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Throughout the spring, Pittsburgh Steelers legend Ben Roethlisberger was among the noteworthy members of the NFL community associated with the franchise who voiced concerns about rookie quarterback Drew Allar and about Allar’s footwork.
The perception exists that head coach Mike McCarthy views Allar as a project for the future who should spend an entire season sitting behind future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers and a to-be-determined backup. For a piece published on Friday, Steelers reporter Mike DeFabo of The Athletic touched upon what he saw from Allar this spring.
How Steelers will challenge Drew Allar later this summer
“It’s interesting to me that the biggest knock on him is that he has unrefined footwork,” DeFabo wrote about Allar. “That is one of the most important parts of McCarthy’s West Coast system, as the steps of the quarterback’s drop are married to the depths of the receivers’ routes. By giving Allar guardrails and a more structured approach in the pocket, eventually the size and arm talent could shine. Still, he needs work. His accuracy is often spotty, and he’ll be challenged to process the game at a higher level once the preseason games begin.”
Back in May, a report revealed that the Steelers were “essentially uninstalling everything [Allar had] learned” and were “re-uploading their own methods and fundamentals and mechanics with Allar.” Allar is currently sharing a quarterback room with Rodgers, 2025 rookie Will Howard and longtime backup Mason Rudolph. Howard and Rudolph are due to compete for the QB2 gig through a portion of the preseason, so it’s unknown how many preseason snaps Allar will get.
Could Drew Allar rise up the depth chart this summer?
Some understandably have wondered if Allar could perform well enough from the start of training camp through Pittsburgh’s preseason finale to leapfrog both Rudolph and Howard on the depth chart. It sounds like such a scenario playing out is unlikely.
“It seems Allar is destined to spend this season as QB3,” DeFabo added. “Barring disaster, he will never see the field this year. That’s probably the best possible thing for his long-term development. While he’ll be under the microscope in the preseason, we’re not really going to know what the Steelers have in Allar until a year from now, when McCarthy has more time to work with the promising, but unrefined, quarterback.”
The 2027 draft class could be filled with multiple top-tier quarterback prospects, one of whom could ultimately become the Steelers’ long-term answer at the sport’s most important position. It remains to be seen if Allar’s development from now through next April will keep the Steelers from taking a flier on one of those prospects.
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