The Pittsburgh Steelers have a quarterback conundrum on their hands. With it feeling more likely that Aaron Rodgers will return for the 2026 season, Pittsburgh may have to choose between Mason Rudolph, Will Howard, and third-round pick Drew Allar.
Assuming Rodgers returns, some want Rudolph to be the odd man out. This would allow both Allar and Howard to develop under Mike McCarthy this year. But to former Steeler Charlie Batch, that might not be possible.
“It is impossible to get two young quarterbacks ready. And I rarely use impossible, but it is impossible in this particular situation. Why? Because the way that the offseason program is, it really hinders your development,” Batch said Thursday on 93.7 The Fan.
Batch is suggesting that, compared to the old days, teams aren’t able to practice as much. And it does make some sense. During the season when the Steelers will be more focused on winning games than anything else, Rodgers will obviously need the first-team reps.
However, it’s not as if the Steelers won’t have an opportunity to develop Allar or Howard at all. OTAs are less than two weeks away. Even after the summer break, Pittsburgh has all of training camp and three preseason games to get a peek at these two. Rodgers doesn’t need these offseason workouts as much, giving Pittsburgh a chance to see what it has in the youngsters.
Either way, Batch isn’t confident that it will happen. And if they have to focus on one, he expects it to be Allar.
“You have to focus on which one you think gives you the best opportunity, focus that attention on them, and then anybody else gets left behind,” Batch said. “Anytime that you…draft a third-rounder, the third-rounder gets more opportunity. Because, number one, he has more money invested at that particular slot that he was drafted at. And the organization valued him a lot more, on a third-round draft pick, than sixth.”
If the Steelers had to pick one, it might be Allar. McCarthy handpicked him in the third round. Much earlier than Howard, who Tomlin’s Steelers selected in the sixth round. Of course, McCarthy has been vocally supportive of Howard all offseason, mentioning that he’d have drafted Howard sooner than the sixth round.
Whether that’s true or not, we won’t know until the season arrives. Allar has the higher ceiling, and that third-round draft spot means something. However, he’s not as likely to play this year as Howard, who has one NFL season under his belt. If Rodgers gets hurt, which is very much possible, he or Rudolph would likely get the chance to step in before Allar.
There are tons of ways this quarterback room could shake out. But Batch is sure the Steelers can’t develop both Allar and Howard simultaneously.
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