The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division.

The early era of the NFL and American football in general was not conducive to passing the football, with the forward pass not being legalized until the early 1900s and not fully adopted for many more years. Although the quarterback position has historically been the one to receive the snap and thus handle the football on every offensive play, the importance of the position during this era was limited by various rules, like having to be five yards behind the line of scrimmage before a forward pass could be attempted. These rules and the tactical focus on rushing the ball limited the importance of the quarterback position while enhancing the value of different types of backs, such as the halfback and the fullback. Some of these backs were considered triple-threat men, capable of rushing, passing or kicking the football, making it common for multiple players to attempt a pass during a game.

As rules changed and the NFL began adopting a more pass-centric approach to offensive football, the importance of the quarterback position grew. Beginning in 1950, total wins and losses by a team's starting quarterback were tracked. Prior to 1950, the Steelers had numerous players identified as playing the quarterback position. However, the combination of unreliable statistics in the early era of the NFL and the differences in the early quarterback position make tracking starts by quarterbacks impractical for this timeframe.

Starters per season These quarterbacks have started at least one game for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The number of games they started during the season is listed to the right of their name: Season Regular season Postseason References 1950 Joe Geri 1951 Joe Geri / Chuck Ortmann 1952 Jim Finks (12) 1953 Jim Finks (9) / Bill Mackrides (3) 1954 Jim Finks (12) 1955 1956 Ted Marchibroda (11) / Jack Scarbath (1) 1957 Earl Morrall (11) / Len Dawson (1) 1958 Bobby Layne (10) / Earl Morrall (2) 1959 Bobby Layne (12) 1960 Bobby Layne (9) / Rudy Bukich (3) 1961 Rudy Bukich (8) / Bobby Layne (6) 1962 Bobby Layne (11) / Ed Brown (3) 1963 Ed Brown (14) 1964 Ed Brown (13) / Bill Nelsen (1) 1965 Bill Nelsen (12) / Tommy Wade (2) 1966 Ron C. Smith (7) / Bill Nelsen (5) / George Izo (2) 1967 Kent Nix (9) / Bill Nelsen (5) 1968 Dick Shiner (11) / Kent Nix (3) 1969 Dick Shiner (9) / Terry Hanratty (5) 1970 Terry Bradshaw (8) / Terry Hanratty (6) 1971 Terry Bradshaw (13) / Terry Hanratty (1) 1972 Terry Bradshaw (14) Terry Bradshaw (1–1) 1973 Terry Bradshaw (9) / Terry Hanratty (4) / Joe Gilliam (1) Terry Bradshaw (0–1) 1974 Terry Bradshaw (7) / Joe Gilliam (6) / Terry Hanratty (1) Terry Bradshaw (3–0) 1975 Terry Bradshaw (14) Terry Bradshaw (3–0) 1976 Terry Bradshaw (8) / Mike Kruczek (6) Terry Bradshaw (1–1) 1977 Terry Bradshaw (14) Terry Bradshaw (0–1) 1978 Terry Bradshaw (16) Terry Bradshaw (3–0) 1979 Terry Bradshaw (3–0) 1980 Terry Bradshaw (15) / Cliff Stoudt (1) 1981 Terry Bradshaw (14) / Mark Malone (2) 1982 Terry Bradshaw (9) Terry Bradshaw (0–1) 1983 Cliff Stoudt (15) / Terry Bradshaw (1) Cliff Stoudt (0–1) 1984 Mark Malone (9) / David Woodley (7) Mark Malone (1–1) 1985 Mark Malone (8) / David Woodley (6) / Scott Campbell (2) 1986 Mark Malone (14) / Bubby Brister (2) 1987 Mark Malone (12) / Steve Bono (3) 1988 Bubby Brister (13) / Todd Blackledge (3) 1989 Bubby Brister (14) / Todd Blackledge (2) Bubby Brister (1–1) 1990 Bubby Brister (16) 1991 Neil O'Donnell (8) / Bubby Brister (8) 1992 Neil O'Donnell (12) / Bubby Brister (4) Neil O'Donnell (0–1) 1993 Neil O'Donnell (15) / Mike Tomczak (1) 1994 Neil O'Donnell (14) / Mike Tomczak (2) Neil O'Donnell (1–1) 1995 Neil O'Donnell (12) / Mike Tomczak (4) Neil O'Donnell (2–1) 1996 Mike Tomczak (15) / Jim Miller (1) Mike Tomczak (1–1) 1997 Kordell Stewart (16) Kordell Stewart (1–1) 1998 1999 Kordell Stewart (12) / Mike Tomczak (4) 2000 Kordell Stewart (11) / Kent Graham (5) 2001 Kordell Stewart (16) Kordell Stewart (1–1) 2002 Tommy Maddox (11) / Kordell Stewart (5) Tommy Maddox (1–1) 2003 Tommy Maddox (16) 2004 Ben Roethlisberger (13) / Tommy Maddox (3) Ben Roethlisberger (1–1) 2005 Ben Roethlisberger (12) / Tommy Maddox (2) / Charlie Batch (2) Ben Roethlisberger (4–0) 2006 Ben Roethlisberger (15) / Charlie Batch (1) 2007 Ben Roethlisberger (0–1) 2008 Ben Roethlisberger (16) Ben Roethlisberger (3–0) 2009 Ben Roethlisberger (15) / Dennis Dixon (1) 2010 Ben Roethlisberger (12) / Charlie Batch (2) / Dennis Dixon (2) Ben Roethlisberger (2–1) 2011 Ben Roethlisberger (15) / Charlie Batch (1) Ben Roethlisberger (0–1) 2012 Ben Roethlisberger (13) / Charlie Batch (2) / Byron Leftwich (1) 2013 Ben Roethlisberger (16) 2014 Ben Roethlisberger (0–1) 2015 Ben Roethlisberger (11) / Michael Vick (3) / Landry Jones (2) Ben Roethlisberger (1–1) 2016 Ben Roethlisberger (14) / Landry Jones (2) Ben Roethlisberger (2–1) 2017 Ben Roethlisberger (15) / Landry Jones (1) Ben Roethlisberger (0–1) 2018 Ben Roethlisberger (16) 2019 Mason Rudolph (8) / Devlin Hodges (6) / Ben Roethlisberger (2) 2020 Ben Roethlisberger (15) / Mason Rudolph (1) Ben Roethlisberger (0–1)2021Ben Roethlisberger (16) / Mason Rudolph (1)Ben Roethlisberger (0–1)2022Kenny Pickett (12) / Mitchell Trubisky (5)2023Kenny Pickett (12) / Mason Rudolph (3) / Mitchell Trubisky (2)Mason Rudolph (0–1)2024Russell Wilson (11) / Justin Fields (6)Russell Wilson (0–1)2025Aaron Rodgers (16) / Mason Rudolph (1)Aaron Rodgers (0–1)2026Aaron Rodgers (4)

Most games started These quarterbacks have the most starts for the Steelers in regular season games.

NamePeriodStartsWinsLossesTiesWin %1 247 165 81 1 .6702 158 107 51 0 .6773 75 46 29 0 .6134 61 39 22 0 .6395 57 28 29 0 .491

Team career passing records Name Completions Attempts Completion % Yards Touchdowns Interceptions QB rating 5,440 8,443 64.4 64,088 418 211 93.5 2,025 3,901 51.9 27,989 212 210 70.9 1,190 2,107 56.5 13,328 70 72 72.3 1,069 1,871 57.1 12,867 68 39 81.8 776 1,477 52.5 10,104 51 57 69.8 569 1,159 49.2 9,030 66 78 65.5

See also Lists of NFL starting quarterbacks

References