Greatest QBs to Play for the Steelers

[hackjam]

So with the signing of Aaron Rodgers, a thought came to my head...

Ben and Terry, in that order, are far and away the greatest Steelers QBs. But when you ask a slightly different question, the conversation gets a little bit interesting. That question is, who are the greatest QBs to have played for the Steelers.

At the very least that brings Bobby Layne and now Aaron Rodgers into the conversation. Who else?

Earl Morral - Long career, eventual MVP with the Colts during a year when Johnny U went down. He did make a Pro Bowl with the Steelers.
Jack Kemp - Hall of Famer. 18 passes thrown for the Steelers. Did his best work with the Bills in the old AFL.
Len Dawson - Hall of Famer. 17 passes thrown for the Steelers. Probably the #2 all-timer in KC now that Mahomes has taken the top spot.

With Kemp and Dawson getting such little playing time with the Steelers, it's hard to put them in the conversation with Layne. I suppose Rodgers is technically in a similar position now, but if we assume a typical year for him, where does that land him? If he throws for more than 3278 yards this year, he puts himself at 14th on the Steelers all time passing yards list.

What's not up for debate is the top of the all-name team among Steelers QBs. Dick Shiner holds firmly onto the top spot.

Note... Omitting Johnny U. He was famously cut by the Steelers but never threw a regular season pass for them.

[Oviedo]

Only legit list is Ben and then Terry.

The rest were "one night stands" or pretty bad. Bubby Brister had more of an impact for the Steeler than Morral, Dawson or Kemp

["BuzzNuter"]

There are some Pitt fans on our board who hope Kenny makes that list.

[Chucktownsteeler]

Jim Traficant, Ed O'Neil - For the NE Ohio fans in here.

[Northern_Blitz]

I think it's a great question: Who had the better career Ben or Rodgers?

Ultimately, I think championships are the most important thing for QBs (and I'm a homer) so I'd pick Ben.

I think it's something like Ben is a better competitor and Rodgers is a better QB.

But if you give Rodgers Troy and friends on defense, does he get another SB? Who knows...

Obviously, I'd take Ben for his whole career over the last year of Rodgers' career.

Now for the hard part: If Ben is better than Rodgers because of championships, why don't I believe that Terry is better than Ben?

Probably in large part because I didn't see Terry play in real time?

[feltdizz]

Rodgers has a better statistical career than Ben. I doubt Rodgers loses all those NFCCG’s if he had these Steeler defenses Ben had.

[Eich]

Now for the hard part: If Ben is better than Rodgers because of championships, why don't I believe that Terry is better than Ben?

Probably in large part because I didn't see Terry play in real time?

I saw Terry in real time but I was pretty young. The game of football was VERY different back then. You could just kill a QB without a penalty. And Terry called his own plays. Today, the game is more complex, players are bigger and faster than ever but QBs are treated like flag football players. It's hard to compare Terry to Ben. It's a lot more apples-to-apples to compare Ben with Rodgers.

Rodgers is (was) clearly a better pure passer. But Ben could pull magic out of his rear. He could escape what looked like inescapable situations. Both QBs could put the team on their shoulders and will victory. I think it's a wash. Very different QBs but both winners. That said, Ben grew up. Aaron is still a me-first ahole.

[LPMAN]

If you are ranking all time QBS that just played a game for the Steelers, no one outside of Pittsburgh is ranking Terry or Ben ahead of Rodgers. He won league MVP 4 times. Put the homer lemonade down. Course he hasn't played a game yet, could go down in preseason LOL

[Northern_Blitz]

I saw Terry in real time but I was pretty young. The game of football was VERY different back then. You could just kill a QB without a penalty. And Terry called his own plays. Today, the game is more complex, players are bigger and faster than ever but QBs are treated like flag football players. It's hard to compare Terry to Ben. It's a lot more apples-to-apples to compare Ben with Rodgers.

Rodgers is (was) clearly a better pure passer. But Ben could pull magic out of his rear. He could escape what looked like inescapable situations. Both QBs could put the team on their shoulders and will victory. I think it's a wash. Very different QBs but both winners. That said, Ben grew up. Aaron is still a me-first ahole.

This. I think Ben in his prime was the most exciting / entertaining offensive player I've ever had the pleasure to watch. And he played on the same teams as Troy, who was maybe the the defensive equivalent.

[pfelix73]

I think it's a great question: Who had the better career Ben or Rodgers?

Ultimately, I think championships are the most important thing for QBs (and I'm a homer) so I'd pick Ben.

I think it's something like Ben is a better competitor and Rodgers is a better QB.

But if you give Rodgers Troy and friends on defense, does he get another SB? Who knows...

Obviously, I'd take Ben for his whole career over the last year of Rodgers' career.

