{"id":175599,"date":"2026-04-25T07:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T07:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/175599\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T07:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T07:02:09","slug":"pittsburgh-steelers-select-penn-state-qb-drew-allar-with-no-76-pick-in-2026-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/175599\/","title":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh Steelers select Penn State QB Drew Allar with No. 76 pick in 2026 NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Athletic has live coverage<\/a> of the 2026 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Penn State quarterback Drew Allar with the 76th pick in the 2026 NFL Draft on Friday. He was the fourth quarterback selected.<\/p>\n

Physically, Allar has the ideal blend of size, athleticism and arm talent to be an NFL starter. As a football player, however, Allar\u2019s evaluation is more complicated.<\/p>\n

A 2022 five-star recruit, Allar threw for a combined 5,958 yards, 49 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions during his first two seasons as a full-time starter in Happy Valley (2023-24), and he helped push Penn State into the College Football Playoff as a junior. As a senior in 2025, though, Allar struggled with consistency and decision-making through Penn State\u2019s first six games before suffering a season-ending ankle injury in October.<\/p>\n

But while Allar\u2019s tape shows flashes of terrific arm talent, the QB\u2019s inconsistent footwork, accuracy and comfort in the pocket as a passer remain major concerns. The NFL is not a developmental league, so Allar will have to turn several corners \u2014 and do so quickly \u2014 to reach his full potential as a player and possible full-time starter.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Beast\u2019 breakdown<\/p>\n

Allar ranked No. 106 in Dane Brugler\u2019s top 300 big board<\/a>. Here\u2019s what Brugler had to say about him in his annual NFL Draft guide<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cWith rare size for a QB, Allar can drive the ball with ease and generally makes sound decisions, although issues pop up when he is late to pull the trigger. He tends to get overly conservative with his reads, which leads to second-guessing, and needs more reps to continue developing his passing instincts (didn\u2019t start playing quarterback until high school). He is better than expected as a scrambler (81 first downs as a ball carrier over 35 career starts).<\/p>\n

\u201cAllar is a sturdy, strong-armed passer with promising intangibles, but underdeveloped timing disrupts his ability to execute at a high level. He has NFL starting-caliber physical tools, although a lack of natural passing rhythm creates uncertainty about his developmental ceiling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick Baumgardner grades the pick<\/p>\n

Allar is absolutely intriguing as a 6-foot-5, 228-pounder with terrific arm talent and above-average mobility. He has every tool in the shed. He was never consistent with his feet or in big moments during his run at Penn State, though, making him a boom-or-bust prospect. I think Allar has a higher ceiling than Will Howard, a sixth-round pick of the Steelers last year. Grade: B<\/p>\n

Mike Sando\u2019s assessment<\/p>\n

The Steelers\u2019 third-round selection of Allar is notable for the quarterback\u2019s traits: 6-foot-5, 228 pounds. New Steelers coach Mike McCarthy likes bigger QBs who can generally operate better in the cold and outdoor weather. He had Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, guys with big hands. Allar has large hands, measuring nearly 10 inches from thumb to pinkie with hand fanned out on a flat surface.<\/p>\n

How he fits<\/p>\n

McCarthy made his intentions known at the annual league meetings in Arizona when he said he wanted a quarterback with long arms and big hands \u201cat the right time.\u201d Turns out, the right time \u2014 after another one of the Steelers\u2019 targets, Carson Beck, was drafted \u2014 was with the first of the Steelers\u2019 three picks in the third round. While McCarthy said in Arizona that sometimes he gets more excited about a QB\u2019s floor, Allar is the high-ceiling QB who has yet to reach his potential. The Steelers have now handed McCarthy a QB with unique tools who has yet to put it together. The Penn State product arrives with 6-5, 228-pound size and a nearly 10-inch hand that helps him drive the ball effortlessly. Quarterbacks coach Tom Arth raved about Allar\u2019s strong arm, but he acknowledged his footwork and processing need work.\u2014 Mike DeFabo, Steelers beat writer<\/p>\n

Depth-chart impact<\/p>\n

Let the Will Howard versus Drew Allar competition begin. The Steelers have created a unique dynamic in their QB room with a pair of young former Big Ten passers. No matter whether Aaron Rodgers re-signs with the Steelers or not, Howard and Allar are now in a battle that will likely play out over multiple years. In the immediate future, that\u2019s likely for the QB2 job. In the intermediate term, one of the two passers will try to prove that the Steelers do not, in fact, need to trade up to land a first-round QB in 2027. Long term, can one become the future of the franchise?\u2014 DeFabo<\/p>\n

They also could have picked<\/p>\n

A number of guards were still on the board, including Emmanuel Pregnon and Gennings Dunker (they landed Dunker at the end of the night anyway). The Steelers also could have selected corner Jermod McCoy<\/a>, who was falling due to his medicals, defensive tackle Domonique Orange or a safety such as A.J. Haulcy, Zakee Wheatley or Keionte Scott.\u2014 DeFabo<\/p>\n

Fast evaluation<\/p>\n

The Steelers found themselves looking for a new head coach, in part, because of their inability to identify, draft and develop a successor to Ben Roethlisberger. They hired McCarthy because of his resume working with Hall of Fame passers. Now, just months into the job, McCarthy is making a bet on himself. Allar has some of the best physical traits in this QB class. He has a lot to clean up, though. It\u2019s the perfect canvas and measuring stick to evaluate the new head coach. \u2014 DeFabo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 NFL Draft. The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Penn State quarterback Drew…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":175600,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[20879,73,75,74,1833],"class_list":["post-175599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-penn-state-nittany-lions","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-pittsburgh-steelers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}