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STATE COLLEGE, PA – SEPTEMBER 13: Drew Allar #15 of the Penn State Nittany Lions passes the ball before the game against the Villanova Wildcats at West Shore Home Field at Beaver Stadium on September 13, 2025 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
The Pittsburgh Steelers added another youthful option to their quarterback room on Friday, selecting Penn State quarterback Drew Allar in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft with pick No. 79.<\/p>\n
Beyond Allar, the Steelers\u2019 current quarterback depth chart consists of veteran Mason Rudolph and Ohio State product Will Howard, who\u2019s entering his second season. ESPN\u2019s Brooke Pryor reported<\/a> that the Steelers remain confident that Aaron Rodgers, who\u2019s still unsigned, will return to the franchise for a second season. <\/p>\n Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy said that the situation with Rodgers had no bearing on Allar being selected.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is about developing the room and trying to make the room as deep as we possibly can,\u201d McCarthy said on Saturday.<\/p>\n Why The Pittsburgh Steelers Drafted QB Drew Allar<\/p>\n Allar started 35 games for Penn State with a 26-9 record. In all, Allar had 7,402 career passing yards, 61 touchdowns and 13 interceptions with a 63.2% completion rate. And while Allar doesn\u2019t have blazing speed (ran a 4.72 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine), he rushed for 732 yards and 12 scores. Heading into the 2025 season, Allar was considered a potential Heisman candidate but would miss the final seven games for Penn State with an ankle injury. <\/p>\n Steelers quarterbacks coach Tom Arth spoke about Allar\u2019s strengths. <\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s 6-5, 235 pounds and he has big hands,\u201d Arth said, per Bryan DeArdo of CBS Sports<\/a>. \u201cI think what\u2019s most exciting when you’re talking about the quarterback position is can this guy throw the football and I think he throws it as well as any quarterback in this draft class. He has an effortless arm. He can make every single throw on the field and he’s a better athlete than I think he’s given credit for.\u201d <\/p>\n Mike McCarthy gave a similar evaluation about what Allar brings to the franchise.<\/p>\n \u201cI liked everything about him,\u201d McCarthy said. \u201cI think he\u2019s young. I think he’s got a lot of room for growth. And he’s a young man that can throw the ball with the best of them, and that’s a great starting point to have.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond Allar\u2019s arm talent, he\u2019s been highly efficient and rarely makes major mistakes that lead to turnovers. Per Steelers team reporter Teresa Varley<\/a>, Allar is the only FBS quarterback since 1956 with over 900 career pass attempts, over 50 touchdown passes with 12 or fewer interceptions.<\/p>\n While Aaron Rodgers returning to Pittsburgh in 2026 seems like a probable scenario, drafting Allar has more to do with pushing Will Howard and Mason Rudolph on the depth chart. If Allar excels, there\u2019s a chance he can one day become Pittsburgh\u2019s starter. It could also bring the best out of Will Howard and push him to new heights. NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport reported<\/a> that Pittsburgh is open to trading Mason Rudolph, thus it soon could be Howard and Allar as the only options at quarterback as Aaron Rodgers still decides whether he returns or retires.<\/p>\n McCarthy has a positive attitude about Pittsburgh\u2019s quarterback room and what he expects to get from it. <\/p>\n \u201cI will coach the hell out of that room. I have a lot of confidence,\u201d McCarthy said. \u201cI have history and experience that I will give everything I can to any quarterback in that room.\u201d<\/p>\n Allar will need to be developed by McCarthy, but there\u2019s enough size, arm talent and success at the college level to suggest that Allar has starting-caliber abilities. It just may take a year or two for that progression to take place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATE COLLEGE, PA – SEPTEMBER 13: Drew Allar #15 of the Penn State Nittany Lions passes the ball…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":178761,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[3269,60466,8203,73,75,74,1833,39813],"class_list":["post-178760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-aaron-rodgers","tag-drew-allar","tag-mike-mccarthy","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-will-howard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178760","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=178760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178760\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}