Drew Allar Proves Why Patience is Key for Steelers

Drew Allar showed off his deep ball on multiple occasions during the Pittsburgh Steelers' Saturday Night Lights practice, and he gave credit where credit was due to Aaron Rodgers for helping him out in that regard.

Allar revealed that he has recently been focused on the trajectory of his throws and that he seeked out Rodgers' help to accelerate his progress, which he flaunted at Latrobe Memorial Stadium.

“I felt really good, and it’s been something I’ve been working on, in terms of the trajectory of the throw," Allar said. "I’ve been picking Aaron Rodgers’ brain on it for like a week or so. So, to kind of be able to have the chance to do it in a live setting, even though it’s 7-on-7, but against live DBs in tight coverage, I felt really good. But, I mean, Bobby Tonyan and B. Smith had great catches on those, too, so I wouldn’t be able to do that without them.”

Jul 30, 2026; Latrobe, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Drew Allar (16) participates in training camp drills at Saint Vincent College. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Can't Get Too High or Too Low with Allar

For younger players in the NFL, quarterback is such a volatile position.

It's not easy to replicate a good game or practice, and it's often going to look quite ugly out on the field before all the pieces come together.

That's especially true in the case of Allar, whom the Steelers understood was nothing more than a rough draft of a quarterback with impressive raw tools who largely had no clue what he was doing behind center during his time at Penn State from a mechanical and processing perspective.

Mike McCarthy and the rest of Pittsburgh's offensive staff poured as much as they could into him from the moment he was selected by the organization in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft, beginning with rookie minicamp, and now the 22-year-old is attempting to take a huge step forward in training camp.

Patience is the key with Allar considering he's essentially relearning the position. There have certainly been plenty of bad days, both during the offseason program and in training camp, and that's par for the course given his circumstances.

There's also been some good days scattered in there as well, including his showing during Saturday Night Lights where he was throwing with more touch and hitting on a heightened rate with his deep throws.

When it comes down to it, no concrete conclusions can be drawn about Allar's potential or role for Pittsburgh throughout his rookie year. He's a long-term project, and if the team gets too high or too low when it comes to reading into his performances, it's going to cloud the entire process.

2026 is essentially a redshirt year for Allar as he adjusts to the NFL and McCarthy's system. He's going to falter more than he succeeds, and that's just the name of the game.

That doesn't mean there can't be any takeaways or reactions to how he looks throughout the rest of camp and the preseason, but it all has to be contextualized.

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