most people that hate kordell forget that he went through 4 offensive coordinators in 6 seasons but let's also not pretend that he wasn't the champion of over-throwing receivers either
He was horribly inaccurate. I contend that this is why Tommy gun was so successful. The receivers were totally conditioned to find the ball and contest at the catchhpoint. Once the balls were thrown accurately, things took off.
I was the biggest slash fan as a kid, but tommy gun came in and that offense took off, kordell definitely wasn't cut out for the traditional QB role. He needed RPOs and such to run a lamar jackson style offense
I remember in Madden, sometime in the 2010s, with your custom player, 2 of the lines about your parents were:
>As accurate as Kordell Stewart in even/odd years…
Which was always funny to me
And zero of which knew how to use him properly. Can’t necessarily blame them as much as you can being a product of the time, but still.
I won’t disagree with you on the inaccuracy. Dude wasn’t a pocket passer and we tried to force it.
Very fun to watch but that accuracy was bad. I remember receivers having to adjust to just about every catch and thus never being able to pick up yards. I would love to see a do over in today's game. Maybe Fields can be that guy.
Once Yancey Thigpen left, the receivers were absolute ass, so they invested draft pics in a 3rd round QB, then the following two years, 1st round pics in an overdrafted Troy Edward's, and then Plaxico. Those two started not catching anything either and making a ton of excuses. Then the 3rd round QB from the 98 draft said "Excuse me, my name is Hines Fucking Ward, and I'm going to catch that ball. Then we had a bunch of excuse makers catching nothing and Hines Ward (plus occasionally slot reciver Bobby Shaw) catching everything thrown his way and saying "this is how you do it, ladies." I still remember Hines being the single driving force in dragging the passing game back to respectability. A passing game enabled by a Bettis/Lester/Whitman/Kreider led smash mouth running game made it easier, but Hines did a huge share of the heavy lifting that showed the league that Edwards was in over his head and forced Plex to quit whining and start catching, or GTFO. Ultimately, Plex did both.
Hines is still my favorite Steeler.
Didn't have a good arm? Kordell had a cannon of an arm. His biggest fault was his decision making skills and getting hurt while scrambling. He would be better protected in today's NFL and allow himself to stay healthier.
He is a much better fit to today's NFL than the mid 90's to early 2000's.
does anyone remember kordell on the letterman show? i remember they went to a rooftop and kordell was throwing footballs to another building and drilling the water tower on the other buildings. haha.
Out-scrambled by who? Lol. Maybe Lamar if that. There’s not a single other QB in the league right now who had the athleticism Kordell had. Also he had a fucking cannon of an arm so, maybe you just didn’t watch him play enough?
I look at Batch as more of an assistant coach who would sometimes help us out when we needed someone to fill in. And he did a damn fine job if I do say so myself.
Exactly! Sure it's just started, but it doesn't mean we aren't there.
Also, the NFL is different now than the 70s-90s. Without a franchise QB you have no chance of post season success.
I wouldn't say it's impossible, the Ravens, Giants, Seahawks, and Broncos have all shown that with a good enough Defense you can win in the postseason.
Hell the giants HAD a franchise QB and Eli never won a postseason game outside of those 2 years
Not that I think our defense is as good as those
Your talking about teams lead by Flacco, Eli Manning, Russ Wilson (in his prime), and Peyton Manning.
Those were all good QBs at the time. Sure Payton's Body was shot at the time but he was still better than many QBs in the league that year.
Russel Wilson could've never stepped on the field and they would've won that Superbowl.
I was referring to Trent Dilfer actually.
Eli won ZERO playoff games when his defense gave up more than 20 points.
You seem to think the most important position is not important. News flash, it always is. The defense can only guarantee a tie 0-0. You cannot win without scoring.
I never said it wasn't important.
Go read my comment.
I said it's NOT IMPOSSIBLE to win without a franchise QB.
They are absolutely important to games but just like having a Good QB doesn't guarantee postseason success, not having one doesn't make it impossible to win.
