REPORT: The Steelers Are Training Drew Allar To Unlearn Everything He Was Taught As Penn State's Quarterback
For those of you who know me, you know that I'm a Drew Allar believer 'til the day I die. No matter how much he was clowned during his time at Penn State. No matter how many Pittsburgh fans were disgusted when the Steelers drafted him. I'm sticking with my guy forever.
He was the nation's #1 quarterback recruit for a reason. His natural talent is through the roof. Shit, look at how effortlessly he was launching balls 60 yards downfield at the Combine!
Now I know what you're thinking: "Well Connor, if he has soooo much talent, then why did he suck during his time at Penn State? Why was he not good in the actual games?"
A) He didn't suck, but I can admit he had some lowlights over the course of his three seasons as a starter.
B) The situation was never right for him at Penn State. Terry Smith even said so in an interview a few weeks back.
Terry Smith, of course, was Penn State's interim head coach after James Franklin was fired in mid-October. And I've said it for awhile now, but the #1 indictment on James Franklin's tenure at Penn State was not that he could never win in big games. It was that he had a 5-star quarterback in his program for FOUR YEARS, and not once did Franklin ever put that quarterback in a system that was conducive to his own skillset.
A 6'5", 240-pound quarterback with a rocket of an arm, and Franklin was making him lose 10 pounds so he could run more QB draws. Franklin had always been used to mobile quarterbacks in his offenses, and it just seemed like he tried to mold Allar to fit the traditional Franklin system more than he tried to mold the system to fit Allar.
Allar's biggest weapon -- his arm -- was rarely showcased. He didn't get as much opportunity as he should have to develop as a pure pocket passer. There was even a point in 2023 when a reporter asked Franklin why Allar didn't throw the ball deep more, and Franklin told the reporter that his question might as well have been in Japanese.
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Granted, the question wasn't articulated in the best way, and the reporter was definitely mocked at the time. But as we went on to see the Penn State offense be so conservative and limited in big moments over the next two years, you looked back and realized that the reporter kind of had a point!
Part of the reason the Penn State offense was limited was because the talent at wide receiver was the worst that it had been in Franklin's 12 years as coach. Sure, Allar had some great tight ends to throw to, including the stud that is Tyler William Warren. But when you're talking about "elite" receivers who could expand the defense, Allar's best option wound up only being a 5th-round pick. And that guy was the sole receiver drafted from the Allar era!
So between the system he was playing in and the sub-par receivers he was throwing to, Allar's development was 100% stunted. And while people can laugh about a third-round pick essentially having to learn the fundamentals of his position, I view this as a huge positive. Mike McCarthy has worked with some incredible quarterbacks, and now he's taken Allar under his wing to build him up to his full potential. And sometimes that starts with going back to lay the foundation.
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I loved the pick by the Steelers. I loved the landing spot for Allar. It seems like he's finally getting the development he deserves, and I wouldn't be shocked in the slightest if he's Pittsburgh's starting quarterback in 2027. We'll just have to wait and see.
ICYMI: Here's the full Allar soundbite from ESPN's Steeler reporter Brooke Pryor.