Steelers’ Drew Allar Turns The Roller Coaster Upward With An Impressive Aaron Rodgers Assist

The Pittsburgh Steelers have already seen enough from Drew Allar to understand what his rookie development may look like. There will be throws that make the third-round pick look like a future starter, followed occasionally by one that makes the coaching staff reach for the rewind button. Saturday Night Lights finally tilted that roller coaster in the direction Pittsburgh wants, with the good beginning to outweigh the mistakes.

Allar entered the NFL with the physical traits that keep quarterback coaches interested. The former Penn State Nittany Lions starter has prototypical size, a powerful arm and enough mobility to create when the pocket breaks down. Pittsburgh selected him 76th overall knowing the finished product would require considerably more polishing than the highlight reel suggested.

Training camp has followed the scouting report fairly closely. Allar has flashed the ability to push the football downfield, but routine throws and decision-making have not always matched the impressive ones. The Steelers do not need the rookie to remove every flaw in August. They need the balance to start changing.

Saturday night at Latrobe Memorial Stadium provided one of the clearest examples yet.

Jim Wexell discussed Allar’s performance during a recent Steelers breakdown, explaining that the rookie finally produced enough positive plays to overcome the mistakes that followed them.

“He has got size and an arm, and he flicked a couple balls,” Wexell said. “Of course, his next series out in team scrimmage, he overthrew somebody badly on a screen and then drilled a pitch so hard into Kaleb Johnson’s chest that it was fumbled… But anyway, it was a really impressive showing by our ups and downs, that the ups outdid the downs this time, and that’s a step for him.”

The pitch to Kaleb Johnson apparently arrived with a little more velocity than anyone ordered. There are times for showcasing an NFL arm. A routine pitch probably does not need to audition for the Pirates’ bullpen.

Those mistakes still belong on Allar’s evaluation. The encouraging part is that they no longer owned the entire story.

His downfield throws carried more weight Saturday because they showed an area of his game beginning to respond to coaching. Allar has always possessed enough arm strength to reach receivers vertically. Placement and trajectory determine whether that strength produces a completion or merely sends a football into the same ZIP code.

That is where Aaron Rodgers entered the picture.

Allar told Wexell afterward that Rodgers had spoken with him roughly a week earlier about the trajectory of his deep ball. Instead of simply firing the football toward a receiver, Allar began applying the veteran quarterback’s advice to give the route a better chance to develop underneath the throw.

“Afterward, he said it was something Aaron Rodgers told him a week ago about the trajectory on his deep ball that helped him,” Wexell said. “So now Aaron’s helping Drew Allar, and you really need to see that.”

Pittsburgh hoped this type of interaction would become one of the hidden benefits of bringing Rodgers back. The Steelers are trying to win immediately with him, but the organization also has two young quarterbacks who can spend an entire season watching how one of the most accomplished passers in NFL history approaches the position.

Allar had already spoken positively about learning from Rodgers during the offseason program. Saturday offered something more useful than another compliment. It produced an example of the veteran identifying a specific adjustment and the rookie successfully carrying it onto the field.

That is exactly how Pittsburgh needs this season to function for Allar. Mike McCarthy can rebuild the rookie’s mechanics and teach the structure of the offense, while Rodgers can provide details accumulated through more than two decades of NFL quarterback play. Allar still has to absorb the information and turn it into repeatable football. Saturday suggested he can.

The next challenge is preventing the correction from becoming temporary. One well-placed deep ball does not mean the vertical game is solved, just as one ugly screen does not mean Allar cannot throw underneath. Pittsburgh needs to see the same trajectory, footwork and timing appear over several practices and eventually in preseason games.

The routine plays may ultimately determine his development more than the spectacular ones. Allar’s arm can make difficult throws look easy. His future depends on making the easy throws look easy, too.

Steelers Finally Saw Allar Thrive

Wexell’s description of Allar’s “ups and downs” fits where the rookie currently stands. Pittsburgh is not evaluating a quarterback ready to challenge Rodgers for the starting job. It is evaluating whether the distance between Allar’s best and worst football can gradually shrink.

Saturday Night Lights offered progress because the mistakes did not erase everything around them.

Allar attacked downfield, showed off the physical ability that made him a third-round investment and applied a correction from Rodgers. He also overthrew a simple screen and put too much heat on a pitch. The full package remained wonderfully rookie-like.

What changed was the scoreboard between the good and the bad.

The Steelers can live with mistakes if Allar learns from them and produces increasingly more positive plays around them. McCarthy does not need a polished quarterback in August. He needs a player whose coaching is showing up before the next correction arrives.

Rodgers’ involvement adds another layer to that process. Pittsburgh has limited time with the veteran before his playing career ends, and every piece of knowledge Allar can steal now remains in the building afterward.

Saturday was only one practice, but it offered the type of progress the Steelers need from a developmental quarterback. The roller coaster did not suddenly turn into a smooth ride.

For once, though, it finished higher than where it started.

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