Ranking every quarterback on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ schedule
The Pittsburgh Steelers have an off day today, but will return to the practice field on Tuesday, and Behind The Steel Curtain will be there.
In the meantime, we look ahead to the regular season and the signal-callers that Pittsburgh will face when the calendar officially flips from August to September. From worst-to-best, here are my rankings of every quarterback the Steelers will face in 2025.
14. Whomever The Cleveland Browns Quarterback Is
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It’s likely that the Steelers will face multiple Browns quarterbacks in 2025, considering all of them are bad. For story purposes, I’d love to watch Kenny Pickett stroll into Acrisure in Week 6 and get sacked by T.J. Watt in a blowout loss.
13. Anthony Richardson/Daniel Jones, Indianapolis Colts
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Richardson is a physical specimen, but he only completed 47 percent of his passes in 2024, which is impressively bad. Speaking of impressively bad, hello Daniel Jones. If the Steelers let one of these two beat them, they should be ashamed.
12. J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings
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He’s practically still a rookie, and he wasn’t asked to do a lot at Michigan. There will be some Jimmy Garoppolo-Kyle Shanahan similarities with McCarthy and Kevin O’Connell in which McCarthy will play above his means in large part due to a great head coach and great supporting cast.
11. Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks
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Darnold rode lightning last year until the spark finally faded in the team’s final two weeks, leading to an ugly wild card exit after a 14-3 season. With a far less talented corps of receivers, as well as playing sans Kevin O’Connell in his ear, Darnold comes back down to Earth.
10. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins
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The best days of Tua are in the past, and even the best days’ ceiling was getting blown out by the Chiefs in the wild card round. If temperatures dip below 70 degrees, the Dolphins fold. They play the Steelers in December – good luck.
9. Justin Fields, New York Jets
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I like Fields. I wanted the Steelers to give him the year to show whether or not he could be the guy. His mobility is his greatest strength. Things get very sporadic in the passing game, though, which isn’t a great trait to have when you’re a quarterback.
8. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions
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There are plenty of quarterbacks that when I see them on the schedule, I go, “How are they going to stop him?” Jared Goff isn’t one of those guys. He’s in the upper half of starters in the NFL, but he doesn’t strike fear, especially now that Ben Johnson is gone. The Lions’ roster is intimidating; their quarterback is not.
7. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears
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The Bears were a tire fire coaching-wise in 2024, but Caleb Williams still put up 20 touchdown passes to just six interceptions. He needs to take far fewer sacks, but there’s a lot of promise there. I’ll be very interested in the matchup between Williams and Ben Johnson against the Steelers’ defense.
6. Drake Maye, New England Patriots
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Maye is going to be the best quarterback of the 2024 draft class. Jayden Daniels is great, and I like the potential of Williams growing, but Maye is my favorite of the pack. He’ll give the Steelers fits early in the year.
5. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
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I don’t fear the Chargers because of the way they try to win on offense. They have no receivers not named Ladd McConkey and very few players that scare you. Herbert ranks this high because he’s played great football, but the Chargers are a non-factor.
4. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers
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The Packers are my pick to have the No. 1 seed in the NFC this season. Jordan Love played well in 2024 despite dealing with a leg injury he suffered in Week 1 against the Philadelphia Eagles that caused him to miss two games. With a No. 1 wideout in Matthew Golden to strengthen the corps, as well as a great head coach in Matt LaFleur, I love Green Bay in 2025 and think Love could be a dark horse MVP candidate.
3. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
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Jackson is coming off another All-Pro season in which he threw 41 touchdowns to just four interceptions. The Steelers lost their last two matchups against Jackson and the Ravens, and they would love to get back to putting him in a tailspin.
2. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
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Burrow put up nearly 5,000 yards and 43 touchdowns in 2024, but the Bengals’ horrid defense kept them out of the postseason. In terms of dangerous offenses, though, it’s hard to find many better than the Bengals. Luckily, the Steelers will have the secondary capable of keeping Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins in check.
1. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills (Week 13)
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Pound for pound, Allen may be the most physically talented quarterback of all time. He’s the reigning MVP for a reason, and that’s because he dragged a less-than-stellar offense to the AFC Championship Game while becoming the most efficient version of himself. He’s also had great success against Pittsburgh, posting a 4-1 record against the Steelers, including playoffs.