The Pittsburgh Steelers added Drew Allar to their quarterback room, spending a third-round pick on him in this year’s draft. While Allar looked like one of the top prospects in the country at one point, he struggled as his college career progressed. Allar never really developed, with many of flaws only becoming more apparent. While there’s a chance that he could develop in the NFL, insider James Palmer shared one offensive coordinator’s ugly assessment of Allar.

“A quote from an offensive coordinator on Drew Allar, ‘It’s like an underdeveloped middle schooler,’” Palmer said Tuesday on the Heed the Call podcast. “‘Watching him play football is gross.’ That’s who you picked in the third round.”

That might be harsh, but there’s some truth to it. Allar had some ugly reps at Penn State, including against Notre Dame in the 2024 college football playoffs. The game was tied with a little over 30 seconds left, and the Nittany Lions had the ball. At the very worst, it looked like they would go into overtime. However, Allar made a terrible decision, getting picked off on the second play of that drive. That allowed Notre Dame to kick a game-winning field goal.

Inaccuracy, poor footwork, and questionable decision-making plagued Allar during his time at Penn State. Yes, he’s got a big arm and an ideal frame, but there’s a lot to fix to make him a viable NFL quarterback.

Luckily, he landed in a decent situation. Mike McCarthy has been coaching in the NFL for over 30 years, and he’s helped develop plenty of quarterbacks, including Aaron Rodgers. Allar isn’t Rodgers, but he’s got a lot of potential. Perhaps McCarthy can draw it out.

The Steelers shouldn’t need Allar to start until next year at the earliest, too. Even if Rodgers doesn’t return this year, they still have Will Howard and Mason Rudolph. Allar should be able to sit on the bench and try to improve.

Also, if Rodgers returns, he could also help Allar. He was glad to mentor Howard last year. There isn’t much that Rodgers hasn’t accomplished as one of the best quarterbacks ever. His guidance could be valuable to Allar’s development.

Is Allar likely to turn things around and become the Steelers’ next franchise quarterback? No, but it’s a way too early to completely give up on him. The Steelers hired McCarthy partly because of his history developing quarterbacks. Allar should be a fun project for him to work on.