You wouldn’t think that Mike McCarthy and Taylor Swift have much in common, but when it comes to bad boyfriends and flawed quarterbacks, the mindset is the same: I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can).
From the moment Drew Allar’s name was read by his former Penn State teammate Joey Porter Jr. as the 76th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, Pittsburgh was already split. On the ground, Zombie Nation and chants of We Are Penn State welcomed Allar to the NFL, but even from that first moment, the cheers were accompanied by a smattering of boos and a sense of uncertainty.
Saturday, when Allar was introduced on stage in Pittsburgh with the fourth round underway, it was more of the same.
A fanbase that has contorted itself even to believe that either a 43-year-old Aaron Rodgers or a former sixth-round pick, Will Howard, is the path out of the quarterback wilderness wasn’t limber enough to see only the upside of a former 5-star QB with all the talent to succeed at the next level.
That’s because, like me, many of those Steelers fans spent the last four years crossing our fingers that Allar would finally put those tantalizing pieces together to become a complete quarterback. Like me, I imagine many of those fans aren’t sure they can do it again.
Can I handle four more years of hoping Drew Allar figures it out?
When Drew Allar was the No. 1 quarterback in the 2021 recruiting class, he was a big-armed, big-bodied passer with some mobility but sloppy footwork and accuracy issues to be ironed out. Now, as the 76th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, Allar is a big-armed, big-bodied passer with some mobility, but sloppy footwork and accuracy issues to be ironed out.
Four years at Penn State didn’t fix the fatal flaws in his game. In fact, his 35 college starts over 2.5 seasons only revealed an even bigger issue: Allar’s penchant for wilting when the lights are the brightest and competition is the toughest.
Allar has all the tools of a top NFL quarterback. He fits the mold. He has the pedigree. So, NFL coaches and evaluators can convince themselves that they’ll be the ones to unlock his potential. The Pittsburgh Steelers made that bet in the third round from the stage outside of Acrisure Stadium on the North Shore on Friday night, and because a new coaching staff believes, a new fanbase has to hop on that ride.
Oftentimes, when a frustratingly talented player who never lived up to their potential leaves college football for the NFL, his new fanbase can blissfully lock past his faults to conjure an image of who he could become. In this case, the problem is whether they love the Nittany Lions or hate them; Pittsburgh fans know Allar, All Too Well.
Eventually, I gave up on Allar ever delivering on his promise at Penn State. I ran out of excuses to make for him on Saturdays. Now, do I have to think of new ones for Sunday? That’s a scary proposition.
Can Allar’s issues actually be fixed?
The draft process can be interesting because while recruiting is all about relating and appealing to a player’s unique personality, the draft evaluation often strips the player of humanity. Allar does have the physical tools required to be a capable and even a great NFL quarterback. He has prototypical size, an arm that can access all three levels of the field, and enough athleticism to avoid rushers and create out of structure.
Truly, Allar’s biggest issue is that with his long levers, his footwork tends to get out of whack easily, leading to inaccuracies. When he throws off-platform, outside of the pocket, you see sprays and inconsistent ball placement. And even when he should be on-platform, there’s no certainty his feet will be where they need to be for an accurate throw.
That is fixable. So are his struggles in the clutch; if you view Allar as a non-descript 6-foot-5, 228-pound avatar with 32-inch arms and nearly 10-inch hands. That’s how the draft works. The problem is that’s not how football works.
Allar is not a blank avatar. No player is. Some players, or people, as they’re also known, have an uncanny ability to slow their heart rate under pressure, to see clearly when everything speeds up, to make snap decisions in a split second with constantly changing variables.
Oftentimes, that is what makes a great quarterback. The problem is that it is also a whole lot more difficult to scout, and even tougher to change. When it comes together in a player with the ideal body and physical gifts, you can have a truly great quarterback.
Maybe Allar will fix his footwork problems. Maybe offensive coordinator turnover under James Franklin stunted his development in Happy Valley. Maybe it will click. But maybe, the player who Penn State fans hoped would arrive for 35 games, the one who aggressively hunts explosive plays with his big arm, who creates outside the structure of the offense, and most of all, comes up big in big moments, isn’t in there.
I can fix him (but what if I can’t).
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