Steelers’ McCarthy: Allar draft pick about developing QB room
PITTSBURGH — For the Steelers and new coach Mike McCarthy, drafting Penn State‘s Drew Allar within the third spherical Friday was about including depth to the quarterbacks room, and it did not have any bearing on Aaron Rodgers‘ impending determination about his future.
“No, not at all,” McCarthy mentioned Saturday. “This is about developing the room and trying to make the room as deep as we possibly can.”
McCarthy pitched himself to the Steelers as a quarterback specialist, and with two younger, inexperienced signal-callers in Allar and 2026 sixth-round pick Will Howard On his roster, the coach’s skill to develop the place will likely be below a microscope.
McCarthy, although, did not present concern about the potential for having two developmental prospects behind a veteran quarterback if Rodgers does return.
“These are all questions, answers, hypotheticals that really, it won’t change what I’ve already said,” McCarthy mentioned when requested if he can be comfy with Allar and Howard as backups or if he wanted to maintain veteran Mason Rudolph on the roster. “I will coach the hell out of that room. I have a lot of confidence. I have history and experience that I will give everything I can to any quarterback in that room.
“We wish to develop the quarterback room. We do not wish to simply depend on one quarterback.”
McCarthy also said he wasn’t worried about the challenge of juggling reps for both Allar and Howard, who missed most of his rookie season following a freak training camp pinkie finger fracture.
“CBA rules is the only challenge we have,” McCarthy mentioned, cracking a joke. “But everybody coaches under ’em. It’s a good place to be. I was very impressed with Will last week [at voluntary minicamp]. I know he’s a good athlete. …But there’s a training regimen that’s involved, but we’ll stick to it. And I’m excited about both those guys.”
Speaking for the primary time because the Steelers chosen Allar, McCarthy mentioned the quarterback’s stable body makes him an excellent match to play within the chilly and bodily AFC North. He believes Allar, who performed solely six video games in his closing season with the Nittany Lions as the results of a season-ending ankle damage, hasn’t reached his full potential.
Allar completed his Penn State profession with 61 passing touchdowns (third most in program historical past) and seven,402 passing yards together with a profession interception fee of simply 1.29%. However, for all his accomplishments, Allar went 1-6 in video games towards AP top-10 opponents and accomplished simply 50.3% of cross makes an attempt at 5.5 yards per try in these video games.
“Like anything, I believe in first impressions,” McCarthy mentioned. “I’ve had a chance to watch him play, meet him at the combine. … I liked everything about him. I think he’s young. I think he’s got a lot of room for growth. And he’s a young man who can throw the ball with the best of them, and that’s a great starting point to have.”
