Leaked practice clips paint a rosy picture, but insiders warn of inconsistent play and mounting mistakes as Drew Allar and Will Howard fight for a Pittsburgh Steelers roster spot.
Videos circulating online of Drew Allar and Will Howard at training camp don't appear to tell the whole story of the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback battle for QB3.
Mason Rudolph is expected to be the backup quarterback to Aaron Rodgers to start the season. Whether the Steelers carry four quarterbacks on the 53-man roster remains to be seen.
During training camp season, fans post and dissect videos of quarterbacks throwing at practice. The comments are mostly filled with armchair coaches overreacting to each clip, praising the player as the next Patrick Mahomes or worrying that they're the next Ryan Leaf.
Steelers beat reporter Mark Kaboly set the record straight on the battle between Howard and Allar. He noted that there are a "handful" of bad throws for each video post of a good throw.
"All eyes have been on the battle between Will Howard and Drew Allar for the potential third-string quarterback spot," Kaboly posted on X. "First off, don’t be fooled by some illegally taken video leaking out of camp.
"There are agendas there depending on who is taking it. For every good throw posted online, there are a handful of poor ones. Still, Allar has been better than anticipated a lot because there wasn’t much expected from him after seeing him at rookie minicamp."
That doesn't sound promising for either quarterback this summer. If that's the case, the Steelers shouldn't be considering keeping four QBs on the 53-man roster.
Kaboly thinks it's too early to tell if Howard or Allar are winning the race, though he doesn't think Rudolph should have much concern for his job security.
"Is Allar ahead of Howard? Maybe. Maybe not," Kaboly wrote.
"It is way too early to make that evaluation. Right now, I would anticipate it being difficult for either one to make enough strides for McCarthy to feel comfortable for either one going into the season as the No. 2."
It will be easier for fans to judge the quarterback battle when the Steelers play their first preseason game against the Green Bay Packers on Aug. 13. There won't be illegally posted video to hide behind during the TV broadcast.
