This move wasn't the only surprise. The Steelers also acquired Justin Fields, a young quarterback with starting experience, from the Chicago Bears at a bargain price. This two-pronged approach gives the Steelers options: a veteran leader in Wilson and a potential future franchise quarterback in Fields. While the full impact of these moves remains to be seen, one thing is sure: the Steelers' quarterback room is no longer a question mark. It's a position of strength, poised to lead the team into a new era.
This is not the first time that the Steelers franchise's QB room has been shaken up and changed, but it might be the fastest and most dramatic. We will analyze these moves in March 2024 and tell the history of the Steelers Signal Caller Shakeups.
1950s Era Legendary Room Has there ever been a more enormous blunder on NFL QB talent than what the Steelers did in the mid-1950s?
Walt Kiesling was on his second stint as the head coach of the Steelers in the mid-1950s. In his last few years with the franchise, which was filled with Hall of Fame legends, All-Pros, and legends, he ran pretty much a quarterback carousel.
Before the 1955 season, Jim Finks, Paul Heidt, a ninth-round Draft pick from Louisville, a local kid named Johnny Unitas, and another local arm from Franklin, PA, Ted Marchibroda.
✦ Unitas did not make the team! The legend, of course, would get signed by the Baltimore Colts a bit later. Johnny U. set multiple NFL records and was named LFL MVP three times, earning spots on ten Pro Bowl rosters and five first-team All-Pro honors. He helped lead the Colts to four NFL championship titles.
In 1956, the Pittsburgh QB room consisted of Marchibroda and Jack Scarbath.
In 1957, the Pittsburgh Quarterbacks comprised Len Dawson, Earl Morrall, and Jack Kemp. Kielsing was demoted to an assistant, and Buddy Parker was brought in as the coach.
✦ Dawson was let go in 1959, and the Cleveland Browns signed him for two seasons before also cutting ties with him. He then became an AFC Dallas Texan who moved to Missouri after one year in Big D. He is, of course, enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame after a Super Bowl Championship in which he was the game MVP in seven Pro Bowls and 2 All-Pro Seasons as a Kansas City Chiefs.
✦ Pittsburgh released Jack Kemp after the 1957 season. He sat out of football for two years and then was picked up by the AFL's Chargers. After a year in LA and another in San Diego with the Bolts, he signed a contract with AFL rival the Buffalo Bills and led that team to two AFL titles, seven Pro Bowls, and a couple of All-Pro Seasons.
✦ The Steelers once coveted Earl Morrall. On September 16, 1957, Pittsburgh acquired Morrall from the San Francisco 49ers and guard Mike Sandusky in exchange for two first-round draft picks and linebacker Marv Matuszak. After just one season, the Steelers traded their prize quarterback to the Detroit Lions for future Hall of Famer Bobby Layne.
1958 Morrall's early-season trade left HOFs Bobby Layne and Len Dawson as the remaining signal callers. The Steelers went 7-4-1 and missed the Playoffs. The two stayed in Pittsburgh for 1959, and the team registered a 6-5-1 record.
1970s QB room
In the early 1970s, the Steelers had three potential starting quarterbacks: Terry Hanratty, Terry Bradshaw, and Joe Gilliam. In 1973 and 1974, all three of these signal-callers saw starts for the Steelers in both seasons. At the end of the 1974 season, the Steelers won Super Bowl IX, and Bradshaw secured the job.
1984 Signal Callers
David Woodley, the Dolphins' Rookie of the Year in 1980 and recently unseated by Miami newcomer Dan Marino, arrived in Pittsburgh to compete with Mark Malone for the Steelers' quarterback duties. The team ended up going 10-6.
1990s QB Rooms Neil O'Donnell and Bubby Brister battled it out for the starting job, and the team went 7-9 in Chuck Noll's final season. These two again were the quarterbacks when the Steelers improved to 11-5 under first-year head coach Bill Cowher.
Brister exited the next season, and Mike Tomzak joined the fray. O'Donnell took the team to 9-7, 12-4 in 1994, and 11-5 in 1995, losing the Super Bowl to Dallas, with the young arms of Jim Miller and Kordell Stewart joining the room.
New Millenium and a Franchise QB
The Steelers took Ben Roethlisberger with the 11th pick of the 2004 NFL Draft. Big Ben joined youngster Brian St. Pierre and a resurging Tommy Maddux.
However you look at it, changing the roster of the most important position on the team is the ultimate gamble of a franchise. The moves the Steelers have made in their QB room in March of 2024 look brilliant but only the play this fall will dictate if they were the right moves. The gambles on unwanted arms filled with potential and past glories don't always translate to "W"s on Sunday. Just look at the history of the team in similar circumstances. But Gosh what a fun ride it is to see Omar Khan pull his magic. Here We Go!
