The Pittsburgh Steelers concluded their rookie minicamp a day early, but Mike McCarthy is already liking what he sees from third-round rookie QB Drew Allar.
“He made a good first impression,” McCarthy said, according to The Pat McAfee Show’s Mark Kaboly on X.
McCarthy on Allar: "He made a good first impression."
— Mark Kaboly (@MarkKaboly) May 9, 2026
Allar was reportedly handpicked by McCarthy in the draft, selected slightly higher than most had anticipated at No. 76 overall. It’s no surprise that most of the footage that surfaced from today’s minicamp practice showed McCarthy and QB coach Tom Arth working up close and personal with Allar on footwork and other fundamentals.
Here’s one clip of their work with Allar, shared by ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. Several others surfaced from other beat writers who noted that most of the practice was spent this way.
Drew Allar on the field at Steelers rookie minicamp. Mike McCarthy and Tom Arth were honing in on the QB’s footwork for much of today. pic.twitter.com/LOpD7UTHlG
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) May 9, 2026
Most years, there are at least two quarterbacks at rookie minicamp, but Allar was the only one on the roster this time. That meant extra reps and more attention afforded to him by the coaching staff.
McCarthy had more to say about Allar’s first practices via TribLive’s Chris Adamski after practice.
“He is a physically gifted thrower of the football,” McCarthy said. “But he’s no different than any other young quarterback that I’ve had the opportunity to work with. I mean, everybody teaches footwork a little differently. Everybody has a system of offense in how you tie your quarterback in the pass game, particularly to that…We were just able to adjust some fundamentals that we think will help him.”
Footwork is one of the main mechanical flaws noted by draft analysts on Allar coming out of Penn State, and some of that was tied to the flawed offensive system Penn State had him operating out of. McCarthy hit on both of those points in his summation of the first two practices and what they need to work on.
Allar also shared his experience working with McCarthy early on.
“It’s more about tweaking things, and it’s really just different coaching philosophies,” Allar said. “Coach McCarthy, he has his beliefs, and obviously they’ve shown that they work with everybody he’s been around. So it’s just about me buying into that…I gotta start from the ground up.”
A good first impression is important, but the next step is to take what he learned and apply it while competing against veteran NFL talent at OTAs.
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