Today was the ultimate day for teams to host 2026 NFL Draft prospects for top 30 visits, where they’ll evaluate future draft picks with a final round of interviews and medical evaluations. On this last day, because the Steelers proceed to anticipate a concrete plan for veteran Aaron Rodgers, Penn State quarterback Drew Allar made his option to Pittsburgh for a final visit, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.
This isn’t any kind of pointed message directed at Rodgers. Allar will not be certainly one of the 2 quarterbacks in his draft class expected to go inside the first two rounds. Fernando Mendoza will almost actually be the highest overall pick for the Raiders, and Ty Simpson could go anywhere from the mid-first to early second-round, a spread by which the Steelers don’t appear to be willing to draft him. Allar is in a bunch of passers in the following tier, with fellow quarterbacks Carson Beck and Garrett Nussmeier. Some have also included Cade Klubnick on this group, as well.
Each prospect in that third tier has his own reason for not being up there with, not less than, Simpson. Beck’s ceiling has been called into query, as has his ability to make something occur after plays break down. After a powerful first yr as a starter, Nussmeier, showed how much he can impact games in good and bad ways, and he saw himself benched with injury, consequently. Allar spent his profession oozing with potential, showing glimpses of what he could become, but never was capable of put all of it together and find offensive success at a high level.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler perfectly encapsulated Allar’s outlook by calling him “polarizing” but with “upside.” Per Fowler, there are some within the league who consider that Allar “has a footwork issue that might be fixed” and that getting him into the “right place/system” will finally unlock the potential Allar harnesses. Scouts have noted a difficulty where sloppy footwork puts his feet out of sync along with his eyes and might take accuracy and power away from his throws. He has room for improvement in other areas, as well, however it appears there’s an concept that fixing the footwork is the important thing to unlocking the remaining.
If taken by Pittsburgh, Allar would join Mason Rudolph and Will Howard as likely backups in a quarterbacks room presumably led by the eventual re-signed starter, Rodgers. The Steelers haven’t had a ton of success developing quarterbacks since Ben Roethlisberger retired, but recent head coach Mike McCarthy is way more experienced in the method than Mike Tomlin ever was, so who knows what’s to are available Pittsburgh in 2026.