A Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl champion has decried his former team’s choice of new quarterback in this year’s NFL Draft.
With the future of Aaron Rodgers still not publicly revealed, the Steelers faced the need for signal callers on their roster.
While Will Howard has been taking some reps as the QB1 in practice, the Steelers entered the draft with Mason Rudolph as the only other quarterback on the roster.
That changed in the third round when Pittsburgh selected Penn State quarterback Drew Allar to add insurance to the roster.
But this was a bad sign in the eyes of former Steelers star Ben Roethlisberger – who cast doubt on the choice in the latest episode of his ‘Footbahlin’ podcast.
‘This is one that I’m not sure yet if I love it or hate it,’ Roethlisberger said in this week’s episode.
At least one Pittsburgh Steelers icon isn’t impressed with the team drafting Drew Allar
Super Bowl winner Ben Roethlisberger said that Allar ‘never jumped off the page’ for him
Allar’s 2025 season was cut short after he suffered a horrific ankle injury
‘I don’t watch a lot of Penn State games. When I did watch, he never jumped off the page to me. Is he big? Can he move? Can he throw? Yes. But there was never a time where I was like, “Whoa.”‘
Roethlisberger went on to praise the quarterback they already have in-house.
‘Will Howard jumped off the tape to me way more than Drew [Allar] did,’ the former Super Bowl champion said.
After completing a combined 49 touchdowns in his sophomore and junior seasons, Allar missed a majority of the season this year after breaking an ankle.
He only played six games for the Nittany Lions as Penn State tumbled in his absence.
Across four seasons, Allar tallied 7,402 passing yards, 61 touchdowns and 13 interceptions – along with 12 rushing touchdowns.
Steelers quarterback coach Tom Arth pointed to Allar’s ‘rare size’ and ‘effortless arm’ as reasons for his possible future success.
‘I think what’s most exciting, certainly when you’re talking about the quarterback position, this guy can throw the football,’ Arth told reporters. ‘And I think he throws it as well as any quarterback in this draft class.’
