My takeaways from Allar interviews, his receptiveness to coaching and his play in mini camp.

Interviews: Drew Allar came across really well in his interviews. He’s very aware of what he needs to work on and went into solid detail about it. For a 22-year-old, he speaks maturely and clearly has a good head on his shoulders.

Receptiveness to coaching: He’s being broken down and rebuilt in Mike McCarthy’s hands-on system, and he’s handling it extremely well. He’s open, coachable, and willing to work. I see zero red flags here.

On the field play . His play was impressive in a very small controlled sample. He’s a big, athletic guy who moves well and can throw accurately on the run, hitting tight windows of the net with squares in it. Some quarterbacks struggle with that. Once he cleans up his lower-body mechanics and foot positioning, his arm talent and accuracy are only going to get better. Honestly, I thought the Penn State playbook was pretty bad and the coaching there didn’t do him any favors. They barely used his ability to throw on the move with waggles and bootlegs — at least I didn’t see it in college. There’s only so much you can evaluate in mini-camp, but Allar cleared this very low bar easily.

How soon until he’s ready to start?

I don’t know exactly, but he has the physical tools and he’s working with a coaching guru in McCarthy. I’m pretty confident we’ll see him starting somewhere between this season and next. It won’t be too long. I wish he could stay a few extra days to keep working with Mike M. and get more comfortable in Pittsburgh.

One question though — where is AR? The communication between him and the Steelers is missing and so is he. Will he sign for a year? Check the real estate listings for a clue.

 

I looked

3 other Allar posts already including one by the OP that was redundant

 

You can tell it's the off season.

 

Thanks for bumping my thread as always. Just do not hit me with a clown fee service charge , and a merchant charge over 2.5%. Okay, Bozo?

I tip well for those who earn it.

New flash this thread is about:

Allar interviews, his receptiveness to coaching and his play in mini camp. IE, new stuff.

 

Backup QBs have always been "all the rage" for Steelers fans. I would actually be excited about Howard and Allar... if Rodgers moved on and retired, instead of signing with Steelers for another 8-10 win season.

 

Equivocation seems to be your favorite past time.

 

Here I am wrapping up my too early 2027 Big Board for the upcoming class. Top Five soon thereafter. Was supposed to drop this past Sunday but had plumbing and finances to take care of.

 

Just glad this one has normal size font.

 

Allar was McCarthys pick. Howard was not. Don't be surprised when he is our starter if Ayahuasca Rodgers doesn't feel like "Running it Back".

 

I think the backup QBs, especially rookies, are generally the most popular guys in town for every team that doesn't have a current franchise QB at the helm.

 

His mechanics are garbage. He is all over the joint. That is not going to be a quick fix. So if he's dedicated to that and works his tail off maybe a one year redshirt will be enough. But he may need more than one year. And he may never be good enough of course.

 

You could get your wish should Rodgers continue his delay.


If anything, Mason Rudolph likely is up at bat.

 

Why rush Rodgers? He is on a retreat in Lake Tahoe with the freemasons. Of course I have no proof that he is. In Fact nobody knows his whereabouts.

He could tell the Steelers I will be here on a certain date... but he hasn't.

So he's AWOL.

 

Fake news by Joel

 

I don't think there's much correlation between good interviews and good QB play.

But I'm glad if he doesn't suck at talking I guess.

I'll be much more glad if he was good at playing QB. Fingers crossed.

 

How many NFL quarterback interviews have you been in on before you just dismiss it

An awful lot if not most of a quarterbacks success is based on his understanding of defenses and the game in general

 

How many QB prospects sound good in an interview and suck at playing QB? Almost all prospects sound good in interviews at this point in their careers (at least the public facing ones we get to see). Yet most QB prospects can't play QB in the NFL at an average level.

Especially after their first minicamp. When it's all puff piece season.

Being an above average QB in the NFL is almost impossible.

Here's Kenny Pickett's first press conference in Pittsburgh. He does a good job in the interview. But unfortunately, he sucked at being a QB.

Because having a good interview is infinitely easier than playing QB in the NFL.

