Drew Allar never met the recruiting hype, but Pittsburgh offers a soft landing spot for the maligned QB

Penn State was quick to recognize Allar's brilliance, becoming only the third Power Four school to offer. Two months later, he committed and seemed to be a game-changing addition for Franklin's program.

The Nittany Lions were massive producers of NFL talent across the board under Franklin, but quarterback was always a hole. While Sean Clifford and Trace McSorley provided playmaking, they paled in comparison to the playmakers coming out of Ohio State every year. Finally, Allar seemed to close that gap. Unwittingly, he also brought scrutiny.

Downfield-gate

Fans clamored for Allar to get on the field as a true freshman, but Clifford's graduation was always seen as his moment. The West Virginia season opener seemed to provide proof of concept as Allar exploded for 325 yards and three touchdowns. Stunningly, it ended up being the peak of his season.

Allar failed to clear 300 yards again, failing to even hit 200 yards in six games. Heading into October 2023, the Nittany Lions ranked last in the Big Ten in passing plays of more than 10 yards despite having their biggest-armed quarterback in years. A reporter famously asked James Franklin about whether Penn State would benefit from trying to dial up and force more downfield throws.

"You're speaking Japanese, like, we have never done that," Franklin said. "Just throw the ball up and maybe he'll be open and maybe he'll catch, like, my skin is like, like you're making me uncomfortable."

That said, Allar was notably handcuffed. Allar threw passes more than 20 yards downfield on only 9.2% of his attempts, the second-worst mark in the country, despite rating reasonably well on said throws. His average depth of target and Big Time Throw rates, per Pro Football Focus, were utterly forgettable.

Penn State posted a 10-win season, but Allar went a combined 24-of-55 against Ohio State and Michigan.

Settling in with a new coordinator

Heading into the 2024 season, Franklin seemed dead-set on finding a coordinator who could help develop Allar. Kansas offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki ultimately took the call after helping the Jayhawks to a historic nine-win season.

Kotelnicki came to prominence for his work with Tyree Jackson at Buffalo and Jalon Daniels with Kansas. Right away, Kotelnicki helped Allar get substantially more efficient. His completion percentage exploded from 59.9% to 66.5%, his yards per attempt jumped from 6.8 to 8.4 and he cleared 3,300 yards passing for the first time in his career. Mechanically, Allar jumped to No. 6 nationally with a 48.9% completion percentage on deep passes and a very respectable 90.5 passing grade.

But while Allar made substantial progress under Kotelnicki in his first season, some of the inconsistency remained. Kotelnicki's system uses plenty of horizontal motion and benefits from dual-threat quarterback play; it didn't necessarily maximize Allar's big arm. Kotelnicki's system also benefits from a dual-threat quarterback, and there were moments where the Nittany Lions looked more cohesive under backup Beau Pribula. Regardless, Penn State made the national semifinals, one of the best seasons of the 21st Century.

The flashes were enough that many draft evaluators saw Allar as a potential Day 1 or 2 pick. Instead of rushing to the draft, Allar decided to return for an all-important final season, where he hoped to finally lead Penn State over the top.

Precipitous fall

Penn State invested serious capital in the program heading into 2025, setting up a do-or-die season for the electric 2025 recruiting class. In addition to bringing back star running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, the Nittany Lions added USC receiver Kyron Hutson and Syracuse star Trebor Pena via the transfer portal.

The Nittany Lions started the season at No. 2 in the AP Top 25, their highest spot since starting the 1997 season at No. 1. After throwing a game-tying touchdown pass to force overtime against No. 6 Oregon, it suddenly seemed like Allar might have turned a corner. But in double overtime, Allar threw an interception to end the game and the Nittany Lions never got out of the funk.

In a painful 22-21 loss against Northwestern, Allar suffered a season-ending broken left ankle that ended his college career and dropped Penn State to 3-3. The next week, Franklin was stunningly fired after 12 years. Allar was not the only problem during the disappointing campaign, but he averaged only 158 yards per game against Power Four competition and had three games under 60% completion.

For one of the top quarterback recruits in Penn State history -- playing in a wide-open era of college offenses -- his career numbers are lackluster. He completed 63% of his passes for 7,402 yards, but averaged only 7.4 yards per attempt. Allar's 8.5 average depth of target sits nearly a yard behind Sean Clifford (9.4) and even further behind Trace McSorley (10.6).

Ultimately, Allar's greatest flaw was his inconsistency. He'd oscillate, completing 70% of his passes to 40% from game to game. When pressured by high-end defenses, his footwork would get frazzled and his efficiency would collapse. Allar looked like a quarterback with the weight of the world on his shoulders, and never one who was ever given the space to simply go out and play ball.

Of course, it's hard to separate Allar's development lulls from Franklin's offensive struggles at Penn State. Trace McSorley remains the only quarterback in Franklin's 15 years as a head coach to clear 3,500 passing yards. No coincidence, Franklin won his only conference championship that season. Otherwise, this has been a lackluster unit.

Allar is still only 22, and his physical tools remain riveting. With the right developmental coaching staff, it's easy to see how he could rewrite his story at the next level.

"Allar is the perfect quarterback in this class to take for Mike McCarthy to develop," said CBS Sports lead NFL Draft scout Mike Renner, who gave the selection a 'B.'"He's got the size, the arm, and the feet to evade pressure in the pocket. Unfortunately, he's never had the accuracy. McCarthy fix that? If the new head coach can, Allar can start in the NFL."

How Allar fits in Pittsburgh

The Steelers' current quarterback room consists of 2025 sixth-round pick Will Howard and nine-year veteran Mason Rudolph. The Steelers have remained in contact with Aaron Rodgers, but regardless of Rodgers, Pittsburgh was planning to add another quarterback to their roster prior to training camp -- and new Steelers coach Mike McCarthy alluded to drafting a quarterback at some point during the draft.

That player turned out to be Allar, who was drafted moments after fellow quarterback Carson Beck was selected by the Cardinals.

Allar is only the second quarterback the Steelers have drafted since Ben Roethlisberger's retirement at the end of the 2021 season. The first quarterback, Kenny Pickett, was the 20th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. His career started off well, but the Steelers quickly pulled the plug on him after the 2023 season, a season that ended with Mason Rudolph leading Pittsburgh to three straight wins after Pickett was sidelined with an injury.

-- Bryan DeArdo