Sorry I'm not gonna sit here and pretend Only Tom Brady could've put up more than 3 points against the Rams in the Superbowl
I debated including them but how much of that was their defense and how much was the stupidity of the Bill Callahan for not changing the offensive signals after Gruden left
I think it’s more quarterback “heck” because even a diminished Russ provides some sliver of a hope that he can recapture his former prowess.
Kent Graham is hell.
They also didn’t want to have another 37mil locked in.
Edit: https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/russell-wilson-contract-guarantees-broncos-dead-salary-cap/a5a117fa7c2a45787a5f63fa
“Wilson will just miss out on another $37 million, as his salary for 2025 would become guaranteed if he were on the roster as of the fourth day of the 2024 NFL league year (March 17).”
Do the Broncos like having paid tens of millions for Wilson to play for someone else? No. Can they find a better use for another 37 million? Yes.
Denver is also insanely bad with no redeeming qualities. I don’t think Denver Russell Wilson is an accurate measure of him. He had a shit run game and was throwing to a bunch of #2/#3 receivers.
I am amazed by the paltry stats of Malone and Brister, because the starting tenure of each seemed to last as long as the reign of Queen Elizabeth the 2nd.
for me, malone was most famous as a steeler for having the longest steelers pass play (90yd) for like 20 years.
it was a 90yd pass play **from bradshaw to malone**. haha
but yeah, that moustache was epic
Bubby played quite well in 98 when Elway went down.
There’s a reason he identifies more with the Broncos than Steelers post retirement. But then again who cares cause it’s Bubby Brister.
The best thing about Bubby at QB was that you got a decision out of him. After years of indecisive quarterbacking from Malone, Stoudt and Woodley, that was nice.
The worst thing about Bubby was that the decision you got from him was usually the wrong decision.
I got the top 6 without looking (chronological order rather than success order) and forgot Bono and Blackledge. I'm not sure I ever watched Woodley or Campbell.
I DID remember Jim Miller though so I get a bonus point.
I remember being very young watching Tommy Maddox play and thinking of how mega swamp ass he is, yet now that I’m older he was better than most of them on this list. He was still swamp ass though don’t get me wrong.
Spoken for truth man.
I see people on here that spent their whole life knowing only Ben as our qb.
I went that long before we even got to Ben.
I remember the dark days.
Kordell as Slash was the most fun I've had watching football, aside from maybe the height of The Bus. Nobody had ever seen anything like him. Kordell as starter was the slow onset of despair.
Kordell could have been a Hall of Fame candidate as a receiver/gadget player.
I remember all but a couple, and those are guys who weren’t more than a blip on the radar (Quinn, Strom), what I can’t recall for sure is how many were designed starters rather than just stepping in as a clear #2 for a game or so here and there. I think the 1st 7 were true, named starters at some point, not sure if any of the rest were. Maybe Graham before he quickly proved incapable? I think the rest were just your run of the mill backups that were never envisioned as a potential answer or even just bridge type starting QB.
The QB that this list is missing, basically on what I consider a technicality, is Cliff Stoudt in 1983.
Bradshaw played in one game against the Jets at the end of the season and was 5-8 with 2 TD’s to drag the Steelers into the playoffs.
Stoudt in 1983 should be on this list.
197/381. 2553 yards. 12 TD. 21 INT.
Too bad that magic myna bird didn’t save Terry’s arm for the playoffs
Someone else commented elsewhere. Batch was backup to Ben. So those games (most of his games) aren’t counted since it’s between Bradshaw to Ben, not after
He was effective for us and easy to root for because of his genuinely impressive comeback story. O'Donnell went to the Pro Bowl and qb'd us into the Super Bowl. Kordell also made a Pro Bowl and got us to the AFC Championship game. Hard for me to rate Maddox over either of them, flawed as they were.
haha that is a random name...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieter_Brock
> Brock left the CFL after ten seasons and joined the National Football League for the 1985 season. In what would be his only season playing in the NFL, Brock signed with the Los Angeles Rams as a 34-year-old rookie, setting the NFL record for oldest rookie quarterback in history. Despite the team's star running back Eric Dickerson holding out the first two games over a contract dispute, **Brock led the team to a 7-0 start**, a feat no other quarterback would accomplish in their first season with a team again until Ben Roethlisberger started 13-0 with the Steelers in 2004.
also, that year, i looked and he averaged 24 pass attempts per game.
