Timeline of Steelers’ QB blunders in search to find next Ben Roethlisberger

Terry Bradshaw and Ben Roethlisberger’s onstage embrace during the opening night of the 2026 NFL Draft was nothing short of ironic. It took the Steelers 20 years to find Bradshaw’s long-term successor in Roethlisberger, and despite their efforts to not repeat history, Pittsburgh is still in pursuit of Big Ben’s heir apparent. 

Pittsburgh’s inability to find its next long-term quarterback has contributed to the ongoing saga regarding Aaron Rodgers, whose plans for the upcoming season remain a mystery. Instead of having a concrete plan at quaterback for the upcoming season, the Steelers continue to wait for the 42-year-old Rodgers to make up his mind. 

In the interim, the Steelers added another quarterback to the room when they selected Drew Allar with the 85th overall pick. The pick drew skepticism from Roethlisberger, who said that he was more impressed with Will Howard’s tape coming out of college. Howard and Allar will now be in direct competition in Pittsburgh. 

How did the Steelers get here? To find the answer, let’s take a look at each of the team’s significant quarterback moves over the past decade. 

Steelers pass on Lamar Jackson 

By 2018, it was clear that Roethlisberger was well into the back nine of his career. He had openly contemplated retirement after the 2016 season, which compelled the Steelers to draft Josh Dobbs in the fourth round of the 2017 draft. But while Dobbs had potential, he was merely drafted for depth and was never in the conversation to be Roethlisberger’s successor. 

In the 2018 draft, the Steelers were in prime position to draft someone who could have been Roethlisberger’s successor: Lamar Jackson. But instead of drafting Jackson, the Steelers selected safety Terrell Edmunds with the 28th overall pick. Jackson was selected four spots later by the Ravens. 

The Steelers ended up selecting Mason Rudolph in the third round of that year’s draft, but like Dobbs, he has also never gotten a legitimate chance to be the Steelers’ long-term quarterback.  

Promoting Matt Canada to offensive coordinator 

Following the 2020 season, the Steelers basically decided that the Roethlisberger era was coming to a close. The team started to make decisions that echoed that sentiment, including the replacement of Randy Fichtner (a Roethlisberger favorite) with Matt Canada, a former college offensive coordinator who spent the 2020 season as the Steelers’ quarterback’s coach. 

At the time, Canada’s promotion was met with optimism. He was credited with helping Roethlisberger and Pittsburgh’s offense enjoy a fast start in 2020 that culminated in an 11-0 start. Canada had interviewed with the Dolphins regarding their offensive coordinator opening before the Steelers promoted him. 

It didn’t take long, however, to realize that Canada wasn’t going to work as an NFL offensive coordinator. The Steelers’ offense largely struggled in 2021, specifically early in games, which led to several furious late-game comeback attempts by Roethlisberger. Shortly after the season concluded, it was reported that Pittsburgh’s late-game success on offense was a byproduct of Roethlisberger going rogue and basically scrapping Canada’s game plan. 

It would only get worse from there. 

The Trubisky/Pickett acquisitions 

Following Roethlisberger’s retirement after the 2021 season, the expectation was that the Steelers were going to sign a veteran quarterback in free agency in addition to possibly selecting a quarterback during the draft. The Steelers ended up doing both, but that turned out to be a mistake. 

The NFL’s legal tampering period was barely underway when the Steelers came to terms with former Bears’ No. 1 overall pick Mitch Trubisky on a two-year deal. Pittsburgh then selected former Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett with the 20th overall pick. 

Trubisky went into the season as the team’s starting quarterback, but he was benched midway through the fourth game of the season. Pickett, to the roaring approval of Steelers fans, entered the game and scored two quick touchdowns on the ground. But his three interceptions proved costly as the Steelers’ comeback bid came up short. 

Pickett made his first career start the following week in what was an embarrassing 38-3 loss to the Bills in Buffalo. At that point, though, it appeared that the Steelers were committed to starting over with Pickett and using the 2022 season as a bridge. 

Pickett endured the typical growing pains associated with rookie quarterbacks. Not helping matters was Canada’s predictable offense, which was called out by Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt during a midseason loss to Cincinnati that dropped Pittsburgh’s record to 3-7. 

After that loss, the Steelers summoned the resolve that was a trademark during Mike Tomlin’s 19-year tenure with the team. Pittsburgh won six of its seven games, with Pickett winning his final five starts in games that he finished. The Steelers missed the playoffs, but they secured their 19th consecutive non-losing season. More importantly, Pittsburgh had seemed to find its new franchise quarterback in Pickett, whose late-season heroics included game-winning touchdown passes against the Raiders and Ravens. 

Starting over 

Looking back, the 2023 season was a critical turning point in the Steelers’ quarterback journey. It was a tumultuous season that led to drastic changes to the roster, quarterback included. 

Week 1 was a foreshadowing of things to come for the 2023 season and more specifically Pickett, who entered the year with massive expectations. The Steelers were drubbed that day by the eventual NFC champion 49ers, who outplayed Pittsburgh in every phase enroute to a 30-7 win. 