Now for the hard part: If Ben is better than Rodgers because of championships, why don't I believe that Terry is better than Ben?

Probably in large part because I didn't see Terry play in real time?

I saw TB and Ben play. Terry was the better QB. More clutch in big situations, especially later in his career. 4 SB trophies.

[Northern_Blitz]

I saw TB and Ben play. Terry was the better QB. More clutch in big situations, especially later in his career. 4 SB trophies.

I'm sure that I'm biased toward Ben because I saw him play in real time.

And because the highs were just so high.

Can't go wrong picking the guy with 4 of our 6 rings though IMO.

[Flasteel]

I saw TB and Ben play. Terry was the better QB. More clutch in big situations, especially later in his career. 4 SB trophies.

I saw both play as well. Bradshaw was my idol growing up and 12 is still my favorite number (whatever that means). But there is no way I'm going to agree that Bradshaw was more clutch than Ben. Yes, it was different eras and Bradshaw kind of sucked in his early years, but Ben is third on the all-time 4th quarter comebacks list. He trails only Manning and Brady and joins them as the only QBs with 40 or more such wins. TB is ranked [NODE="67"]This years draft[/NODE] on the list (tied with Neil O'Donnell) with 15 wins.

Ben also ranked third on the all-time list of game-winning drives (tied with Drew Brees), joining once again, Manning and Brady as the only QBs with 50 or more of them. TB moves up on that list to 40th (now tied with Patrick Mahomes) with 23 such drives.

Ben was a little up and down in the post-season, so I'd give an edge to TB in the subcategory of clutch on the big stage. But their rankings on those lists kind of reflect how Ben played the game. You could never count that guy out, no matter the circumstance. Every one of us had that feeling with the game on the line, Ben would deliver. He usually did. I admit I was young and didn't see TB play live too many times (that I remember), but I don't think you can say the whole fanbase had that same feeling while watching Terry do his thing with the game on the line.

In the end, it's kind of a silly debate, but I just cannot put anyone above Ben when it comes to being clutch. Focus on the postseason only and it's a different story. But don't forget about that Denver game, his tackling prowess, or the 90-yard drive that ended in maybe the greatest throw and catch in SB history.

[Lonbull]

I liked this question so much I just had to make a quick list -- ask me the same question in a week and I could completely alter my answer.

I didn't include Len Dawson - because so much of his career was in the AFL.

It's hard to imagine that in 1957 we had - Earl Morrall, Jack Kemp and Len Dawson!

I value championships -but I was also looking at how often they were a top passing QB in the league, how often the NFL considered them an MVP -- what's interesting from a Steelers perspective is our best seasons (Super Bowl Seasons) our QB's were often middle of the road passers.

My list:

Bobby Layne -- 3 Championships - Lead the League in Passing Twice / Top 5 Passer 9 times - (196 Passing TD's)
Terry Bradshaw - 4 Championships - 1 MVP - 5 Times Top 10 Passer in the NFL (212 TD's)
Earl Morrall -- 3 Championships, LONG Career - an MVP award -- and also several seasons as a top passer
Ben Roethlisberger - 2 Championships - also many seasons he was a Top 10 passer.
Aaron Rodgers - 1 Championship - many seasons as a Top 10 Passer - 4 MVP Awards
Russell Wilson - 1 Championship - some top 15 seasons as a passer

Bill Nelsen - had 4 good seasons with the Browns - a Pro Bowl and some MVP Votes - 5 Playoff Games - including Two Championship losses

Neil O'Donnell - 1 Super Bowl Start - middle of the road Passing Stats
Bubby Brister -- He's in this spot only because he helped Denver win a Super Bowl in 1998 / and had a Steelers Playoff Win in 1989
Kordell Stewart - had 3 good seasons with the Steelers.
Ed Brown -- 14 ish seasons in the NFL - two Pro Bowls
Mike Tomczak - 15 Seasons in the NFL - mostly a back-up
Justin Fields - 4 Seasons in - he's 26 -- beats Maddox because he's had more starts (44).

David Woodley - 3 decent seasons with Miami - had more passing attempts than Maddox -- Started a Super Bowl - 4 Completions in that SB!

Tommy Maddox - 2 decent seasons with the Steelers -- two playoff games
Charlie Batch - 3 decent seasons in Detroit - 1 playoff game - Steeler Back-up.
Byron Leftwich - injury riddled QB - 1 playoff game -- Steeler Back-up
Mark Malone -- Threw for 10,000 yards
Kenny Pickett -- He's 27 this season - still plenty of time.
Cliff Stout -- 23 Touchdowns / 43 Ints Career.

[WindyCitySteel]

Terry called his own plays and elevated in Super Bowls, also won twice as many as Ben. He’s still the top dog.

Don’t look at stats, the game was different then.

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