Welcome to the Steelers Drew Allar

Beck went off the board with the 1st pick in the 3rd round, so the Steelers had to pull that string early, or miss out again on a guy they really wanted. I don't think Allar would have been there at #85.

 

Says the opposite to me. I never thought they were as sold on Howard as our future as they pretended to be. This says to me that they are not nearly as sold on him as they claimed.

 

I hope Howard is really good, but let's not compare Howard throwing to the greatest collection of college receivers in the history of football for his entire career, and elite talent everywhere on the field playing under the same coach and offense his entire career at Ohio State. Ohio State just had four of the top 11 players taken in this draft.

Allar had dogs at wide receiver for his entire career. There are times you are watching Penn State play and he has nowhere to go with the ball. Every throw needs to be perfect because they get no separation. The receivers make route running mistakes, and the coaching and offensive systems have been abysmal.

Just be fair if you are going to compare the two. They did not play on equal footing and to say so is ridiculous.

 

I live in Boise Idaho. What you describe feels like when I watched Brett Rypien dominate Josh Allen in college and felt like Allen was a scrub. People raved about Allen's big NFL arm but to me he looked like a bum. Surrounding cast does matter. I could not been more wrong.

 

Ummmm... Howard did not play with the 'greatest collection of wide receivers in the history of football for his entire college career'. He played at OSU for one single season. After leading KSU to a Big12 championship.
Drew Allar vs Will Howard! Cage match! Training Camp Showdown!!!! Should be fun.

 

Howard had OSU's receivers, 1st round guys, and Ryan Day as a coach. I agree he is more clutch than Drew, but he had more around him.

Drew never had talented receivers at Penn State, he had an NFL tight-end, and never fit Franklin's RPO system. He has more arm talent and ceiling, but does have an untimely interception problem.

I am curious if McCarthy can do anything with either of them.

 

wasted pick

 

I meant at Ohio St. I know he played at KSU.

So the only time he was on the field for his entire Ohio St career, he had the greatest collection of receivers I can think of ever on one field at the college level. He never played with inferior talent and when he played at KSU, he didn't play the level of competition that Allar did in the Big 10. He just didn't. Howard played in the conference of no defense when at Kansas St.

Apples and Oranges.

 

It is fun and interesting to watch the PSU fans try to find a way to make Allar the better prospect than Howard.

One man's opinion. Another might think, one QB improved. One did not.

 

Maybe we should ask Gruden?

 

I hope McCarthy can QB whisper one of these guys because I'm tired of the retreads like Trubisky, Wilson, Fields and Rodgers. I want them to move on from Rodgers and get on with the business of finding the Next One.

 

Here's Howard's career college stats: https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/will-howard-2.html

Howard played four seasons at KSU. He only had one season where he completed more than 60% of his passes. The other three seasons his completion percentage was under 60%. He had 48 TDs 25 INT over his 4-year career at KSU.

Then he goes to Ohio St and completes 73% of his passes with 35 TDs and 10 INT in his sixth college season with that talent.


Here are Allar's career stats at Penn State: https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/drew-allar-1.html

Allar only had four years in college, not six as Howard did.

Allar had a career completion percentage of 63.2% with 61 TDs 13 INT playing with crappy receivers.

Check out the stats and judge for yourself.

If you want to try to say that Howard is the better player or agree that Howard is 10 times the player Allar is like the poster I responded to that you are now quoting, knock yourself out.

I hope Howard plays great. I hope Allar plays great as well. It is the statement by that poster saying Howard is 10 times the quarterback Allar is that is just ridiculous.

 

Allar is Will Howard's backup


I dont see that changing, If it does change that that would be really surprising, but, right now, I dont see that changing

 

I never read '10 times'. But I did read where Howard won the big games.

 

Howard succeeded at his first college stop as well.

I think Howard, while not as strong an arm, is a more accurate passer. Howard can fit the ball into tighter windows more consistently. He also makes reads post snap a lot quicker.

Allar, while he might know what is going on pre snap, just doesn’t process quick enough post snap.

 

Dating back to 2024, I had graded Drew Allar a First Rouud pick. In 2025, I had him in the Top 50, 45th overall. Much of what I liked about Allar in 2024 still applied in 2025; poise, going through his progressions (often looking for his second or even third options) and, to get it all out of the way, yes, the overall arm talent. Literally no area of the field is off limits to Drew.


