Pittsburgh Steelers fans finally got a glimpse of third-round rookie Drew Allar on Thursday night. The verdict? He looked pretty dang good out there!
Allar finished his NFL preseason debut by going 10-of-13 for 153 yards and three total touchdowns. Not bad for any quarterback, especially a rookie signal-caller. Yes, the argument can be made that Allar was going against players who might not make the roster, but the same argument could be used that he had those same roster bubble players surrounding him, and he made the most of it.
Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy appeared on The Pat McAfee Show on Friday to talk about the preseason performance. What he said about Allar proves that he and the Steelers front office saw something special in the Penn State product.
"If we go back to the draft process, when we drafted Drew, we felt like we were getting a first-round pick," McCarthy said. "Just the value that our personnel department had on him coming out of his junior year, and just sit there and listen to all the reports and just, as you talked about, the timeline of his career and what happened this senior year-, he had the injury and so forth. And all that's holding."
Drew Allar's electric debut backed up the Pittsburgh Steelers' draft conviction
It's really not that surprising to hear this, as Allar was once considered a top prospect before injuring his ankle last season at Penn State. The Steelers taking him in the third round was considered shocking, but clearly there was a reason for it, and he showed why they had that faith in him during his first-ever glimpse of NFL action.
Pairing Allar with Mike McCarthy, a guy who many consider to be a quarterback whisperer of sorts, should bode well for him. He also won't be rushed to play, as Aaron Rodgers is going to be the starter and Will Howard should win the backup job. Allar can hang out on the sidelines learning from both a Super Bowl champion and a college national champion. There are worse situations to be in for sure.
Allar still has two more preseason games to prove this debut wasn't a fluke. If he can finish off his first-ever NFL preseason with the gaudy stats he put up in Week 1, Steelers fans will be elated and for good reason. This team has struggled to find a reliable starting quarterback since Ben Roethlisberger hung up the cleats. If Allar can be that, he'll go down as arguably the biggest steal of the 2026 draft.
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