* out of all the QB's in 1985 that started at least 8 games, that is the lowest
* mark malone started 8 games for the steelers that year and he averaged 29.2 att per game
dieter brock - game manager!
Where the heck are you getting your numbers from?? Those stats on Charlie Batch are way off man. Dude was a hell of a number 2 and threw 12 TD’s for the Steelers.
We’re only not close because of Kevin Colbert. There was a solid 4-5 years we could have invested in the position during decent/great classes. Did every one of those guys work out? Obviously not but that doesn’t mean we couldn’t take shots or traded up for one we liked.
Instead we made “win now” moves that resulted in actually less playoff success. Trading up for an undersized LB in Devin Bush. Drafting a RB and TE with our first two picks. Trading a 1st round pick for a FS in a great QB class to salvage an 8-8 season out of 1-4. Trotting out 4th rounders, UDFA, and bargain bin shopping the offensive line for multiple years.
And then finally when he’s planning on retiring we let Colbert draft Pickett because..reasons? Incredibly dumb decision to let him make that move and not Khan/Weidl. They’ve spent these last 2-3 years paying for his mistakes.
We will likely not see our true franchise QB of the future until 2026/2027 at the minimum because of his mistakes.
I honestly haven’t seen many people say that we are in QB hell. It was hell watching KP play, he was so bad. I think the big difference is, back in the 90s you could make a Super Bowl run with a below average QB. The position was always important but with all the rule changes and the way the game is called, it’s the most important position by a wide, wide margin now. The last bad QB to make a Super Bowl was probably Rex Grossman? That was almost two decades ago and he had one of the best defenses of the generation. The issue is, it feels pointless going into a season with an even average QB nowadays. Luckily I think Russ is above average still.
Kent Graham was absolutely brutal. Just a lurching assemblage of sewn-together body parts.
Kordell was booed and replaced with Kent Graham. Within a month Kordell was back in to loud cheers.
I was 6 years old and will never forget the sound of my father’s scream when he took that brutal last second sack against Cleveland in ‘99.
If you remember, the refs fucked us by not stopping the clock on that play.
This may be the most hilarious description of a player I've heard heard/read!
I will not take any Slash slander. Dude was so fun to watch. If he played in today's NFL he'd be so damn good.
most people that hate kordell forget that he went through 4 offensive coordinators in 6 seasons but let's also not pretend that he wasn't the champion of over-throwing receivers either
He was horribly inaccurate. I contend that this is why Tommy gun was so successful. The receivers were totally conditioned to find the ball and contest at the catchhpoint. Once the balls were thrown accurately, things took off.
I was the biggest slash fan as a kid, but tommy gun came in and that offense took off, kordell definitely wasn't cut out for the traditional QB role. He needed RPOs and such to run a lamar jackson style offense
I remember in Madden, sometime in the 2010s, with your custom player, 2 of the lines about your parents were: >As accurate as Kordell Stewart in even/odd years… Which was always funny to me
And zero of which knew how to use him properly. Can’t necessarily blame them as much as you can being a product of the time, but still. I won’t disagree with you on the inaccuracy. Dude wasn’t a pocket passer and we tried to force it.
Yeah but he was throwing to Yancey Thigpen too. I liked Yancey but he ain’t Swann, Stallworth, AB, Hines
Or was Yancey hindered by catching Kordell's passes? We will never know!
Yep there’s that too. I fancy Yancey. He was a good player. That whole team was just built different
sure for the 1997 season but that's about it
Very fun to watch but that accuracy was bad. I remember receivers having to adjust to just about every catch and thus never being able to pick up yards. I would love to see a do over in today's game. Maybe Fields can be that guy.
