The world seems to be healing once more as the Pittsburgh Steelers just had their first practice of training camp. It's a different tone with Mike McCarthy as the new head coach of the team, which leans more into higher conditioning and less physicality. That will force quarterbacks into making decisions at a quicker pace, helping aid in their development as passers.
Since the Steelers drafted quarterback Drew Allar in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft, fans were mixed in their reactions.
One side believes it was a wasted pick who will become a bust, and the other side believes he has immense potential that could turn into a starting quarterback. Expectations for the rookie are low going into this training camp, but his first practice was telling.
Don't be surprised if a fresh rookie signal-caller takes time to get used to the NFL speed, but Drew Allar is someone who struggled to be consistent at Penn State. He showed a similar trend during his first practice in Latrobe. His ability to throw a beautiful pass remains prevalent, but his inability to stay off the turnover sheet is a problem. Allar has already shown what fans were worried about.
Pittsburgh Steelers QB Drew Allar showed mixed results in his first training camp outing
After some promising throws downfield, Allar followed that up by making a mistake and tossing an interception with Jaylen Warren as the intended target. Again, everyone is enamored with his arm strength, but his consistency as an accurate passer is where things go awry sometimes. His first practice at training camp exposed what Steelers Nation already knew about him.
The rookie quarterback has all the talent in the world, but it will be up to Pittsburgh's coaching staff to harness that and turn it into a quality player.
Drew Allar has plenty of progress left in front of him before he has a shot at starting in another year or two. It will take time, but you hope to see the promise of a developmental guy this preseason. It could lead to future effects at the position.
His best moment of the day was the final play to end practice on day one.
Allar rocketed a pass to veteran tight end Robert Tonyan over the middle for an 18-yard touchdown. It was his best and most decisive throw of all the sessions. You see plays like that, and it's difficult not to get excited about him. Before that, there were reports of a few errant passes that missed the mark.
Accuracy and overcoming inconsistencies are something everyone knew was coming when the Steelers drafted Drew Allar. The third-round pick has already shown that the same concern fans had persists after the first day of practice at training camp. It's promising that he showed some good things on the field, but he is far from having a chance to play snaps.
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