Pittsburgh Steelers Top 5 Quarterbacks of All Time

(last updated on January 20, 2026)

The Pittsburgh Steelers were the first NFL franchise to win four Super Bowls. In fact, they won four before any other team had won three. Chuck Noll’s Steel Curtain of the 1970s was a true dynasty with several players, coaches, and executives enshrined in Canton. About 30 years later, the Steelers added two more Lombardi Trophies. This team has six Super Bowl titles in eight Super Bowl appearances and is tied with the New England Patriots for the most Super Bowl wins. If not for Brady and Belichick, the Steelers would lead the NFL in Super Bowl victories. When a team has made 35 playoff appearances, it has had some great quarterback play. It’s time to visit the Pittsburgh Steelers player factory and manufacture the top quarterbacks in team history.

Although many of Bobby Layne’s best years were as a Detroit Lion, he had some solid years in Steel Town as well. This Hall of Famer ended the last five years of his career in Pittsburgh, and he passed for 9,030 yards and 66 touchdowns. Those numbers may not sound special in today’s laser-show NFL offenses, but they weren’t bad during the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations. The Blond Bomber had a very respectable 27-19-2 record as the Steelers man behind center. In 1958 and 1959, Layne was a Second-Team All-Pro and went to two Pro Bowls. If you had to select his best game as a Steeler, his performance on December 10, 1961 may take the cake. In a 30-14 win at Washington, Bobby threw for four touchdowns with no picks and had a 148.2 passer rating. Bobby Layne had a heck of an NFL career, and he did just enough in his final years to earn a place with the best quarterbacks in Pittsburgh Steelers history.

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There was a period in the 90s when Kordell Stewart was one of the most exciting players in the NFL, and he had the endorsements to prove it. That led to Slash being one of the best QBs in Pittsburgh Steelers history. A second-round pick in 1995, Stewart was a versatile Swiss Army knife his first two seasons doing some passing, rushing, and receiving. In 1997 he became the Steelers starting quarterback and led the team to the AFC Championship Game. He had 3,020 yards in the air, 21 passing TDs, 476 yards on the ground, 11 rushing TDs, and 5 game-winning drives. However, Kordell’s best season in Pittsburgh was 2001 when he finished fourth in MVP voting and led the Steelers back to the AFC Championship Game. That year his stats were very steady: 3,109 passing yards, 14 passing TDs, a 60.2 completion %, and 537 rushing yards. Slash ranks third all time for the Steelers in passing yards (13,328), passing touchdowns (70), and record as a starting QB (48-29). Kordell Stewart provided countless highlights and winning football for the Pittsburgh Steelers, so that makes him one of the top quarterbacks in franchise history.

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I know this may not be the sexiest name on the list for Pittsburgh fans, but this man did lead the Steelers to two AFC Championship Games and a Super Bowl XXX appearance: Neil O’Donnell. In the early-to-mid 90s, the Steelers franchise was reawakening, and O’Donnell was a big part of that success. The two stats that jump out most are Neil’s 39-22 record as the Steelers QB and his touchdown to interception ratio of 68 to 39. This Maryland Terp only surpassed 3,000 passing yards once, but the Steelers commitment to the ground and his own injuries were a factor there. Maybe O’Donnell’s grittiest performance was leading the Steelers on a come-from-behind 4th-quarter touchdown drive to win the 1995 AFC Championship Game over the Colts. Pittsburgh was under a lot of pressure after losing the previous year’s title game at home to the Chargers. Ironically, earlier in that game he threw a TD pass to Kordell Stewart, another name on this list. Neil’s average of 195 passing yards a game is fourth in franchise history, and he also produced 13 game-winning drives in his Steelers career. Neil O’Donnell got the Pittsburgh Steelers back to the Super Bowl for the first time since their 70s dynasty, and that is a big reason why he gets a spot with the best quarterbacks the team has ever had.

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Younger football fans may only know Terry Bradshaw from Fox’s NFL Studio crew, but older fans know him as the quarterback of the Steel Curtain teams of the 1970s (and his role in The Cannonball Run). Bradshaw is an NFL Hall of Famer, a four-time Super Bowl champion, a two-time Super Bowl MVP, and a league MVP. That resume undeniably puts Bradshaw near the top of the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback hierarchy. #12 was even involved in one of the NFL’s most memorable plays ever: the Immaculate Reception. He was 4-0 in Super Bowls and threw for 932 and 9 TDs on the game’s biggest stage. Twice he was the game’s MVP, including Super Bowl XIII when he scorched the Cowboys with 318 passing yards, 4 touchdowns, and a 119.2 passer rating. He doubled down on that MVP award in Super Bowl XIV against the Rams with 301 yards and another passer rating over 100. In terms of all-time Steelers marks, he is second in passing yards (27,989), passing touchdowns (212), and wins as a starting QB (107-51). As a media presence, this Louisiana native has only further elevated his status, but Terry Bradshaw should first be remembered for being one of the best quarterbacks in Pittsburgh Steelers history.

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Super Bowl XLIII … the Pittsburgh Steelers were losing 23-20 to the Arizona Cardinals with 2:24 left on the clock and 89 yards to the goal line. Ben Roethlisberger then had one of the greatest drives in Super Bowl history, and he ended it with one of the greatest throws in Super Bowl history. That drive alone qualifies Big Ben as one of the top QBs in Pittsburgh Steelers history, but then you will find that he leads the franchise in almost every major passing stat as well. Drafted out of Miami (OH) in the QB-loaded 2004 NFL Draft, Roethlisberger was the Offensive Rookie of the Year and led the Steelers to a 15-1 record. They lost in the AFC title game, but the next year he made up for it with a victory in Super Bowl XL. In addition to exceptional mobility for a massive dude, Ben produced prolific passing numbers for the Heinz Field faithful for two decades. He had six seasons of over 4,000 passing yards and led the league twice in that category, including a mind-blowing 5,129 yards in 2018. Then you can add four seasons of at least 32 TD strikes to that. Don’t forget his 53 game-winning drives as well. Forget all-time Steelers ranks when it comes to Big Ben; let’s look at all-time NFL ranks: seventh all time in passing yards (64,088), eighth all time in completions (5,440), and ninth all time in passing touchdowns (418). Ben Roethlisberger is a two-time Super Bowl champ and a soon-to-be Hall of Famer, and that puts him squarely in the conversation as the best Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback ever.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, August 17th, 2024 at 12:04 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.