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.