Steelers Now
Since Ben Roethlisberger‘s retirement in 2021, the Pittsburgh Steelers have had a different Week 1 starting quarterback every season. While Aaron Rodgers‘ return for 2026 will break that trend, Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd doubts the team’s future at football’s most important position.
“(The Steelers) got Aaron Rodgers, Drew Allar, Will Howard and Mason Rudolph. In a division with Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow,” Cowherd said on Thursday’s show. “Will Howard’s not your plan. Not in the AFC. What’s your plan at quarterback?”
While Cowherd’s analysis of the Steelers is rarely kind, he is not too far off base with his viewpoint on the team’s quarterback room. Rodgers confirmed to the media in May that this will be his final NFL season. “This is it,” he said, referring to 2026 as his final year.
At least the Steelers have the clarity of knowing he will not be back; but unlike a team like Green Bay, for example, which had Jordan Love pruned and ready to go years before Rodgers left Lambeau, the Steelers have something of a shaky foundation moving forward.
Drew Allar, the team’s third-round selection from April, is something of an enigma. Allar broke his ankle in a loss to Northwestern in October, a game that also cost James Franklin his job at Penn State. Having missed the remainder of that season, he entered the draft to mixed reactions; but the fact that he was only the fourth quarterback taken in a relatively weak class for the position should be a matter of concern.
Allar showed flashes of ability at Penn State; in 2024, his last full season, he completed 66.5% of his passes for 3,327 yards, 24 touchdowns, and eight picks. That same year, he led PSU to the semifinals of the College Football Playoff, where he threw a backbreaking late-game interception that sealed the Nittany Lions’ loss to Notre Dame. At 6-foot-5, he has the prototypical size one would look for, and his arm talent is not in doubt.
But with Brooke Pryor of ESPN reporting that “(the coaching staff are) essentially uninstalling everything he has learned, and they’re re-uploading their own methods, fundamentals, and mechanics with Allar,” fans have cause to be concerned. At best, it seems that Allar may not be ready to play at an elite NFL level for a long time, if ever.
Will Howard, a sixth-round pick from 2025, has some upside as well, having won a national title at Ohio State and boasting a 6-foot-4, 236-pound frame. Howard completed 73.1% of his throws in his lone season at OSU, racking up 4,010 yards, 35 touchdowns, and 10 picks.
That being said, Howard is similar to Allar in that he has not played a complete season of football since 2024. After suffering a broken hand in training camp last year, Howard missed the preseason. He never played a regular-season snap, as Mason Rudolph started the lone game for which Rodgers was unavailable.
Speaking of Rudolph, he is essentially a career backup: a...
