Mike McCarthy avoids "hypotheticals" about QB depth chart if Aaron Rodgers returns

The Steelers have made it clear that the decision to devote a third-round pick to former Penn State quarterback Drew Allar has no bearing on the looming decision to be made, eventually, by Aaron Rodgers.

But here's the real question. If Rodgers returns, what are they going to do with Allar, Mason Rudolph, and 2025 sixth-rounder Will Howard?

"These are all questions, answers, hypotheticals that really, it won’t change what I’ve already said," McCarthy said Saturday, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN, when asked about the depth chart behind Rodgers. "I will coach the hell out of that room. I have a lot of confidence. I have history and experience that I will give everything I can to any quarterback in that room. . . . We want to grow the quarterback room. We don't want to just rely on one quarterback."

So either it'll be Allar, Rudolph, and Howard (if Rodgers doesn't play) or Rodgers and three backups. Common sense suggests that, if Rodgers comes back, one of the others will be gone.

Howard would seem to be the most vulnerable. Rudolph has sufficient experience to play at a moment's notice. But they keep talking up Howard.

"I was very impressed with Will last week [at voluntary minicamp]," McCarthy said. "I know he's a good athlete. . . . But there's a training regimen that's involved, but we'll stick to it."

McCarthy is also talking up Allar, predictably.

"Like anything, I believe in first impressions," McCarthy said. "I've had a chance to watch him play, meet him at the Combine. . . . I liked everything about him. I think he's young. I think he's got a lot of room for growth. And he's a young man that can throw the ball with the best of them, and that's a great starting point to have."

The ending point is murky, to say the least. The biggest question for now is whether Rodgers will be back. If he is, the other spots on the depth chart will become even murkier.