Steelers pick Penn State QB Drew Allar
- The Pittsburgh Steelers used the No. 76 overall pick on Penn State quarterback Drew Allar on Friday night, adding a local passer in Round 3 of the 2026 National Football League draft. - Allar started 35 games at Penn State and finished with 7,402 passing yards, 61 touchdown passes and a school-record 63.2% completion rate before going to Pittsburgh. - The pick lands in a crowded, unsettled quarterback room as Aaron Rodgers weighs 2026 and Pittsburgh carries Mason Rudolph and Will Howard into the offseason. (nfl.com)
The Steelers took Penn State quarterback Drew Allar with the 76th overall pick in the third round on April 24. (steelers.com) (nfl.com) Pittsburgh made the pick on Day 2 of the 2026 National Football League draft, not late on Day 3. Allar joins a quarterback group that includes Mason Rudolph and 2025 sixth-round pick Will Howard. (steelers.com) (nfl.com) The Steelers’ own draft page lists Allar at 6-foot-5 and 235 pounds, and quarterbacks coach Tom Arth said he “throws it as well as any quarterback in this draft class.” Arth said he had followed Allar since high school in Ohio. (steelers.com 1) (steelers.com 2) At Penn State, Allar appeared in 45 games and started 35. He completed 633 passes for 7,402 yards and 61 touchdowns, and the school says he finished first in program history in completion percentage at 63.2. (steelers.com) His best full season came in 2024, when he started all 16 games and threw for 3,327 yards and 24 touchdowns. National Football League draft profiles also note he broke his left ankle in October 2025 after six starts. (steelers.com) (nfl.com) The timing of the pick matters because Pittsburgh still did not have a final answer from Aaron Rodgers when the draft opened. National Football League Network reported on April 20 that the Steelers had not received word from Rodgers and did not expect a decision before Round 1. (nfl.com) That left the club balancing two timelines at once: a team that still wants Rodgers back, and a roster that needs another developmental quarterback. NFL.com said the Steelers’ three-day draft window was their clearest chance to add one. (nfl.com) Rodgers is not just a rumor in this story. The Steelers’ February position review listed him with Pittsburgh’s quarterbacks and said he went 10-6 in 16 regular-season starts in 2025, throwing for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions. (steelers.com) Mike McCarthy said in that same team review that he hoped Rodgers would return for 2026. But the draft pick gives Pittsburgh a younger arm with local ties and more time to develop than a veteran stopgap would offer. (steelers.com) (nfl.com) NFL analyst Lance Zierlein projected Allar as a Round 4 prospect and called him an “average backup” with high-end traits, citing his size and arm strength but questioning his consistency and processing. Pittsburgh took him 12 picks earlier than that projection. (nfl.com) So the Steelers left Friday with a Penn State quarterback, a live Rodgers question, and one more option in a room that still does not have a settled 2026 starter. (nfl.com 1) (nfl.com 2)