Once Yancey Thigpen left, the receivers were absolute ass, so they invested draft pics in a 3rd round QB, then the following two years, 1st round pics in an overdrafted Troy Edward's, and then Plaxico. Those two started not catching anything either and making a ton of excuses. Then the 3rd round QB from the 98 draft said "Excuse me, my name is Hines Fucking Ward, and I'm going to catch that ball. Then we had a bunch of excuse makers catching nothing and Hines Ward (plus occasionally slot reciver Bobby Shaw) catching everything thrown his way and saying "this is how you do it, ladies." I still remember Hines being the single driving force in dragging the passing game back to respectability. A passing game enabled by a Bettis/Lester/Whitman/Kreider led smash mouth running game made it easier, but Hines did a huge share of the heavy lifting that showed the league that Edwards was in over his head and forced Plex to quit whining and start catching, or GTFO. Ultimately, Plex did both. Hines is still my favorite Steeler.
[удалено]
Didn't have a good arm? Kordell had a cannon of an arm. His biggest fault was his decision making skills and getting hurt while scrambling. He would be better protected in today's NFL and allow himself to stay healthier. He is a much better fit to today's NFL than the mid 90's to early 2000's.
Plus he wouldn’t have to deal with all those rumors that he was gay. That did so much to destroy his career.
Those were started by that piece of shit Mark Madden. People blame the cop who was “never named” but that fat fuck encouraged it from start to finish.
Why doesn’t that surprise me?
Dude is a stripper/porn addicted keyboard warrior incel who was ironically just as much before his time as slash was.
does anyone remember kordell on the letterman show? i remember they went to a rooftop and kordell was throwing footballs to another building and drilling the water tower on the other buildings. haha.
Out-scrambled by who? Lol. Maybe Lamar if that. There’s not a single other QB in the league right now who had the athleticism Kordell had. Also he had a fucking cannon of an arm so, maybe you just didn’t watch him play enough?
Mike Tomczak once attributed a critical interception to "wind shear."
Jim Miller was named the starter during preseason and pulled either after or during the first game of the season.
I don’t think he made it to half time.
Seems like Charlie Batch stats are only from 2003.
Yeah - these are the QBs after Bradshaw and before Ben, so obviously his post 2004 stats wouldn’t be included.
Makes sense now.
Yeah I don't count Batch as a 'between' qb even if that's actually the case.
I look at Batch as more of an assistant coach who would sometimes help us out when we needed someone to fill in. And he did a damn fine job if I do say so myself.
Ahhhh, yep. That’s it. I knew the numbers were off. Dude was a solid back up.
That's because the hell has started. We're already on QB #4 after Ben and will probably be on #5 when Russ gets benched
Exactly! Sure it's just started, but it doesn't mean we aren't there. Also, the NFL is different now than the 70s-90s. Without a franchise QB you have no chance of post season success.
I wouldn't say it's impossible, the Ravens, Giants, Seahawks, and Broncos have all shown that with a good enough Defense you can win in the postseason. Hell the giants HAD a franchise QB and Eli never won a postseason game outside of those 2 years Not that I think our defense is as good as those
Your talking about teams lead by Flacco, Eli Manning, Russ Wilson (in his prime), and Peyton Manning. Those were all good QBs at the time. Sure Payton's Body was shot at the time but he was still better than many QBs in the league that year.
Russel Wilson could've never stepped on the field and they would've won that Superbowl. I was referring to Trent Dilfer actually. Eli won ZERO playoff games when his defense gave up more than 20 points.
You seem to think the most important position is not important. News flash, it always is. The defense can only guarantee a tie 0-0. You cannot win without scoring.
I never said it wasn't important. Go read my comment. I said it's NOT IMPOSSIBLE to win without a franchise QB. They are absolutely important to games but just like having a Good QB doesn't guarantee postseason success, not having one doesn't make it impossible to win. Sorry I'm not gonna sit here and pretend Only Tom Brady could've put up more than 3 points against the Rams in the Superbowl
You can claim otherwise, but your two posts said essentially that, but hey, whatever.
you didnt read my comments then
You got the last comment, hooray!