The Steelers responded by winning six of their next eight games, but the offense continued to underperform. Things finally came to a head after an ugly loss in Cleveland, when former Steelers running back Najee Harris sounded off about Pittsburgh’s predictable offense. 

Less than 48 hours later, the Steelers fired Canada and temporarily replaced him with running backs coach Eddie Faulkner with quarterback coach Mike Sullivan stepping in as play-caller. Pittsburgh responded with a road win over the Bengals that included one of Pickett’s best games as a pro. 

Against the Cardinals a week later, Pickett was on the verge of leading the Steelers to a go-ahead score when he sustained an injury that changed the trajectory of his career. With Pickett sidelined, Trubisky came in and was ineffective, which contributed to an embarrassing 24-10 loss. 

Inexplicably, Trubisky remained in the starting lineup for Pittsburgh’s next two games: another embarrassing home loss to the Patriots and a road defeat against the Colts that dropped the Steelers to 7-7. 

At that point, Tomlin finally turned the offense over to Rudolph, who played the best football of his career. Rudolph led the Steelers to three straight wins to close out the year. The Steelers finished 10-7 and captured a playoff berth. 

While Pickett was healthy late in the season, Tomlin instead rode the hot hand, which led to Rudolph being the first Steelers quarterback to start in a playoff game since Roethlisberger. Rudoph had his moments against the Bills, but he and the Steelers came up short in another early playoff exit. 

That loss extended the Steelers’ streak of seasons without a playoff win to seven. In an effort to quickly end that drought, Tomlin and the Steelers decided to move forward with veteran quarterbacks. They acquired Russell Wilson, then traded Pickett to Philadelphia. They then traded for former Bears first-round pick Justin Fields. 

Pickett’s time in Pittsburgh is controversial. While he clearly had his shortcomings, Pickett wasn’t put in the best position to succeed. He had a transitional offensive line, an offensive coordinator that was fired during his second season, and receivers who sometimes either didn’t finish out their routes or quit on them altogether. Pickett also probably would have been better-served having a veteran quartebrack as a mentor as opposed to someone (Trubisky) who was trying to revive his career. 

More QB turnover 

Pittsburgh’s plan for 2024 was to have Wilson as the starter with Fields backing up him. That plan quickly changed, however, when Wilson sustained an injury just before the start of training camp. 

Fields immediately turned heads during training camp and continued to impress during the season. He helped the Steelers get off to a 4-2 start that was predicated on taking care of the ball, controlling the clock and putting the defense in favorable situations. 

Despite that early success, Tomlin turned to Wilson ahead of Pittsburgh’s Week 7 game against the Jets and Rodgers. Wilson outplayed Rodgers that night and would end up winning six of his first seven starts. At that time, it appeared that Tomlin had made the right decision. 

Wilson’s play regressed late in the season, however. His mobility wasn’t what it once was, and it had become increasingly clear that his passing arsenal had been reduced to moon balls and checkdowns. 

The Steelers started 10-3 before losing their final five games that included another early playoff exit, this time at the hands of the rival Ravens. 

Starting over, again 

The Steelers rebooted their quarterback room once again in 2025. They chose not to re-sign Wilson and lost Fields to the Jets after offering him a reportedly underwhelming contract. Pittsburgh did retain Rudolph after signing him to a two-year deal. 

During the offseason, the Steelers were tabbed as a potential landing spot for Rodgers after the Jets announced their plans to release him. It took a while, but Rodgers finally came on board just before the start of minicamp. 

Rodgers’ late arrival in Pittsburgh led to a slow start for the offense. The unit eventually found its way, however, whlie helping the Steelers win their first AFC North division title since 2020. The unit’s shortcomings — most notably their lack of talent at receiver and Rodgers’ lack of mobiliy and incresing desire not to get hit — were exposed during a 30-6 loss to Houston in the AFC wild card round, a loss that ultimately marked the end of Tomlin’s 19-year run in Pittsburgh. 

What’s next?

In hindsight, it’s fair say that the Steelers’ lack of patience with Pickett and their dependance on veteran quarterbacks in recent years was a byproduct of Tomlin wanting to end the playoff win drought while maximizing his remaining seasons in Pittsburgh. That route ultimately proved to be shortsighted and unsuccessful. 

The Steelers’ winning seasons streak, while impressive, often prevented them from being in better positions to draft a potential franchise quarterback. In that vein, Tomlin is probably right when he said recently that he felt a change was necessary for both he and the Steelers. 

With Mike McCarthy now in Pittsburgh, the Steelers have a coach who is committed to finding the franchise’s long-term solution at quarterback. McCarthy has lauded the potential of Howard and is going to invest a lot of energy into Allar. 

McCarthy was hired in part to find the Steelers’ long-term quarterback. And while the team isn’t ruling out a Rodgers return, it’s become clear that Pittsburgh is more committed to finding Roethlisberger’s successor than they were the previous four years.