When the Pittsburgh Steelers open their preseason schedule at Acrisure Stadium against the Green Bay Packers, the spotlight will land on two young quarterbacks trying to make a first impression in live action.
Mason Rudolph is expected to get the start and handle a series or two before giving way to Will Howard and Drew Allar, who should take most of the offensive snaps from there. Howard is projected to finish out the first half, while Allar is slated to play the entire second half per head coach Mike McCarthy’s outline for the game.
For Howard, the margin for error is thinner. The third-round rookie is fighting Rudolph for the backup job behind Aaron Rodgers, and unlike Allar, he does not have a roster spot guaranteed. That makes this first preseason outing feel especially important for the 24-year-old, whose standing with the team is far less secure.
Howard opened camp well, but he closed the second week in Latrobe with a pair of rough performances. If he wants to cut into Rudolph’s lead, he can’t afford a pile of mistakes against Green Bay. He’s going to miss some throws - that’s part of the deal with a young quarterback - but the bigger question is whether he can run McCarthy’s offense without letting things spiral.
The Steelers don’t need Howard to light it up. They need him to keep the offense on schedule, work from the pocket, connect on the short and intermediate throws and maybe pop a big play or two without turning every snap into a deep-ball gamble. If he comes away looking like a steady game manager, that’s a win no matter what the scoreboard says.
Allar’s situation is different, but his assignment is no less specific. The Penn State product has the raw arm talent to make eye-opening throws, and everyone around the team knows that. Since arriving, though, he’s been through a full mechanical and technical overhaul in McCarthy’s quarterback school.
That process has shown up throughout the offseason and training camp. Allar has made progress, even if it’s been incremental. Against the Packers, the focus will be on whether he can show cleaner mechanics, especially with his footwork, and look a little smoother handling the checklist he has to process on each snap.
He’s not expected to be polished yet, and nobody is asking for that. As the quarterback headed into a redshirt year and sitting last on the depth chart, Allar just needs to show small signs that the work is sticking. For him, this first preseason test is about taking it step by step and proving there’s some growth underneath the learning curve.
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