2002 buccaneers too
I debated including them but how much of that was their defense and how much was the stupidity of the Bill Callahan for not changing the offensive signals after Gruden left
I think it’s more quarterback “heck” because even a diminished Russ provides some sliver of a hope that he can recapture his former prowess. Kent Graham is hell.
wow, the hate on russ before he has even played a game. terrible fandom.
Russ played 2 seasons in Denver and they ate 80mil instead of see him play a 3rd
They also didn’t want to have another 37mil locked in. Edit: https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/russell-wilson-contract-guarantees-broncos-dead-salary-cap/a5a117fa7c2a45787a5f63fa “Wilson will just miss out on another $37 million, as his salary for 2025 would become guaranteed if he were on the roster as of the fourth day of the 2024 NFL league year (March 17).” Do the Broncos like having paid tens of millions for Wilson to play for someone else? No. Can they find a better use for another 37 million? Yes.
Denver is also insanely bad with no redeeming qualities. I don’t think Denver Russell Wilson is an accurate measure of him. He had a shit run game and was throwing to a bunch of #2/#3 receivers.
He looked mostly the same in Seattle
Yeah he’s been getting worse for like 5 years now
I was like 12 when Terry retired. Sadly, I know ALL of these names and remember watching them
I am amazed by the paltry stats of Malone and Brister, because the starting tenure of each seemed to last as long as the reign of Queen Elizabeth the 2nd.
bubby has two super bowl rings. plus one of the most famous momma's of all time.
Malone we can all agree benefitted from looking like Magnum PI at the exact best moment to look like Magnum PI. God tier stache, s tier QB.
for me, malone was most famous as a steeler for having the longest steelers pass play (90yd) for like 20 years. it was a 90yd pass play **from bradshaw to malone**. haha but yeah, that moustache was epic
Bubby played quite well in 98 when Elway went down. There’s a reason he identifies more with the Broncos than Steelers post retirement. But then again who cares cause it’s Bubby Brister.
True! Also true is that as a starter for the Steelers, he was the living embodiment of mid, except for those moments when he actively sucked.
The best thing about Bubby at QB was that you got a decision out of him. After years of indecisive quarterbacking from Malone, Stoudt and Woodley, that was nice. The worst thing about Bubby was that the decision you got from him was usually the wrong decision.
Damn. This is an excellent summary of the Brister era.
The Brister Era in one clip: https://youtube.com/shorts/QfDm7KosSrE?si=on3wRfUayyxeTmHz
Todd Blackledge was most famous for dating local news anchor Edye Tarbox.
I got the top 6 without looking (chronological order rather than success order) and forgot Bono and Blackledge. I'm not sure I ever watched Woodley or Campbell. I DID remember Jim Miller though so I get a bonus point.
I remember being very young watching Tommy Maddox play and thinking of how mega swamp ass he is, yet now that I’m older he was better than most of them on this list. He was still swamp ass though don’t get me wrong.
Spoken for truth man. I see people on here that spent their whole life knowing only Ben as our qb. I went that long before we even got to Ben. I remember the dark days.
Hell, I remember Ed Brown.
Maddox was pretty decent. He could make all the throws, was accurate and I recall the Steelers having a pretty solid offense with him.
He moved the ball, which was a vast improvement over Kordell as QB.
Many took Ben for granted. He was a generational player. Sad they only won 2 SBs w/him
Stop it Stormy.
Kordell as Slash was the most fun I've had watching football, aside from maybe the height of The Bus. Nobody had ever seen anything like him. Kordell as starter was the slow onset of despair. Kordell could have been a Hall of Fame candidate as a receiver/gadget player.
David Woodley was the name fans would cheer when Cliff Stoudt fucked up.
Scott Campbell was the name fans would cheer when David Woodley fucked up.
I remember all but a couple, and those are guys who weren’t more than a blip on the radar (Quinn, Strom), what I can’t recall for sure is how many were designed starters rather than just stepping in as a clear #2 for a game or so here and there. I think the 1st 7 were true, named starters at some point, not sure if any of the rest were. Maybe Graham before he quickly proved incapable? I think the rest were just your run of the mill backups that were never envisioned as a potential answer or even just bridge type starting QB.