Or we could watch how well Howard did on the episode with Gruden last year. He was apparently awesome in interviews and understanding defenses and making calls (although my guess is that every episode Gruden does like that ends up being a puff piece about the kid in the episode).

But he didn't get picked until the 6th round. Because teams don't think he can be a starter...maybe the consensus was that he can't be even a long term backup going that late.

Doesn't mean that they are right (people can't seem to scout QBs because no one knows what makes a QB who's good in college also good in the NFL). But he apparently gave great interviews and the league doesn't have confidence that he can play.

 

Was this a random thought

 

No. It's the same argument that's made in the post you applied to above.

I think there's little to no correlation between interviews and play on the field.

One of them is very easy to do with minimal training (interviews).

One of them is something that almost no prospects succeed at (playing QB in the NFL). Even with high pedigree prospects taking in the top 5 picks, you're basically flipping a coin.

 

Why rush Rodgers? He is on a retreat in Lake Tahoe with the freemasons. Of course I have no proof that he is. In Fact nobody knows his whereabouts.

He could tell the Steelers I will be here on a certain date... but he hasn't.

So he's AWOL.

Which part is Fake?

 

How do I grade QB Interviews for quarterbacks? I evaluate interviews four things:

Presentation Skills — Do they speak clearly and confidently? Can they articulate ideas without rambling or using filler words?

Accountability / "Manning Up" — When things go wrong, do they own it? Or do they make excuses, blame teammates, or dodge responsibility?

Football Intelligence — How they talk about plays and schemes tells me everything. High-level QBs break down protections, reads, and adjustments naturally. Lower-level ones give generic answers or sound lost.

Leadership - Do you want to follow him?

Kenny Pickett was a perfect example of a low-IQ QB in this regard. He scored a 17 on the Wonderlic (well below the QB average of 25), and it showed in his interviews. He never came across as impressive or insightful. Even when discussing plays, his answers felt surface-level and uninspiring.


Not all QB's interview well. Allar did.

 

Sounds like a starter... but isn't:



(supposedly scored a 28 on your glorious Wonderlic)

 

Yes, Mason Rudolph interviewed well. He comes across as a sharp, articulate guy who speaks with confidence and clarity. He clearly understands and handles questions smoothly.

That said he had concerns.

He played a relatively weak schedule in college at Oklahoma State. He has a so-so arm — nothing special in terms of velocity. He doesn’t move particularly well. So ...

 

Can you us know where you're watching the interviews?

The things you're grading are easily taught in a one day media training workshop. Have you ever done media training? Guaranteed that any QB who hopes to be drafted early has done this.

Except what you're calling "football intelligence". And players are likely told not to talk about specifics to the media. Which is why we almost always get cliches that don't really mean much.

One of those cliches is about taking responsibility. But would you really rather have someone who takes responsibility in a press conference over guys like Manning or Rodgers (in their primes) when they'd tell the truth about "protection issues" or provide details about why plays actually failed (instead of some cliche about how they're the QB / leader so when things fail it's on them?).

Personally, I'll take the guys who can play QB at an elite level. You can have the guys who say the cliches you like.

The Wonderlic test doesn't correlate to QB play either. Ben got a 25/50. Which is also bad. Brees got a 28/50.

One of the Manning brothers got a 28 and the other got a 39. Which one would you rather have on your team?

Ryan Fitzpatrick got a 48 on the Wonderlic. The standard deviation on the Wonderlic is 6-7 points. That means Fitzmagic is three standard deviations (or more) higher than Ben, Brees, and the better Manning on this test. But only an idiot would take him over any of these guys.

I think you're making a great argument for why basically everyone sucks at scouting QBs. Because the things they use are correlated to success at the NFL level. I think it's because there's nothing that compares to the speed of the NFL.

And being able to say "it was my fault" when it wasn't doesn't give you the superpower to make good decisions at NFL speed.

They should put these guys in VR helmets and run game film at them at NFL speed (maybe getting progressively fasts) and see if they make good decisions quickly. Ideally with some way to also gauge the accuracy of the passes they're throwing while in the helmet.

Processing power matters. But it's not the math / logic processing that they test on the Wonderlic.