that Miami plays in the Subterranean Athletic Conference, not the Mid-American Conference.

The MAC doesn't get the respect it warrants, given the NFL success of Chad Pennington (Marshall/New York Jets) and Byron Leftwich (Marshall/Jacksonville Jaguars).

Those who have seen Roethlisberger play in person know it's downright laughable that anybody would need to put him through throwing or running drills to determine his NFL worthiness.

In game situations, Roethlisberger has made all the throws, whether it be zinging an "out" or lofting a ball with touch over a defensive back's head. His escapability is second to none - at 6-feet-5 and 240 pounds, it really has to be seen to be believed - and his ability to throw on the run with accuracy is by far the best in college, and would rate highly in the NFL.

He reads defenses well, regularly checks off at the line of scrimmage and operates from sophisticated offensive sets. He's a leader, charismatic and emotionally well-grounded. The only raps on him are that he sometimes locks on one receiver, and his release isn't gunslinger quick.

Oh, and this ...

"The only thing keeping Ben from being the top pick in the draft is that he doesn't have the last name of Manning ..."Steinberg said.

Eli Manning is the son of Hall of Fame quarterback Archie Manning and brother of NFL MVP Peyton Manning, quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts.

But Jones said San Diego "wants out" out of its No. 1 draft position, because the Chargers have been so snakebitten by its high first-round draft decisions in recent years.

For a longer version of this story, go to Cincinnati.Com.

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