Steelers Draft Aaron Rodgers Replacement in Round 3 of NFL Draft

The Pittsburgh Steelers finally pulled the trigger.

Though they still don't know if quarterback Aaron Rodgers will return for the 2026 season, the Steelers are preparing just in case Rodgers does, in fact, retire.

Pittsburgh has second-year QB Will Howard and longtime backup Mason Rudolph under contract next season, and the team wanted to make sure it had another signal-caller in place in case Rodgers is done.

The Steelers selected Penn State quarterback Drew Allar with the 76th overall pick (Round 3) in the 2026 NFL draft. Allar is the kind of player who could benefit from sitting and learning the offense for a year or two before being thrown into the fire.

If Rodgers exits stage left, Howard and Rudolph will presumably battle for the starting job with Allar serving as the team's QB3.

Allar won't have to go far to continue his career - Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh is just a two-hour and 26-minute drive from Penn State.

Some scouts called Allar the most purely talented QB in the 2026 draft class. The problem for him has been his inconsistency and inability to put all his physical tools together at once.

"Drew Allar is an intriguing guy," ESPN's Mel Kiper said. "Late last year, there were some missed throws, the completion percentage in those games [wasn't great]. End of 2024-2025 you think, ‘Boy, it’s all going to come together,' and it didn’t.

"… [It's] the accuracy for a guy that has the arm to make any throw, and he makes some beautiful throws, and then it’ll be the head-scratcher. Whether it’s a decision, whether it’s not seeing it, or just being a little off target and not precise…there’s a lot to work with there."

The Ringer's Todd McShay agrees with Kiper in that Allar is highly talented but struggles with the little things.

"Allar is a traits-driven quarterback with prototypical NFL size, arm talent, and mental processing, but his projection is complicated by inconsistencies in accuracy, pocket movement, and decision-making under pressure," McShay said. "A multiyear starter with flashes of high-level play, he offers intriguing upside in a structured system but carries notable developmental risk."

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This story was originally published April 24, 2026 at 8:00 PM.