One of the more polarizing picks in the Pittsburgh Steelers draft class, former Penn State quarterback Drew Allar has plenty to offer as a prospect, but there’s also several questions about his tape that contributed to his fall into the third round.
Without a long-term solution at the position currently on the roster, the Steelers took a chance on Allar as a third round pick, where there’s certainly no immediate pressure to become a starter.
That gives him the opportunity to sit and develop under first-year head coach Mike McCarthy. If he develops properly in the Steel City, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner believes he could prove to be a steal.
“The talent jumps off the screen when you watch this guy throw. It is effortless for him to push the ball down the field,” Warner said of Allar in his Kurt’s QB Insider series. “One of the questions always with a big-armed quarterback is: Can they control that big arm and become consistently accurate as a thrower?
“If so, this guy could become the steal of the draft and could become the best quarterback in this class. But that is a big ‘if.’”
As Warner and countless others have noted, there’s no question that Allar has the physical skillset to be a great quarterback. Just watching him play, it’s apparent that he has the arm strength to make any throw on the field but consistency and the mental aspect of the game will be the determining factors in his career.
The fit in Pittsburgh makes sense for Allar. All he needed was one team to believe in his talent and trust that they have the ability to develop him. Assuming Aaron Rodgers returns for 2026, the Steelers will be in no rush to see Allar under center, so he will be given ample time to develop under head coach Mike McCarthy who has a reputation as somewhat of a quarterback whisperer.
When you consider it from that perspective, it’s a no-brainer to select Allar in the third round if Pittsburgh believes he has the potential to be a starter and they offer the right environment and coaching to develop him at his own pace.
While some in the media connected the dots and believed the Allar selection was in part due to the Steelers’ belief that Rodgers wasn’t going to return, the opposite seems to be the case. A scenario where Rodgers returns and Allar is afforded the time to develop behind a veteran makes perfect sense for a prospect who was unlikely to find a team that immediately rush him into a starting role.
Some may argue that the more prudent move would’ve been to pass on all the quarterbacks in this year’s draft and wait until next year when the quarterback prospects are said to be plentiful, but it’s never a sure thing that a QB class will pan out and a team can never take too many bites at the apple at the game’s most important position.
At the very least, the Steelers have something to work with in Allar from a physical standpoint. The traits that he possess are rare and in theory, many of his flaws can be addressed with proper coaching.
Training camp and the preseason will be intriguing to watch this season as Steelers nation collectively wonders whether they finally have an answer at quarterback. One thing is for sure about Drew Allar: It will never be boring.