Drew Allar has enough desirable traits that the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted him in the third round. However, he’s got plenty of flaws as well. Enough that the Steelers started rebuilding parts of his mechanics at rookie minicamp last weekend. However, that may be more of a red flag than a green one in the eyes of former NFL GM Doug Whaley.
“That worries me,” Whaley said Wednesday on 93.7 The Fan. “When the game is on the line, and the play on the field is really intense, you revert back to what got you there, and what you know in your original. And you can look at it with Tim Tebow. They tried to fix his throwing motion, he went through all of this. But when it was game time, when it was crunch time, he reverted back to what he knows. This, to me, is alarming, more than encouraging.”
For what it’s worth, Allar and Tim Tebow were very different quarterbacks coming out of college. Tebow had a large frame, a strong arm, and was more than willing to put his body on the line, things he and Allar have in common. However, Tebow was much less accurate of a passer, and his delivery was much slower as well.
That said, Whaley does have a point about Drew Allar potentially reverting back to what he knows. If he’s in a crucial late-game fourth down, for example, he’ll be playing off instincts rather than remembering any certain drill. Mike McCarthy and the Steelers will hope that rebuilding his mechanics helps make those improvements second nature.
“We better have great faith in Mike McCarthy, and all of Pittsburgh’s office, Steelers’ staff, which is great. I love that the accountability is put on them, and they’re gonna shoot their shot. I admire it,” Whaley said.
At the end of the day, quarterbacks taken in the third round aren’t usually expected to become franchise quarterbacks. It’s not out of the norm that a quarterback taken 76th overall would need some adjustments. But Allar has the upside to make it all worth it if he can fix some mechanical issues, especially his footwork.
In the near future, he’ll have plenty of time to watch and learn. If Aaron Rodgers comes back, he’ll obviously be the starter. If he doesn’t, it’s likely going to be Will Howard and Mason Rudolph competing for the starting job. The 2027 season is another question, but for 2026 Allar will have plenty of time to sit and hammer those things out. He was already working on his footwork last weekend with McCarthy.
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
Time will tell if the Steelers find a way to get the most out of Drew Allar. Plenty of changes are in order. To Whaley, it’s concerning just how much the Steelers are looking to overhaul.
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