In comparing Howard and Alar ask THIS question-

mccarthy said howard should have been higher than a 6th rounder. he also wanted to draft mason in greenbay but they didn't that year and waited. they drafted love the next year.

 

Expectations, on their own, are fine to have. While the Coaching Staff isn't going to expect Allar to start this season, I would imagine they are pleased with his development. However, when accounting for expectations as the claim of the argument as a whole to explain the differences, a bit of obfuscation here though not by you.


Expectations are nothing more when predictions meet promise. Allar is making strides for certain; that much is to be known. That said, the coaches expectations for Allar have little to do with what they expect from him in 2026 and much more to do with his development overall. As such, the staff only has interest in how well Allar can improve from here on out for the 2026 Season. The next offseason will be different but we are not there yet; hence why said statement is omitted for such a claim requires a ridiculous level of assumptions.


In contrast, Reporters are using a very limited amount of information to artificially create a narrative that Allar is even worse than the assumptions made about him leading up to the draft. Again, recall the QB Footwork Drill Allar completed and the reaction made by the NFL World at large. That, by itself, is a prime example of equivocation for the NFL World is comparing Allar's Progress in that short video to what his shortcomings were coming out of Penn State; vague information overall.


None of us have complete access to how the Steelers Coaching Staff is developing Allar. Due to this, any opinions made about him are guesswork at best to clickbait at most. This goes doubly so for reporters.


In short?! Expectations are what sell subscriptions and newspapers for the reporters reporting it. What is actually known about Allar will only be known to the people that are with him on a day to day basis; the Coaching Staff.

 

The difference between Mason and Drew is that Mason, even coming out of OK State, was deer in headlights when it came to pressure. Drew isn't. Yes, his completion percentage isn't very good but his poise when facing the blitz is the most important aspect of the two. Why?!


One can work on improving their ability to accurately throw under duress. One may never be able to improve their mental fortitude when faced with an onslaught of defenders barreling at you with bad intentions. Drew has the poise to stand in the pocket and deliver throws. His accuracy does need improvement.


Again though, his accuracy is directly tied to his poor lower body mechanics; not his arm talent and arm strength.

 

Ben's takes make me nauseous to be honest every time he is referenced online. Dude has become a regurgitation machine. As I said before and will again; a Hall of Fame QB he is but a Top 10 All Time NFL QB he isn't.

 

I think it's far from certain that Allar (or anyone else on the team) is "making strides". No matter what puff pieces we read will tell us.

They've had a handful of practices. That's essentially nothing when compared to all the work he did in college (and HS before that). Expecting prospects to have massive improvements from a couple weeks of effort with people who are really just trying to get to know them is pretty unrealistic IMO.

In just a few weeks of OTAs, it's probably pretty fair to say that there isn't much in the way of development going on for anyone.

I agree with you that reporters (and fans) have less information than the coaches.

But I also think it's not great for us to take whatever the coaches say at face value. They aren't aiming for full honesty or transparency when they are forced to speak to the media. If you've ever done media training, you know that all you're trying to do when talking to them is to stay on message.

 

Media Training or otherwise, Coaches have complete access to that player's progress. To state otherwise is incorrect due to the limited information that reporters have. That aspect is obfuscation for it doesn't address the claim made by me; Coaches are observing development while Reporters are guessing on the development itself. Furthermore, I stated that Allar is making strides. That doesn't mean he has imrproved leaps and bounds in comparison to what he was at Penn State. Two different things; a philosophical category error.


In short?! Coaches coach and reporters report. Two completely different things; occupational training being irrelevant to the claim.

 

No what I'm saying is they are human, and they all have their likes, dislike , and favorites, I have yet to read a unbiased report from most reporters in many years. Here is a little example from just the Steelers: one reporter say Allar is all that, looking good, and another says he looks like he needs much work, and that Howard is all the kitties claws. Yet they both watched the same stuff.
Also I said before they see an 1/8 of what coaches see.

 

Well he is a pro and I am not. Ben loves Howard, and really does not know what Mike McCarty -- a QB whisper was focusing on with Allar.

Look -- if you want to perfect something do it 1,000 times a week. Only then will you have the necessary muscle memory to be automatic.

I heard Allar had a good practice two days ago! He needs some work to be sure, but he has the necessary traits to shine.

