Like clockwork, NFL pundits and fans are discussing what to make of the quarterback position at the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ben Roethlisberger instilled hope in a fanbase that had last seen a proper franchise QB in Terry Bradshaw, who played in the 70s and 80s. And after Roethlisberger, the situation has become chaotic once again. According to radio host Mike Madde, the root of this problem is former Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.

“If you wanna blame somebody for how badly the Steelers have mangled the quarterback situation, it’s Mike Tomlin,” Madden said on 105.9 The X this week. “Tomlin was the guy who made the call to draft Pickett. That is a fact. Colbert was the GM, but that’s a fact. Tomlin made that call. He was the only guy with any stroke in the organization that wanted to do it in the first round, and he had more stroke than anybody.

“But it’s not just about Tomlin having drafted Pickett. It’s about no quarterback ever developed on Tomlin’s watch.”

The Steelers picked Pickett in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. He was supposed to be the hometown hero for Pittsburgh after Roethlisberger. However, the transition didn’t work as expected. In his rookie season, Pickett threw for 2,404 yards with a 63% completion rate and seven touchdowns. Pickett also notably had the lowest touchdown percentage among starters in the league that year.

Bradshaw weighed in on Pickett’s stance in Pittsburgh during his appearance on To The Point – Home Services Podcast last year. He pointed out that the Steelers failed to build around Pickett and give him the kind of talent that made him an ace in college football. In his two seasons with the Steelers, Pickett was 14-10 as a starter.

A similar pattern followed for everyone who followed him as the Steelers QB1. FOX Sports’ The Facility highlighted that Mason Rudolph, Mitch Trubisky, and Russell Wilson went 3-0,2-5, and 6-5, respectively, as starters. Surprisingly, even Wilson couldn’t work out for Pittsburgh despite being one of the winningest QBs with the Seattle Seahawks.

Mike Tomlin did not have to develop Roethlisberger to be the star he became when he was hired as head coach. The iconic quarterback had already given the Steelers a Super Bowl win as a starter in only his second season in the league. Roethlisberger’s presence led to Tomlin becoming one of the winningest coaches in the NFL.

As soon as Roethlisberger retired, though, Tomlin was tasked with a challenge pretty much foreign to him. He did not give any of the next QBs enough time to live up to the task at hand in Pittsburgh.

The Steelers “gave up on him a little bit early,” former NFL quarterback Chase Daniel recalled on The Facility show. He even reckoned Tomlin had been on an “endless search” during this tenure, until he landed on Aaron Rodgers.

Last season, the Steelers found a stroke of luck in the veteran QB, who kept the team competitive and helped it reach the playoffs. However, Pittsburgh continued its 8-year postseason losing streak by falling to the Houston Texans in the Wild Card round.

Rodgers is set to retire after the upcoming season, making it evident that the Steelers will once again have trouble at quarterback. Will Howard is still waiting to take his first NFL snap, as he was ruled out of the 2025 season due to an injury. Pittsburgh also picked Drew Allar in the 2026 NFL Draft, further complicating this situation.

If Allar is the future franchise QB, what happens to Howard, who is just as inexperienced as him? Who will have to continue waiting in the wings, and for how long?

New head coach Mike McCarthy is known to be a quarterback guru. He’s also worked with Rodgers in the past and has expressed his optimism about having four quarterbacks on the roster (Mason Rudolph is also in the mix). But this year, like the recent few, will once again be a litmus test for the Steelers staff, with the uncertainty still clouding the future at quarterback.