At the start of the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback position was looked at as an area of strength.

With a healthy Ben Roethlisberger and experienced backups in Byron Leftwich and Charlie Batch, the position appeared strong for the upcoming season.

Just 10 games into the season, that belief is starting to unravel.

Usually, it’s been the offensive line that gets beat up, injured and shuffled. In essence, just a patchwork line.

Now, with Roethlisberger out for at least another week — I wouldn’t put it past him to try and be ready for Round 2 against the Baltimore Ravens on Dec. 2 — thanks to his injured rib and sprained shoulder, and Leftwich, with his own rib injury putting him out indefinitely, all that remains is Batch.

Yep, the 37-year-old Charlie Batch.

While Leftwich and Batch made Steelers fans comfortable with their experience and ability, people had to be concerned with their track record with injuries.

Leftwich, 32, was a first-round choice out of Marshall University by the Jacksonville Jaguars. What he will be most remembered for at Marshall was not his records and awards, but breaking his left tibia in a 2002 game against Akron when his two teammates carried him down the field after a long completion.

He was signed by the Steelers in 2008 to replace an injured Batch. In 2009, he signed with Tampa Bay, injured his elbow which ended his season.

After signing back with Pittsburgh to start the 2010 season because of Roethlisberger’s four-game suspension, he then got injured in the preseason. He was cut a few weeks later, then re-signed a day later to replace an injured Dennis Dixon.

Last year, he was lost for the season when he broke his arm in the preseason.

Batch, meanwhile, was drafted out of Eastern Michigan by the Detroit Lions in 1998 in the second round and signed with the Steelers in 2002.

Often injured in Detroit since he was used more as a running quarterback, he came to Pittsburgh, his hometown, in 2002. In ’04, he was on injured reserve due to a knee injury, then in 2008, he suffered a broken clavicle (prompting the Leftwich signing above).

In 2009, Batch replaced an injured Roethlisberger against the Kansas City Chiefs.

He helped lead the team to a field goal to force overtime, but lost the game, injured his wrist, had surgery and missed the rest of the year.

Now, it’s again up to Batch, who has been very strong running the Steelers offense and the team has great confidence in him.

The only problem is, can he stay healthy? Can he keep the team flowing until Roethlisberger returns?

The Steelers will need to sign another quarterback, one that will need to pick up the nuances of the offense just in case Batch would be next to be injured.

It’s time for the Steelers to seriously consider drafting another quarterback — not a first-rounder, but something more than a training-camp free agent — as well as bring in another reliable, experienced and, most importantly, a healthy quarterback.

The Steelers need to upgrade their backup quarterbacks — a move that has proven to be a little too late this year.

Sam Tallarico is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.