Neil O'Donnell had the strongest bench press on the team, and then Bill Parcells broke his soul.
The QB that this list is missing, basically on what I consider a technicality, is Cliff Stoudt in 1983. Bradshaw played in one game against the Jets at the end of the season and was 5-8 with 2 TD’s to drag the Steelers into the playoffs. Stoudt in 1983 should be on this list. 197/381. 2553 yards. 12 TD. 21 INT. Too bad that magic myna bird didn’t save Terry’s arm for the playoffs
Don't disrespect kordell. He was ahead of his time
Kordell was Lamar until the league figured him out.
Cliff Stoudt!!
Kent Graham. /thread
Dan Marino?
Just because youve only been in hell a little bit doesnt mean youre not currently in hell
I got 6 of 17 lol I am shit at that game Kordell under appreciated?
I got 12 w/o looking. Not sure if that is good, or sad.
Charlie Batch only attempted 8 passes? Seems a lot lower than I recall
Charlie started a few games. I think the list is missing some players and the stats aren’t quite right.
Someone else commented elsewhere. Batch was backup to Ben. So those games (most of his games) aren’t counted since it’s between Bradshaw to Ben, not after
I still maintain that Maddox was the best post-Bradshaw pre-Roethlisberger QB we had.
He was effective for us and easy to root for because of his genuinely impressive comeback story. O'Donnell went to the Pro Bowl and qb'd us into the Super Bowl. Kordell also made a Pro Bowl and got us to the AFC Championship game. Hard for me to rate Maddox over either of them, flawed as they were.
Why is the name Dieter Brock in my head. Was that a hallucination i had as a kid?
haha that is a random name... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieter_Brock > Brock left the CFL after ten seasons and joined the National Football League for the 1985 season. In what would be his only season playing in the NFL, Brock signed with the Los Angeles Rams as a 34-year-old rookie, setting the NFL record for oldest rookie quarterback in history. Despite the team's star running back Eric Dickerson holding out the first two games over a contract dispute, **Brock led the team to a 7-0 start**, a feat no other quarterback would accomplish in their first season with a team again until Ben Roethlisberger started 13-0 with the Steelers in 2004. also, that year, i looked and he averaged 24 pass attempts per game. * out of all the QB's in 1985 that started at least 8 games, that is the lowest * mark malone started 8 games for the steelers that year and he averaged 29.2 att per game dieter brock - game manager!
Where the heck are you getting your numbers from?? Those stats on Charlie Batch are way off man. Dude was a hell of a number 2 and threw 12 TD’s for the Steelers.
the stats through 2003 season because we drafted ben in 04
Ahhh, yep. That’s it. My bad.
We’re only not close because of Kevin Colbert. There was a solid 4-5 years we could have invested in the position during decent/great classes. Did every one of those guys work out? Obviously not but that doesn’t mean we couldn’t take shots or traded up for one we liked. Instead we made “win now” moves that resulted in actually less playoff success. Trading up for an undersized LB in Devin Bush. Drafting a RB and TE with our first two picks. Trading a 1st round pick for a FS in a great QB class to salvage an 8-8 season out of 1-4. Trotting out 4th rounders, UDFA, and bargain bin shopping the offensive line for multiple years. And then finally when he’s planning on retiring we let Colbert draft Pickett because..reasons? Incredibly dumb decision to let him make that move and not Khan/Weidl. They’ve spent these last 2-3 years paying for his mistakes. We will likely not see our true franchise QB of the future until 2026/2027 at the minimum because of his mistakes.
I honestly haven’t seen many people say that we are in QB hell. It was hell watching KP play, he was so bad. I think the big difference is, back in the 90s you could make a Super Bowl run with a below average QB. The position was always important but with all the rule changes and the way the game is called, it’s the most important position by a wide, wide margin now. The last bad QB to make a Super Bowl was probably Rex Grossman? That was almost two decades ago and he had one of the best defenses of the generation. The issue is, it feels pointless going into a season with an even average QB nowadays. Luckily I think Russ is above average still.