 

I didn't say that the coaches have less information than the reporters.

I said that the information they make public is far less than the information they have.

 

And it's puff piece season.

Basically everything they write is positive this time of year. Or they are just playing whatever "angle" they decided to drum up to get a story out before their deadline. Hard to do in the doldrums of the off season.

It's best to just ignore (or at least significantly discount) any positive news. Unless it's strictly factual (e.g., how much someone like Jones participates in practice)

Except the half of dueling "Ben is fat" and "Ben is in the best shape of his life" articles we'd get every year at OTA / camp.

 

When there were real paper newspapers in Pittsburgh there wouldn’t even be a Steelers article between after the draft and the beginning of camp

Now some peon has to post something every day and half the readers run with it

 

Obviously one is a Penn State fan, the other not

Farabaugh is one of the better beat writers.

 

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Not sure why you believe Allar handles pressure well.
Here's just one source that says the opposite;
Everything Jets fans need to know about Penn State QB Drew Allar https://share.google/v2eXmrbfkP543WPSP

 

The tallest guy at a midget convention

 

My point overall was that the information that coaches have far exceeds what reporters have. The argument you presented was that it was far from certain that Allar (or anyone else) is making strides. I disagreed for there is much to learn and therefore much to improve upon at the NFL Level.

 

This article is comparing completion percentage under pressure vs perservence to take hits under pressure. Both can be seen on tape. As such, this is a category error by the Author of the article.


Two different things.

 

The former is far more important than the latter, unless he's Pancho Villa.

 

If the latter isn't a trait of the QB, the former is useless. Have to have mental fortitude to be able to deliver those passes. Furthermore and, as I said, part of Allar's issues with accuracy have much more to do with an overall lack of lower body mechanics. The arm strength and arm talent are there to aide his development.


So again, completion percentage when being pressured vs. perseverance when getting pressured are two different things.

 

I’m having a hard time with a few posters saying Allar was a bad pick because the coaches like his potential and are working on his mechanics

1) Isn’t that what coaches do with rookies

2) How many third round picks come out NFL ready and do not need any coaching

Although one said poster is a Pitt fan and hates being the little brother to Penn State

 

Actually, Ben would later talk about how modern college QBs do not know how to take a ball under center. Poor Tom Arth had to keep setting up those cones, so Allar could practice dropping back and moving in the pocket.

I went to multiple high school games last year to watch my nephew play, and I was amazed that every single offensive snap was out of the shotgun formation. Even at the end of the game when the team can out in the Victory formation, it was a shotgun formation.

Ben is right that it is crazy that NFL coaches have to teach QBs how to take a snap from center, because they have never done it before.

 

This has been going on for a while. I thought that was a concern with Roethlisberger coming out of college. I know it was an issue with Flacco coming out of Delaware.

 

And, if you don't know what the hell you are doing under-center, you are going to end up with a broken finger; just ask Will Howard.

 

A
Yes, that was absolutely a concern of Ben when he was drafted.

 

In his last two years at Penn State, the team was a rudderless ship. Allar didn’t handle pressure well, but the kid almost never turned the ball over. That’s an underrated trait.Here’s what most fans miss: Allar had a really poor group of wide receivers. They struggled to gain separation and rarely won their 1-on-1 matchups. As a result, the offense became overly dependent on the tight end in the passing game. Any offense that has to live through the TE like that is painful to watch if you understand X’s and O’s.But that was then. This is now.With the Steelers, Allar finally has good wide receivers and quality coaching focused on cleaning up his footwork. He can now let it rip down the field with real confidence in his wide receivers. That is something he never had at Penn State. That changes everything.


One thing I still don’t fully understand: Why do so many college quarterbacks struggle so much when they have to take snaps under center and execute a clean 3-step drop in the NFL? It’s like they’re learning a foreign language.Allar needs to do that simple task 1,000 times a month with his QB coach and practice squad players. Like Vince Lombardi said," become brilliant in the basics. "

 

All I need to know when it comes to Will Howard is that the one year after taking Howard in the 6th round they took Allar in the 3rd. That tells you right there that they dont think Howard is a future starter. If they thought Howard was the future but needed more polish they would of surronded him with Vets until it was time to take the reigns, the certainly would not of gone out and spent a much higher draft pick on a younger QB.