Drew Allar is about to get his first true proving ground with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and training camp in Latrobe will tell the team a lot more about him than rookie minicamp ever could.
The Steelers already gave the third-round pick a little twist early on by making him the only quarterback at rookie minicamp, a setup designed to push him and let the staff work with him more directly. That was a useful start, but it’s nothing compared to what comes next at Saint Vincent College.
Allar, 22, showed a few flashes during the offseason program after a rough opening stretch. At this point, that’s the kind of progress Pittsburgh needs to see.
He already has his roster spot secured, and he is not really in the mix for the backup job behind Will Howard and Mason Rudolph. So the pressure isn’t about winning a job right now.
It’s about avoiding a step backward.
The Steelers and Mike McCarthy are trying to shape Allar from the ground up, and that process is going to come with some bumps. His mechanics and overall quarterback process were never polished coming out of Penn State, which is exactly why Pittsburgh viewed him as a raw talent worth betting on with the No. 76 overall pick.
The upside is obvious. Allar has a huge arm, and that alone should produce a few throws that turn heads during camp. Those kinds of plays can make him a favorite among fans in Latrobe, because he has the kind of talent that can light up a practice field in a hurry.
But the Steelers need more than just the occasional wow moment. If Allar is showing those flashes while also making steady progress on the technical side, that’s a positive sign even if the mistakes are still there.
This is not going to be a clean, polished ride. Pittsburgh has to live with the good and the bad.
By the time camp wraps up, the team should have a much clearer idea of what Allar is and what he might become. His pocket presence and his ability to read the field were both issues in college, and he’ll get plenty of chances to work on those areas with live reps in camp and preseason action against opposing defenses later on.
No one should expect this to happen overnight. Still, if Allar is absorbing what the Steelers are teaching and making small gains over the next month, he could strengthen his standing inside the building. The backup job may be out of reach, but a strong showing in Latrobe could put him on a faster track than anyone first expected.
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