Given that the Pittsburgh Steelers are installed as 14-point underdogs Sunday, Kenny Pickett won’t have the odds in his favor when he makes his first NFL start in Buffalo.

What the Steelers’ first-round draft pick will have working to his advantage is a bit of history.

Since the second half of the 20th century, the Steelers have started a rookie quarterback on seven occasions. Although the record for those quarterbacks in those inaugural starts is 3-4, the Steelers have won each of the past two times they’ve started a rookie: Ben Roethlisberger in 2004 and Devlin “Duck” Hodges in 2019.

More encouraging for Pickett is since the 1970 NFL merger, the Steelers are 25-10 with a rookie quarterback under center, and that .714 winning percentage is tops in the NFL. And when it comes to first-round draft picks starting as rookies for the Steelers, Pickett could do worse than the company he keeps.

Pickett is the fourth first-round pick to start as a rookie for the Steelers. Of the other three, Terry Bradshaw and Len Dawson are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and Roethlisberger should join them in his first year of eligibility.

None of those three first-rounders, however, shined in his NFL starting debut with Roethlisberger being the only one of the trio to get a win. That’s a hurdle Pickett will have to overcome against the Bills.

With that in mind, from Duck to Dawson, here’s a look at the seven times since 1950 that the Steelers have started a rookie quarterback. The list doesn’t include Kordell Stewart, whose starting debut in 1995 came at wide receiver.

Devlin Hodges, 2019: With Mason Rudolph still dealing with a concussion he suffered a week earlier against the Baltimore Ravens, the undrafted free agent from Samford who joined the Steelers in a tryout camp got the start in prime time against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Hodges did just enough to help the Steelers to a 24-17 victory, completing 15 of 20 passes for 132 yards, one touchdown and one interception. His 26-yard touchdown pass to James Conner helped the Steelers build a 21-0 halftime lead. He became the first undrafted player in a non-strike season to win his first three starts before his Cinderella story ended. He finished the season 3-3 and never appeared in another NFL game.

Ben Roethlisberger, 2004: Hurricane Jeanne hit south Florida at about the time Roethlisberger was supposed to make his starting debut against the Miami Dolphins in Week 3. The game was pushed back to prime time, and Roethlisberger guided the Steelers to a 13-3 win in sloppy conditions.

With the Steelers leading 6-3 in the fourth quarter, Roethlisberger threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward, ensuring the victory. It was the first of his 13 consecutive wins as a starter that season, which set an NFL record.

Bubby Brister, 1986: The third-round pick from Northeast Louisiana began the season behind Mark Malone, who was in his fourth season as primary starter. Brister got the call in a Week 6 game at Cincinnati, which the Steelers lost 24-22.

Brister completed 12 of 33 passes for 191 yards in his debut and, like Pickett, recorded his first rushing touchdown before he threw a touchdown pass.

Brister started the following week in a 34-0 loss to the Patriots before Malone returned, and the Steelers finished 6-10.

Mike Kruczek, 1976: The Steelers used their second-round pick on the quarterback from Boston College but had no intention of starting him as a rookie. That changed when Terry Bradshaw was dumped on his head on a vicious tackle by Cleveland’s Joe “Turkey” Jones.

When Kruczek took over, the two-time Super Bowl champions were 1-4. With the Steelers leaning on running back Franco Harris (41-143-2 TD), Kruczek presided over a 23-6 win against the Bengals. He completed just 5 of 12 passes for 58 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. He also carried three times for 21 yards.

Kruczek went 6-0 in two stints as Bradshaw’s replacement although he never did throw a touchdown pass that season.

Terry Bradshaw, 1970: Anointed the starter from the outset, Bradshaw was tasked with helping the Steelers improve from a 1-13 finish the previous year, Chuck Noll’s first as coach. The first overall pick from Louisiana Tech, Bradshaw’s debut was a 19-7 loss to Houston in which he completed just 4 of 16 attempts for no touchdowns and one interception. He was replaced by Terry Hanratty, who led the Steelers to their only touchdown of the game. Bradshaw threw 24 interceptions and just six touchdown passes that season in 13 games that included eight starts.

Terry Hanratty, 1969: A year before the Steelers drafted Bradshaw, they selected the Notre Dame passer in the second round. Hanratty’s starting debut came in the sixth game of the season, a 14-7 loss to Washington. He provided a glimmer of hope with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Earl Gros for a 7-0 lead. That was a rare bright spot on a day when he completed 11 of 28 attempts for 156 yards and two interceptions. He made four more starts that year for the 1-13 Steelers.

Len Dawson, 1957: Dawson wouldn’t emerge as a Hall of Fame passer until 1962 when he joined the AFL and the Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs. Five years earlier, as the Steelers’ first-round pick, Dawson started a Week 9 game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Dawson completed 2 of 4 attempts for 25 yards and rushed three times for 31 yards before he was replaced by Earl Morrall in the 7-6 loss. It was Dawson’s only appearance, and he never started another game in three seasons with the Steelers.

For the record, although Kordell Stewart’s first start as a rookie came at wide receiver in 1995, he completed both of his pass attempts for 17 yards in that game and caught two for 36 in the Steelers’ 20-17 victory at Cleveland.

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