As soon as Mike McCarthy inked a deal to become the next head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Aaron Rodgers' return felt like a foregone conclusion. Yes, the veteran quarterback dragged things out as long as he possibly could, but it never really seemed to be in question for Omar Khan and Co.
But just to be sure, the Steelers took a third-round flier on Penn State's Drew Allar during the 2026 NFL Draft, who many thought would be in contention for the No. 1 overall pick before a disappointing and injury-riddled final collegiate season. And perhaps he represents the future in Pittsburgh.
Early reports from the offseason program indicate, however, that the new staff is essentially ripping him down to the studs and trying to build a great quarterback into what is already an elite physical profile. Legendary signal-caller Ben Roethlisberger, however, is already nervous about the youngster.
Big Ben isn't feeling all that confident about Pittsburgh Steelers rookie QB Drew Allar
On the latest episode of his Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger podcast, Big Ben began talking about the upgrades that the Steelers made this offseason at the skill positions, and he explained that even Allar or Will Howard could potentially thrive with that group and McCarthy coaching them.
"I think the weapons that they brought in on offense, even if if it were to be Will or Drew, you can make some good things happen," Roethlisberger said. "I think McCarthy's got a great track record of working with young quarterbacks."
In the very next breath, however, Roethlisberger expressed some serious doubt about how things are going in the early stages for Allar, and he even made a pretty brutal comparison about the approach that Pittsburgh is taking with the young player.
"It does make me nervous. Like, I'm watching some of this stuff they're doing with Drew Allar at practice, working on his drop," Roethlisberger said. "I'm not trying to knock this quarterback school or whatever thatA coach McCarthy does. I know Aaron's talked about in the past cuz he's gone through it in Green Bay, and he talked highly about it. Just, to me, when I'm watching him do like three-step drops, that makes me incredibly nervous. And you might say, 'Why? You're refining things.' There's a difference in refining things and teaching. The first thing I did do when we did football camps or the first thing you're teaching the youngest kids is how to do a three-step drop."
Yikes.
Essentially, Roethlisberger thinks the Steelers are either treating Allar with kid gloves or the young player really is at an elementary stage of his development for an NFL quarterback. And neither of those two choices is particularly favorable. He did concede, though, that videos can be deceiving.
"Maybe they're just working on his three-step drop to be more efficient," Roethlisberger said. "But it looked to me like it was the baby steps teaching. ... I'm watching someone on a video. I can't hear anything. I could be completely wrong, but all I'm saying is that it makes me a little nervous to watch it and be like, 'They're working on like three-step drop.'"
Look, the fact of the matter is that Pittsburgh doesn't need Allar to be anything. Rodgers is the answer as Khan and McCarthy push all of their chips into the center of the table in 2026, and Rudolph is more than a fine backup.
As it pertains to the future, Howard has shown some flashes of being that guy, and the 2027 NFL Draft is supposed to be chock-full of difference-making quarterbacks. If Allar never develops and can't figure out how to do a three-step drop, it may not matter in the scheme of things.
That doesn't mean that Roethlisberger can't be nervous about someone whom a lot of the fanbase is excited about to this point, though. And who better to hear it from than Big Ben, whose world is gold in Steel City.
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