How many Big Ten project quarterbacks can one team take on?
Something tells me we’re about to find out — especially if Drew Allar plummets in the draft the way he did in so many big moments at Penn State.
I’d stay away from Allar. Simply put, there weren’t enough college sequences that made you say, “That guy’s gonna be an NFL star.” And if you’re not looking for a star at the quarterback position, what are you looking for?
Seems to me, the 2027 draft will be the Steelers’ next opportunity to find their franchise guy.
However, I’d be jumping all over Allar’s best offensive lineman — 6-foot-4, 320-pound guard Vega Ioane, who could become a reasonable facsimile of David DeCastro or Alan Faneca. At worst, Ioane’s resume screams “10-year starter!” He literally never allows a sack, almost never gets penalized and regularly pushes people around.
I’d even be willing to trade up to snag Ioane. He’s that good. Plus, you might keep him from the Baltimore Ravens. What else are the Steelers going to do with all their extra picks this year? Use one or two to get Ioane.
The smart bet, though, is that if the Steelers take one of the two Penn State guys, it’ll be Allar. They didn’t invite him to the South Side for a cocktail party Wednesday (Ioane also visited this week). They like him. That’s clear. He fits the mold of what general manager Omar Khan and coach Mike McCarthy call an “AFC North quarterback.”
I still don’t know what that means, but it seems the Steelers believe an AFC North quarterback is a big, physical tough guy with manhole covers for hands (as opposed to Kenny Pickett toddler hands) and can sling it through a snowstorm.
Baker Mayfield was a pretty good AFC North quarterback who didn’t fit that physical profile. Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow have somehow overcome infant hands to become decent players — OK, Hall of Famers — but I digress.
Allar stands 6-5, 228 pounds with nearly 10-inch hands (third-biggest among QBs in the draft) and nearly 33-inch arms (second-longest). I’m mortified that I just reported that, but the exercise here is to predict what the Steelers will do, and McCarthy lauds such traits.
McCarthy recently pointed out to reporters that two of his old Packers quarterbacks — Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers — were Hall-of-Fame guys with “long arms” and “10-inch hands.”
“And to win playoff games, to win games in December — Ben Roethlisberger is the same way; you’d have to play against him in cold weather — your guy’s got to throw better than the other guy in the big games.”
OK, but the Steelers already have an “AFC North quarterback” project in Will Howard, and the way they talk about him, you’d think he’d be putting the finishing touches on his Hall-of-Fame speech by now.
Why would they take on another one? Are there enough reps to give yourself a fair chance to develop one of two such quarterbacks? I’d say likely not, even if Rodgers calls it quits, in which case Mason Rudolph would likely be the starter.
If Rodgers returns, an Allar selection would make less than zero sense — if you believe the Steelers are as high on Howard as they say they are.
But make no mistake, the Steelers will draft a quarterback. McCarthy said so, saying they would take one “at the right time for us.”
I’m thinking that guy will be Allar, and despite his big-game malfunctions and less-than-spectacular numbers, there were a few instances that jumped out and made you think.
One was the USC game two years ago, when Allar kept bringing Penn State back from the abyss and went 30 of 43 for 391 yards (two TDs, three picks) in a 33-30 victory. There were other pockets where you saw NFL star potential, but the seven straight losses to top-10 opponents and the fact that the final three ended with Allar interceptions are really what defined his college career.
That doesn’t mean he can’t make it. He does have the physical traits, including a rocket arm. Maybe the underachieving was more about the scheme (although Penn State changed coordinators to try to get the most out of Allar) or insufficient help at receiver.
And maybe Allar will be sitting there in the third or fourth round, just waiting for the Steelers to call his name.
I think they would.
But again I ask: How many Big Ten projects can one team take on?