Though Mike McCarthy gave all of his players off Sunday in acknowledgment of Mother’s Day, on the eve of it he was spending his quality time with someone else.
“It was really good to have the one-on-one time,” McCarthy said Saturday, referring to Drew Allar.
Rest assured that no one will ever usurp the place in McCarthy’s heart of his mother, Ellen. But professionally speaking, there arguably might not be a single relationship more important to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ new coach McCarthy going forward than the one he forms with Allar.
The former Penn State quarterback, the first of the Steelers’ three third-round picks in the draft, made his on-field debut with the team during rookie minicamp at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.
McCarthy has acknowledged that he was hired as coach in January in part because of his ability to develop quarterbacks, and that the topic was discussed during his interview for the gig.
As the youngest quarterback on the team — and the only one hand-picked by McCarthy — Allar will be an organizational priority moving forward by way of attention and guidance from McCarthy, who is considered one of the NFL’s foremost developers of those who play the sport’s most important position.
“There’s just a lot of room for me to grow, a lot of football to learn, a lot of basics and nuances of the game,” Allar said Saturday. “And I’ve learned a lot from a QB fundamental standpoint already, and from an X’s and O’s standpoint. So I’m really happy and definitely fortunate to be in a great situation here.”
Even if that situation can be tiring, as it was during the 48-hour minicamp for Allar. That’s because he was the only quarterback among the 40 players taking part in the practices, which of course were conducted without full pads and did not feature hitting — but did allow for plenty of 11-on-11 action.
Running a two-hour practice with only one QB is rather unheard of in NFL circles, even for rookie minicamp. That the Steelers chose to do so with Allar is a sign of the vigilance with which much the organization is focusing on his development.
“For a rookie to get the attention that he received since Thursday,” McCarthy said, “has been outstanding.”
Allar termed his one-on-one instruction from McCarthy as “really good,” and said being the only quarterback taking part in practice allowed for him to “be able to ask a ton of questions.”
Being the only QB on the camp roster also served as an opportunity — even among just fellow rookies and some others with a relative dearth of pro experience — for Allar to begin to assert himself as the kind of team leader necessitated by anyone who wants to develop into a future starter at quarterback.
“He’s a dawg,” first-round pick Max Iheanachor said. “Just the confidence he has in the huddle, giving us the right plays, right checks. He’s a dawg. We’re ready to roll with him.”
Receiver Germie Bernard noted the “pretty balls” the strong-armed Allar delivers.
“He’s an elite quarterback,” said Bernard, the Steelers’ draft pick immediately preceding the choice of Allar. “He knows how to put touch on the ball. He knows when to put the ball in the right spot and everything. He’s a great quarterback all around.”
Allar himself recognizes that he’s not that quite yet. On Saturday, he acknowledged some missed throws and some balls that sailed on him.
“Coach McCarthy told me to not really worry about the results,” Allar said of his throws Saturday, “but to worry about building that foundation for myself.”
The, well, foundation of that foundation in large part will come out of refinements in Allar’s footwork. This weekend marked the first chance for McCarthy, offensive coordinator Brian Angelichio and quarterbacks coach Tom Arth to get into the proverbial lab with Allar.
“We pushed him,” McCarthy said. “To go 35 snaps in a team drill, that’s pushing it. But he handled it.”
McCarthy said Allar’s work when rookie camp opened Friday — and more broadly when he’s been in the facility since he was drafted 2 ½ weeks ago — allowed the coaching staff to have faith he could indeed handle it.
And that says something. Though Allar was arguably the individual who had the most resources devoted to him during rookie camp, the other nine draft picks, six undrafted free agents and 24 others taking part needed — and deserved — a crisply run practice to get their work in.
“If your quarterback can’t handle it, then you don’t get to go to the speed and the tempo and the pre-snap that we were able to go,” McCarthy said. “I thought Drew did a hell of a job.”