We’ve spent plenty of time talking about what the Pittsburgh Steelers might look for at quarterback. Especially under the new head coach, Mike McCarthy, who is known for developing and coaching quarterbacks.
Previously, we examined the team’s words of wanting an “AFC North quarterback.” A player who is big, tough, and can play in the cold. That’s far from the only data point. What about experience? During his local media scrum with reporters (unfortunately, there’s no video, so we’re going off what beat writers have said), McCarthy noted a quarterback’s floor can be more important than his ceiling. Which, in a sense, suggests experience matters. A “known” product could be preferred to a boom/bust player.
What does McCarthy’s history say? Let’s examine the six quarterbacks drafted while he served as a franchise’s head coach, and see if their college experience tells us anything about who Pittsburgh could target in 2026.
Quarterback/Round College Starts
Ingle Martin/5th 31
Matt Flynn/7th 13
Brian Brohm/2nd 33
BJ Coleman/7th 29
Brett Hundley/5th 40
Ben DiNucci/7th 35
Average 30.2
Quick notes. Martin started four games at Florida before finishing up at Furman. DiNucci, the only quarterback drafted in Dallas, made six starts at Pitt and his final 29 at James Madison. Flynn is the outlier of the group, a one-year starter replacing JaMarcus Russell.
But he also was a seventh-round “flier” of sorts and hardly drafted with the intent of being the team’s franchise quarterback. In fact, he was the second quarterback the Packers drafted that year behind Brohm, who did not have a successful career.
Still, the class average is 30 college starts (if you remove Flynn, the average becomes about 33). How does the 2026 class stack up? Using Dane Brugler’s Top 10 quarterbacks from his “The Beast” guide, here’s the group sorted from fewest to most starts.
2026 QB Class (College Starts)
Quarterback College Starts
Cole Payton/NDSU 13
Ty Simpson/Alabama 15
Garrett Nussmeier/LSU 23
Fernando Mendoza/Indiana 35
Drew Allar/Penn State 35
Cade Klubnik/Clemson 40
Carson Beck/Miami (FL) 43
Haynes King/Georgia Tech 43
Joe Fagnano/UConn 45
Taylen Green/Arkansas 46
Payton, Simpson, and Nussmeier fall well under the 30-start threshold. Payton and Simpson, especially. The rest are easily clear. If history repeats itself, the Steelers could gravitate toward someone like Allar, Beck, or Green. They have already brought in the latter two for pre-draft visits.
None of this is ironclad or comes with a guarantee. Payton could still be on Pittsburgh’s radar. But he would be an outlier. He has the same number of starts as Flynn, but Payton will require a higher draft pick than Flynn’s seventh-round selection. Once the picks come in (and if the Steelers indeed draft a quarterback), it’ll be worth revisiting this to see where that selection stacks up to McCarthy’s history.
Recommended for you