Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) walks on the sideline in the first quarter of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2014, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene Puskar)

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was a popular mid-round pick in many a draft this fall — as your team’s second quarterback.

The two-time Super Bowl champion was coming off a season in which he passed for 4,261 yards and 28 touchdowns with 14 interceptions.

What’s not to love about that?

Apparently not many fantasy owners.

Amazingly, Roethlisberger began the season outside the top 10 as far as quarterbacks go.

In our Dereliction League draft, Big Ben was picked after such notable names as Colin Kaepernick, Nick Foles, Matt Ryan, Philip Rivers and Cam Newton.

He went in the seventh round to the Goodfellas.

In my opinion, he was the steal of our draft.

Through nine weeks in our 14-team PPR league (6 points passing touchdowns and 5-point bonuses for over 300 yards and 50-plus yard scores), Roethlisberger trails only Andrew Luck and Peyton Manning in fantasy points for a quarterback. His 272-point total surpasses Kaepernick and Tony Romo by over 100 and points and is well ahead of the other names on that list.

Roethlisberger is averaging an insane 30 points per week and is coming off a back-to-back six touchdown performances. One of which produced 81 points in our league, the most of any player this season.

Now for the crazy part.

All 139 points produced by Big Ben the past two weeks were left on Goodfellas bench.

He’d traded for Tom Brady, and like I wrote a couple weeks ago, you never bench Tom.

So while Brady has been filling the stat sheet himself, Roethlisberger has been setting fire to the entire league.

But this owner is not alone. I empathize with him because I have been dealing with the same thing in another league. As a Luck owner, all of Big Ben’s breakout games have been on my bench too.

I wonder why after drafting him, we feel like he’s never enough and try to unload him and get someone better.

Big Ben just doesn’t fit the bill as a fantasy quarterback the way a Manning or Aaron Rodgers does. While they play in prolific passing offenses, the Pittsburgh Steelers are predominantly a run team.

Roethlisberger will always be the QB you use for that “fill-in” week when those other guys are on a bye.

Big Ben is showing each week that those thoughts need to change. The Steelers are loaded with receiving weapons, led by Antonio Brown and have already passed for 22 touchdowns compared to just three rushing scores.

His schedule the rest of the way is also very enticing with matchups against the N.Y. Jets, Tennessee, New Orleans, Cincinnati and Atlanta.

Goodfellas traded Big Ben this week for Lesean McCoy. Not a bad haul for your seventh-round pick.

WHAT A WOMAN WANTS

My wife, Jana, is playing fantasy football for the first time this season. For years she’s told me how she would be able to hang with the guys.

This year, after a couple players in a Yahoo league I’m in decided to not to join up, I asked the commissioner if she could take one of the open spots. It is non PPR and a difficult scoring league altogether, but she was committed. She studied before the draft and a had a really good one, grabbing Jordy Nelson, Andrew Luck and Matt Forte among others. She also took some good-natured ribbing from some of the other owners.

Well, no one is laughing now except Jana, all the way to first place in this league with a commanding 7-1 record. Even I, her husband of 11 years, was not immune to the onslaught her team WATTer Girl (big J.J. Watt fan) is inflicting on opponents. Last week she pummeled me 135-57.

There are still playoffs down the road, which she will assuredly be the top seed, but Jana is on her way to doing something I couldn’t do — win the league in her first year.

ALWAYS BE WORKING REPORT

Running Back: Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings — It is crazy that I would ever put AD as someone to pick off the waiver wire, but it looks like his legal troubles are cleared up and now it’s up to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to see when he plays. You could do worse at this point in the season. Take a flier and hope he is reinstated.

Wide Receiver: Markus Wheaton, Pittsburgh Steelers — Remember how I talked earlier about how the Steelers are throwing the ball all over the yard? Well, Wheaton has caught touchdowns in his last two games.

Quarterback: Mark Sanchez, Philadelphia Eagles — Forget the butt fumble and his disaster with the N.Y. Jets, Sanchez is playing in Chip Kelly’s offense and is surrounded by weapons. He could be an even better fit that Nick Foles was before his injury.

STARTS OF THE WEEK

(Note: These are not the obvious choices. Anyone can tell you to play Aaron Rodgers or Jamaal Charles)

Running Back: Jeremy Hill, Cincinnati Bengals (vs. Cleveland) — This is a great matchup for Hill and it looks like Gio Bernard is still banged up and will not be able to take advantage of the second-worst rush defense in the league. This one is on a Thursday so hurry, but I would pencil Hill in for 86 yards and a touchdown.

Quarterback: Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons (at Tampa Bay) — Ryan torched the Buccaneers in their first meeting and I see more of the same. Tampa Bay is giving up sixth-most passing yards to opposing quarterbacks and tied for second in allowing the most passing touchdowns (18). Book it for 300-plus yards and two scores for Ryan.

Wide Receiver: Brandon Marshall, Chicago Bears (at Green Bay) — This would seem like a no-brainer choice, but Marshall and his quarterback Jay Cutler have not been vibing and it has shown in Marshall’s production. The team has had an entire bye week to get it straightened out. This will be a shootout and I see Marshall catching at least two touchdowns.

HOW DID I DO LAST WEEK?

In two words: not well.

Quarterback: Alex Smith, Kansas City Chiefs (vs. N.Y. Jets) — I will start with the good because if you listened to me (estimated 300 yards, 2 TDs) and played Smith you were rewarded with 199 yards and two scores; not great yardage-wise but a solid performance.

Running Back: Frank Gore, San Francisco 49ers (vs. St. Louis) — Now for the bad. I was sure Gore was going to take advantage of one of the worst rush defenses in the league, but instead finished with a pedestrian 49 yards on 14 carries.

Wide Receiver: Wes Welker, Denver Broncos (at New England) — Finish with the ugly. Welker was an unmitigated disaster and before he got injured, he cost Manning an interception off a tipped pass. This is now a two-receiver team with Demariyus Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders doing the work. Welker can stay on your bench from this point forward until he proves he is worth a start.

Good luck in Week 10!