Drew Allar
Drew Allar
After a positive preseason debut, the Drew Allar stock is up. Days later, his offensive coordinator assessed his progress. A third-round rookie, Allar is expected to have a redshirt season. Despite the three-touchdown showing, he isn’t a finished product yet. But the team seems entirely content with where he is, both physically and mentally.
“In OTAs, we were real diligent about what reps we gave him with what concepts”, OC Brian Angelichio said of Allar, via the Steelers’ website. “He’s been able to handle it, so right now, he’s pretty much got most of the playbook. There’s really nothing that he hasn’t had. And he’s handled it well. It can be a lot for everybody, but he’s done a nice job”.
Once regarded as a future first-round pick, Drew Allar saw his college career take the wrong direction during his time at Penn State. Many cite poor coaching for his lack of progress, and his final season was cut short by injury. But the Steelers and new HC Mike McCarthy saw enough raw talent in him to roll the dice in the third round. In fact, his new head coach sees first-round talent in him.
Allar has had an up-and-down season, which is pretty much what everybody expected for a talented young player who has not harnessed all of his skills and is a work in progress in the fundamentals. He managed to mask a lot of that during the Steelers’ first preseason game, helped in part by his teammates. Fellow rookie Kaden Wetjen, took a quick slant pass 74 yards, mostly YAC.
In all, Allar finished the game 10-for-13 for 153 yards with 2 touchdowns to 0 interceptions. He rushed for another touchdown, finding the end zone on all three of his competitive drives. To cap off a 28-9 win, he took one final knee as the game ended. But while that experience may not be indicative of the rest of the preseason, in same ways, the learning process of training camp is even more challenging.
“The games will actually get easier when we play the real games, because the game plan will be pared down”, Brian Angelichio said as he discussed Allar. “But today was a big day because it was our last install, so we’re excited about the next three, four weeks, getting ready for the start of the season”.
McCarthy talked about having an eight-installation schedule, with yesterday marking the final install day. At this point, the playbook should be complete in terms of is preparation on the field. Even that timeline is not ideal given the NFL’s limited offseason, though, as McCarthy suggested he might cut it down to seven installations next year.
Either way, 2026 is a learning year for Drew Allar. From the sounds of it, his offensive coordinator certainly believes he is on track. Of course, his football intelligence was never the knock against him. But spending a year learning from Aaron Rodgers won’t hurt his ability to command an offense, either.