The Pittsburgh Steelers now have two young quarterbacks on the roster after last week’s NFL Draft. This logically brings the question who is the future starting quarterback for the Steelers, Drew Allar or Will Howard? Both have significant pros and cons associated with their games. Lets do a deep dive into both players to find out which one is the better choice to lead the Steelers into the next decade:
Will Howard:
Will Howard was the Steelers sixth round pick in the 2025 draft. He was fresh off winning the National Championship for Ohio State. Howard threw for 4,000 yards and 35 touchdowns in his only season in Colombus. Howard fits the part physically standing 6’4″, and winging in at 236 pounds. There is even a pretty decent athlete in Will Howard’s game as he averaged almost 300 rushing yards per season in college. All in all, Will Howard checks a lot of boxes the NFL looks for in a starting quarterback at the nest level.
So why was Will Howard only sixth round pick with that size, and a National Title under his belt? Well there is a real question about the arms strength for starters. Will Howard does not have a plus NFL arm. Combine that with his 8th percentile hand size, and there are concerns about his ceiling as an NFL quarterback. Then there’s the not so small detail of Howard basically playing on an All Star team at Ohio State, particularly on offense. Players like Emeka Egbuka, Quinshon Judkins, Treyveon Henderson, Carnell Tate, and Jeremiah Smith were all on the roster for Howard’s breakout season. Not to mention the tremendous coaching Howard got with the Buckeyes. The thought process is that Will Howard was pulled to a National Championship more than he pulled the team.
Drew Allar:
Drew Allar is the complete opposite of Will Howards in many ways. They are roughly the same size as Allar comes in at 6’5″, and 228 pounds. There are no questions about Drew Allar’s arm strength however. He was generally considered to have the best arm in the class in 2026. This is a player who can make all the throws at the NFL level. Allar is also a decent athlete for the position, making him the prototype for what teams look for at the position. The production at Penn State was a little less gaudy than Will Howard’s final season. In 2024, Allar’s last full healthy season, he had 3327 yards passing and 24 touchdowns.
There are serious questions about Drew Allar’s overall feel as a passer. He struggles as a processor, and tends to stick to his first read too long. Allar also was suspect in big games at Penn State, leading to concerns for his big game ability. Some of this may be able to be explained away by the general lack of talent on offense in college. Penn State did not have a single wide receiver drafted before day three that played along side Allar. Tyler Warren was far and away the best offensive weapon Allar had at his entire time with the Nittany Lions. James Franklin’s offenses did not do Allar any favors either. This doesn’t absolve Allar of all the negative things you see on tape, but it does have to be considered.
Conclusion:
So who is the future for the Pittsburgh Steelers at quarterback? Mike McCarthy has a reputation as a quarterback whisperer, and between these two he has his work cut out for him. If you had to choose right now, you’d have to give the edge to Drew Allar. Allar has the apparent higher ceiling, and overall talent. And let’s not forget Allar is the quarterback actually chosen by Mike McCarthy, as opposed to Will Howard who he inherited. Will Howard does have the advantage of having a season under his belt, even without a snap to his name.
At the end of the day, the real answer could very well be that neither of these two are the answer. Both have significant flaws in their game. The Steelers should, and probably will, be looking to the loaded 2027 draft class for their next franchise quarterback. All the debates over Will Howard vs Drew Allar will be great social media fodder, but come 2027 they won’t mean a whole lot. Bypassing that class for the likes of these two quarterbacks would be a colossal mistake by this franchise. Let’s hope it does come to that.