With the 76th overall pick in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Penn State quarterback Drew Allar.
There’s excitement around the pick, but it’s not felt by all. Here’s what Steelers analyst Andrew Fillipponi had to say about the move, especially after the team talked highly of Will Howard.
Andrew Fillipponi Calls Out Steelers’ Drew Allar Pick
For the past four college football seasons, Allar has been with the Nittany Lions. Across those four seasons, he’s completed 63.2% of passes for 7,402 passing yards, 61 touchdowns, and only 13 interceptions. On the ground, he’s added another 732 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns on 224 attempts.
In PFSN’s College Football Quarterback Impact Metric, Allar has an average impact score of 79.9. His best season came in 2023, when he ranked 21st with an impact score of 80.6 and a letter grade of B-. Inversely, his worst season was 2025, but he only played in six games before suffering a season-ending broken ankle.
Besides that setback, Allar has the potential to be a quality starting quarterback. However, Fillipponi is not moved by the pick, especially after the team has been hyping up Howard. He said the following:
“For months, Mike McCarthy told us he liked Will Howard, and if he had been in charge of the Steelers last year, Howard wouldn’t have been there until the sixth round,” Fillipponi said. “He got the job because he convinced Omar Khan that there was something special in Will Howard. And a couple of months later, they drafted Drew Allar in the third round to take Will Howard’s spot… What are we doing?”
With Aaron Rodgers on the roster, Howard never had the chance to play last season as the team opted to play the veteran. Fillippini referred to Allar’s selection as “the worst pick of [GM] Omar Khan Era.”
The worst pick of Omar Khan era. Drew Allar. pic.twitter.com/hnj9vgra5t
— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) April 25, 2026
Over the course of five seasons in his collegiate career, Howard completed 63.8% of passes for 9,796 passing yards, 83 touchdowns, and 35 interceptions. As a rusher, he ran for 1,147 yards and 26 touchdowns in 331 attempts. In 2023, he even caught a touchdown with Kansas State.
The Steelers have one question going forward, which will shape the future of their quarterback room: Is Rodgers coming back, or is he done?
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If he’s coming back, he’ll obviously be the starter. However, if he’s done, who will start? Will the team go with the veteran Mason Rudolph, or will they have a competition between Allar and Howard?
Either way, it’s time that the Steelers start developing their quarterback of the future, because even if Rodgers comes back, he’s in the twilight of his playing career.
