The Pittsburgh Steelers investigate four top quarterback prospects at the combine, analyzing their strengths and potential fit for Pittsburgh's future.
Considering quarterback is the Pittsburgh Steelers’ biggest need, it is not surprising that the staff had their eyes on signal callers at the NFL Scouting Combine this past week in Indianapolis.
The Steelers had formal interviews with four quarterbacks: Penn State’s Drew Allar, Miami’s Carson Beck, LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, and Alabama’s Ty Simpson.
Allar is the biggest question mark of the four. He played in just six games last year before undergoing season-ending knee surgery.
Allar completed 103 of 159 (64.8%) of his passes for 1,110 yards and eight touchdowns with three interceptions. Yet despite being ranked No. 2 to begin the season, Penn State was 3-3 in Aller’s starts and finished 7-6.
Beck helped Miami to the national championship game last season, where it lost to Indiana. He spent five seasons at Georgia.
In his lone season with the Hurricanes, Beck led the nation with a 72.4 completion percentage, going 338 of 467. Beck also had 3,813 yards passing, throwing 30 touchdown passes while being intercepted 12 times, as Miami posted a 13-3 record.
Nussmeier played only nine games as he dealt with a strained oblique throughout the season. In his fifth season at LSU, Nussmeier was 194-of-288 (67.4%) passing with 1,927 yards, 12 touchdowns, and five interceptions.
Following the Tigers’ 7-6 season, Nussmeier played in the Senior Bowl to reassure NFL scouts that he was healthy.
Simpson was a first-time starter for Alabama after spending three seasons as a reserve and led the Crimson Tide to an 11-4 record and the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff.
He led the nation with 305 completions and 473 pass attempts while finishing with a 64.5 completion percentage, throwing 28 scoring passes and being picked off just five times.
Simpson said he enjoyed talking with Pittsburgh coach Mike McCarthy.
“Coach McCarthy’s the guy, man,” Simpson said. “It was funny. We’d go in there, ask a couple of questions, and we were just talking ball, going back and forth, talking about pass concepts, talking about protection, talking about situations … and then situations that’ve come up in his career that he asked me about what I thought about it.”
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