The concerns though with Drew are valid; namely with accuracy. However, we need to be very careful when scouting accuracy purely from the throwing perspective. A lot of moving parts are happening on one play and therefore, each factor needs to be accounted for. For me, they are as follows;



1.) Are the receivers getting to their spots as they should?

2.) What type of route assignment does the Receiver have?

3.) Is the QB anticipating that Receiver to be at that spot more quickly than he should?

4.) Does the QB have trust that the Receiver will get to his assigned spot on the play?

5.) How is the QBs overall footwork within the pocket?

6.) Is the footwork consistent?

7.) What type of passing play is it?

8.) Is there a consistent rhythm to the plays themselves being called?

9.) Are these plays capable of getting your QB into rhythm?

10.) If not, is the play calling flexible enough to ensure that the QB can get into a rhythm?




More examples than this of course. However, the general idea is basically the same; accuracy isn't just a percentage value gauged on if the QB completes the pass on its own. It is a multi layered term founded on the rationalism of trust of the Receiving Corps, Fundementals of the QB Position being followed and consistency of the flow of the Offensive Gameplan. All of these add up to one major sticking point for what has caused Drew to fluctuate all season; confidence.


He had it in 2024. Of that I am sure. In 2025 though, it clearly wasn't the same. I would imagine losing Tyler Warren hurts but it also doesn't help to have an Offense that not only lacks rhythm but even when it does, the trust factor simply isn't there between QB and WR consistently enough. It is easy for us as fans to say "well the QB should just 'will trust into existence' and everything will be good" but the relationship is more complex than that. Drew couldn't trust his Corps often because his Receiving Corps either wasn't good enough for him to trust as well as having play calling that was inconsistent overall.



Drew isn't blameless in any of this; his footwork is still the major concern. Far too often he either clicks his heels during dropback or his feet and knees are either too narrow to too wide. This isn't accounting for his unusual release times either; some games faster than others. That all said, Drew is a rhythm based QB contrary to what others believe; a massive reason why this is arguably the best pick of the class thus far.



Drew will have both the likes of Mike McCarthy and Tom Arth to work with him. Moreover to the point, he will be coming to the Steelers where he can sit back, readjust and most importantly, get that confidence back. Should he be able to, with the weapons, protection and rhythm based Offense that McCarthy brings?! You truly have something very special here to work with.



My pro comparison for Drew Allar was a turbocharged Joe Flacco. Flacco had similar issues with his release time and placement but both did get better as time rolled on. For me, I believe Allar can do better than Flacco did when he came out.



I grade this pick an A.

 

A 3rd round QB pretty much ensures Rodgers is coming back for another year.

 

I am very glad that Allar is joining the Steelers this year with Mike McCarthy’s staff. I believe they can develop young talent. Had he come out last year, he would have joined a staff that could not develop talent.

 

It's not about Will Howard or Drew Allar... it's about the Steelers FO failing to show any competence on addressing the QB situation since before Big Ben left. The fact that the Steelers FO is allowing themselves to be held hostage by an aging QB is an embarrassment. And then, turning around and wasting a 3rd round draft pick on a QB with some of the worst pocket presence, processing, and leadership skills of the top 10 QBs in this draft class, is an indictment of their utter incompetence. Oh... and by the way... Will Howard is a much better QB prospect than Drew Allar despite Drew's elite arm... because, at the very least, Will Howard is a better leader and processer.

 

To be fair, a MR-like career is probably above average returns on a QB drafted in rd 3.

Which is why I really don't like mid-round QBs. If you want a long term backup, just grab a guy who failed somewhere else. Or get a guy like Mason when the team that drafts him eventually lets him go (like we let Mason go).

 

The Steelers thought they had adressed Big Ben leaving even before he left by drafting Mason Rudolph.

 

This draft could not have been worse. Absolutely terrible picks.

 

The whole "Rodgers holding Steelers hostage" thing is so overplayed by some of yinz. Please explain exactly what the Steelers should have done differently last year or this year at the QB position? Did you really think Howard was ready to start Yr1? Laughable. Should the Steelers have signed an expensive FA QB who doesn't really fit their offense? Neither last year nor this year are the Steelers in a SB window. They are building a competent team from the inside out to prepare for the next franchise QB (who is not on the roster yet). As for Allar? He will be at worst a cheap replacement for Rudolph and perhaps something more. Same for Howard.
If there was a mistake by the org, it was Rooney wanting to extend Roethlisberger past his due date. That just cascaded into several questionable draft decisions that they are now trying to dig themselves out of.