Since the moment the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted quarterback Drew Allar in April, fans have been sorting themselves.
Some prefer the traits and physical tools of the Penn State product, whom GM Omar Khan selected in the third round. Others prefer the championship pedigree of Will Howard, who guided Ohio State to a national title two years ago before becoming a sixth-round pick for the Steelers the following spring.
The hope of both camps is the same: that one of the two can become Aaron Rodgers’ successor as the starter in 2027 and take the reins of the offense long term like Ben Roethlisberger did 22 years ago.
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The public will finally get a first look at both players Aug. 13 in the preseason opener against the Green Bay Packers at Acrisure Stadium. And regardless of what’s been said or accomplished through a couple of weeks of training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa., the dual debuts will kick the narratives about the two players into overdrive.
“I just want to see these young guys play,” first-year coach Mike McCarthy told reporters Aug. 11. “I want to see how they play connected to each other. The pre-snap of the operation, understanding what’s in front of them. But the finish. That’s what these games are for. How these guys are finishing plays, what goes on at the end of the play. And that leads to production. So play style and production are the two blinking lights that I put the most emphasis on.”
On paper, Howard has a lot more to prove in the immediate term. The Steelers would be unlikely to cut Allar right after using a valuable Day 2 pick on him, unless he looked awful. There have been few, if any, murmurs of that from Latrobe.
Rodgers isn’t going anywhere, either, so that’s two QB spots likely locked down on the 53-man roster. Unless Khan and McCarthy decide to keep four QBs rostered – which is far outside the norm in the NFL – the final spot would come down to Howard and veteran backup Mason Rudolph.
The latter has had numerous chances to prove he could be the guy since he was drafted in the third round in 2018. And outside of a three-game flourish to lift the Steelers into a playoff spot late in the 2023 season, he’s done little to give the franchise big-picture confidence in him.
Still, he’s done what a backup quarterback is supposed to do by keeping his team in games when the starter goes down. That’s the bar Howard will need to clear this year.
“I’m so fired up,” Howard told reporters Aug. 10. “I can’t wait for the game. Obviously I’m trying to take it day by day, and it’s still camp. But sometimes you can’t help but look forward a little bit and start getting excited. Just to be out there and live game reps, because I haven’t played in over a year in live game reps. I think the last time was the national championship. So I’ve been chomping at the bit for a while to get out there with the guys in real game-like settings with the uniform on.”
Arm strength has been the biggest question for scouts since the 2025 evaluation process. NFL.com's’ Lance Zierlein wrote, for example, that Howard “will struggle to beat NFL corners when throwing outside the numbers or into tight windows.”
His fans will be anxious to see how he’s developed in that regard, because there are no such questions about Allar. His ability to make throws others can’t in Happy Valley gave Nittany Lions fans the hope that he might be the QB to deliver the program’s first national title since 1986.
He got close. Allar guided Penn State to the semifinals of the College Football Playoff in 2024 and would have faced Howard in the title game with an Orange Bowl win against Notre Dame.
Instead, he threw a backbreaking interception in the final minute that put the Fighting Irish in position to win on a field goal. That pick has come to define him for many. His receiver wasn’t open. The pass wasn’t on target anyway. It was an all-around bad decision under pressure on the biggest stage of his career.
The Steelers will want to see that a couple of months of practicing under McCarthy, one of the NFL’s leading QB development gurus, has improved Allar’s vision and ability to process a defense. McCarthy is optimistic about that progression.
“He’s doing what you want from your young players, especially rookies,” McCarthy said Aug. 6.
“There has not been a day that he hasn’t made a throw that you say ‘OK, that’s a young man taking a step.’ ”
If all goes well, then those will be the contours to a true competition to replace Rodgers in a year. Any number of variables could be introduced between now and then – including a 2027 rookie to join the fray.
For now, though, Howard and Allar will be the fixation of the preseason with life after Rodgers definitively coming at the end of the year, whether the Steelers get over the hump for their first playoff win since 2017 or not.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Steelers QBs Will Howard, Drew Allar set to make highly anticipated debuts vs Packers