Nobody said finding a franchise quarterback is easy, but everyone should agree that finding one is necessary. Pittsburgh Steelers fans are learning what life is like after Ben Roethlisberger... and it hasn't been pleasant for this team.
Beginning with Big Ben's season-ending elbow injury in 2019—a year in which the Steelers were forced to turn to Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges for help—this team hasn't felt like a serious competitor. When Roethlisberger returned from injury, he wasn't the same quarterback in his old age for his final two seasons.
Unfortunately, every effort to fill the position post-Roethlisberger has fallen short. The Steelers pigeonholed themselves into selecting Kenny Pickett in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. This experiment was short-lived and he was traded to the Eagles after just two seasons.
Now over the past three years, the Steelers have had five different starting quarterbacks.
Steelers starting quarterbacks since 2021:
- 2022: Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky
- 2023: Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph, Mitch Trubisky
- 2024: Russell Wilson, Justin Fields
This is what bad franchises typically do. None of the quarterbacks to walk through here in recent years came close to resembling a franchise signal-caller who could carry Pittsburgh to another championship.
Many of you are old enough to remember the gap of underwhelming (and often downright dismal) quarterback play between the retirement of Terry Bradshaw and the Steelers' decision to draft Ben Roethlisberger. For over two decades, this prestigious franchise sat in limbo—hardly even attempting to find their next franchise quarterback.
With expectations so high for the six-time Super Bowl champs, the Steelers can't continue to tread down this path of streaming quarterbacks and believing they will be good enough to bring playoff success.
Steelers must get aggressive in their franchise QB pursuit
There's no perfect answer as to whom the Pittsburgh Steelers should go after. When taking a quarterback in the draft, there's always going to be risk with an unproven commodity. Likewise, we've seen how poorly QB trades have worked out around the NFL in recent years (Deshaun Watson, Aaron Rodgers, and Russell Wilson are prime examples).
But as scary as it can be to fork up draft capital and money, this is the right way to go.
After streaming quarterbacks for three seasons, the Steelers need to be diligently looking for an opportunity to land a franchise quarterback. This is most likely to happen through the NFL Draft.
Sadly, 2025 may not be the year to get one, as this is an unspectacular quarterback class. But as early as the 2026 NFL Draft, Pittsburgh must make preparations as if they are going to move up in the draft for a player who can turn their franchise around.
I don't fault teams who swing and miss at the quarterback position—as long as they are taking a player with the tools and upside to become a great QB at the next level. At least the process is right and they understand the value of the position in the NFL.
The Steelers may not have a great answer at quarterback during the 2025 offseason, but they must understand that this team isn't going to find true postseason success without a franchise QB. It's time to end this quarterback-streaming philosophy and make a move that will bring lasting success.