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Christopher Boan has been covering sports and sports betting for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.
Pittsburgh Steelers’ Quarter-Century Team: The Most Impactful Players Since 2000
While recent years have been rather unkind to the franchise, there’s no denying that the 21st century has been one to remember for fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers, with two Super Bowl titles and 16 postseason berths between 2000 and 2024. With that in mind, PennStakes.com wanted to break down which members of “The Steel Curtain” have excelled most during their run with the club, so we utilized the approximate value totals compiled by Pro-Football-Reference.com to do just that.
Steelers’ Quarter-Century Offense
Position | Player | Years With Team | Approximate Value During Years |
QB | Ben Roethlisberger | 2004-2021 | 208 |
RB | Le’Veon Bell | 2013-2017 | 60 |
WR | Hines Ward | 2000-2011 | 110 |
WR | Antonio Brown | 2010-2018 | 101 |
TE | Heath Miller | 2005-2015 | 58 |
OT | Marvel Smith | 2000-2008 | 52 |
G | Alan Faneca | 2000-2007 | 104 |
C | Maurkice Pouncey | 2010-2020 | 94 |
G | David DeCastro | 2012-2020 | 81 |
OT | Marcus Gilbert | 2011-2018 | 41 |
Across 93 seasons of football in the Steel City, no player has racked up a higher AV total in their career than former Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger, who had 208 AV across 249 games with the club from 2004 to 2021 at PA sportsbooks.
That’s mostly because no player in Pittsburgh’s esteemed history has played in more games than Roethlisberger, with center Mike Webster being the closest, at 220 games from 1974 to 1988, though the six-time Pro Bowler did plenty on the field to warrant such an esteemed place in Steelers lore.
That’s because Roethlisberger led the Steelers to two titles in 249 games played (all with the Steelers), nearly doubling the next closest offensive player that’s suited up for Pittsburgh since 2000, that being wideout Hines Ward, who had 110 AV in 217 games with the club.
Ward ranks third all-time in Pittsburgh history, games played wise and 12th in terms of AV total, with the four-time Pro Bowl receiver out of Georgia beating out guard Alan Faneca (104 AV between 2000 and 2007 and 115 AV total between 1998 and 2007) and wideout Antonio Brown (101 AV in 130 games from 2010 to 2018) on the club’s leaderboard, AV wise.
Other noteworthy offensive AV earners from the Steelers since 2000 include guards Maurkice Pouncey (94 AV in 134 games from 2010 to 2020) and David DeCastro (81 AV in 125 games from 2012 to 2020) and running back Le’Veon Bell (60 AV in 62 games from 2013 to 2017).
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Steelers’ Quarter-Century Defense
Position | Player | Years With Team | Approximate Value During Years |
DE | Aaron Smith | 2000-2011 | 89 |
DT | Cameron Heyward | 2011-2024 | 138 |
DE | Brett Keisel | 2002-2014 | 71 |
LB | TJ Watt | 2017-2024 | 105 |
LB | James Harrison | 2002-2017* | 104 |
LB | James Farrior | 2002-2011 | 102 |
LB | Lawrence Timmons | 2007-2016 | 83 |
CB | Ike Taylor | 2003-2014 | 66 |
S | Troy Polamalu | 2003-2014 | 117 |
S | Minkah Fitzpatrick | 2019-2024 | 60 |
CB | Willie Gay | 2007-2017 | 43 |
Defensively, no Steelers player did more in their time with the club than defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, who has 138 AV in 211 games from 2011 through 2024, beating out safety Troy Polamalu (117 AV across 158 games from 2003 to 2014), linebacker TJ Watt (104 AV in 121 games from 2017 to 2024) and linebacker James Harrison (104 AV in 177 games from 2002 to 2017 - *with three different stints with the team).
The only other Pittsburgh defensive star to finish in triple digits, AV wise, was linebacker James Farrior, who had 102 AV in 154 games between 2002 and 2011, with Aaron Smith (89 AV in 160 games from 1999 to 2011) and linebacker Lawrence Timmons (83 AV in 158 games from 2007 to 2016) being the next closest Pittsburgh players on that side of the ball.
Bookmark the Steelers Super Bowl odds before the season.
Steelers’ Quarter-Century Special Teams
Position | Player | Years With Team | Approximate Value During Years |
K | Chris Boswell | 2015-2024 | 35 |
P | Jordan Berry | 2015-2020 | 11 |
Finally, the two specialists who racked up the most AV points during their time with the Steelers were kicker Chris Boswell, who has 35 AV with Pittsburgh in 150 games from 2011 onwards, while punter Jordan Berry had 11 AV during six seasons with the franchise from 2015 to 2020.
In terms of overall AV production, neither Boswell nor Berry rank highly on Pittsburgh’s all-time list, with the former placing 123rd overall while the latter ranked 314th on the Steelers’ list while taking care of the club’s kicking and punting needs in the past and present.
USA Today photo by Mitch Stringer.
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