The Pittsburgh Steelers are playing a frustrating waiting game with Aaron Rodgers for the second consecutive offseason. Thus, many Steelers fans have petitioned for the team to hand the starting role to Will Howard for 2026. That’s something the young quarterback feels ready for, saying as much on Cam Heyward’s podcast on Day 1 of the NFL Draft. Only for Howard to receive more competition, with the Steelers drafting Drew Allar on the very next day.
Competition, which was also drafted multiple rounds higher than Howard. The Steelers took the latter in the sixth round of the 2025 draft. This year, they went on to take Allar in the third round. But to Steelers beat writer Ray Fittipaldo, the difference in draft stock means nothing. Fittipaldo compared the situation to McCarthy’s quarterback room back in 2008, consisting of second-round pick Brian Brohm and seventh-round pick Matt Flynn.
“Draft slot means nothing in the NFL. Brohm was a second-round pick, and McCarthy only needed a few months on the practice field with him and Flynn to determine Flynn was the better player. That’s certainly not the norm with high draft picks, but Howard being a sixth-round pick and Allar a third-round pick means absolutely nothing,” Fittipaldo wrote Tuesday in an article for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The difference in draft slot isn’t the only thing that makes it seem McCarthy might be more interested in Allar, at least on the surface. For what it’s worth, most of the current coaching staff wasn’t in place when Howard was taken in 2025. He was Mike Tomlin’s pick. So a new coaching staff taking another quarterback much higher in the draft does raise some eyebrows.
However, it doesn’t seem as if this staff is low on Howard at all. McCarthy specifically is taking every chance he gets to compliment the second-year quarterback. And earlier this offseason, he did mention Howard would have come off the board earlier if he had a say in the matter. That could just be coach-speak, with McCarthy trying to give Howard more confidence. But it’s notable nonetheless.
Whether Rodgers returns or not will obviously impact things. If he doesn’t, Howard would likely get the first chance to prove himself over Allar. The latter really could benefit from a redshirt year, with plenty of aspects of his game in need of ironing out. With Howard already having one NFL season under his belt, he’d likely get his chance to compete with Mason Rudolph for the starting job. If he can win that job and play well, he’d control his own destiny in Pittsburgh.
At the end of the day, the Steelers just want to find their next franchise quarterback. And whether Rodgers returns or not, McCarthy will have his chance to develop both Howard and Allar. To Fittipaldo, the difference in their respective draft stocks won’t influence that at all.
Recommended for you