Drew Allar's promising preseason ended with more questions than answers.
Allar was a star in his first game, giving Steelers fans hope that they may have found their franchise quarterback of the future. Then, facing heavy pressure against the New York Jets, some shortcomings emerged along with more signs of promise.
But against the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night, the hype train came to a halt, at least for now. Allar went 9-of-18 for just 88 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.
What does the tape say about Drew Allar's preseason finale?
Allar didn't face nearly as much pressure against Buffalo as he did against New York. That was a much different challenge from his impressive NFL debut, when the rookie immediately gave Steelers fans something to get excited about. Against Buffalo, the lack of pressure allowed Allar to sit back and take what the defense gave him throughout the game. He never looked rushed or particularly bothered by anything the defense was doing.
His receivers didn't have that same experience. Buffalo's defensive backs played physically with Pittsburgh's pass-catchers, disrupting routes and contributing to several incompletions.
There were a couple of throws that Allar could have had a bit better ball placement, which could have helped his overall numbers. The deep-out to Max Hurleman could have led Hurleman more to the sideline for potentially more YAC and a possible touchdown. And the fourth down pass to Jakobie Keeney-James was dropped (it was in his hands) but had it been a little higher or a little more in stride, it might have been easier to catch.
Those are very small details. And after tracking these moments through the preseason, it is a much-improved situation for Allar compared to his college tape, where he often struggled with his ball placement making things easy on his receivers.
Overall, Allar had opportunities to make plays against Buffalo. He didn't necessarily fail in any one area, but he left plays on the field that will need to be made as he develops.
What do the numbers say about Drew Allar?
If we break down the throws, we can see where Allar really struggled in this one.
Allar wasn't bottled up the way he was last week, but that lack of pressure also kept him inside the pocket more. In the first preseason game, he made five pass attempts outside the pocket. In the last two games combined, he also attempted five. And with just three in this game, they weren't very productive.
- Throws on the move: 1/3
- Throws from the pocket: 8/15
After charting these throws all preseason, there's one constant on the types of throws that need to be discussed, and that's the distance of the throws.
In this game, by distance and from the pocket, Allar went:
- Short: 5/8
- Intermediate: 2/2
- Long: 1/5
The deep ball continues to elude Allar. His one completion was the deep out to Hurleman. The four incompletions were two go balls and two slot fades.
For the preseason, I charted Allar at just 2-of-14 on deep passes along the sideline, including go routes, slot fades and stop routes. Traditionally, this is the highest-variance pass in football since it is the furthest away from the quarterback. But it is still something to note.
The silver lining to watching those plays is that the incompletions for a lot of them seem more about timing and communication than anything.
Allar clearly has the arm. And the passes are falling to a place that makes sense just watching from the screen. But a lot of the balls that end up on the grass seem to do so because the receiver takes the route a little further in than Allar or vise versa. Hopefully, that means if Allar were to become the starter one day, some time to work on the chemistry with teammates would clear that up.
What's next for Drew Allar?
There's a chance that was the last game action for Allar this entire season. Pittsburgh was one of a few teams that elected to keep four quarterbacks on their initial 53-man roster. Aaron Rodgers will be the team's starter, with Mason Rudolph as the primary backup. At this time, it's unclear between Allar and Will Howard who will serve as the team's number three on game days.
Some encouraging signs for Allar during the preseason were his presence and poise in the pocket, general timing and accuracy, as well as the few moments where fans got to see the ball fly off his hands.
The things to work on would be the next-level ball placement, making plays happen (not letting the defense dictate), and more production on plays deep and out wide.
Did Allar show enough for fans to think they have a future franchise quarterback? Probably not. Did he do enough that we shouldn't give Pittsburgh a quarterback in any 2027 NFL Mock Drafts? Nope.
But did Allar show enough for the Steelers to seriously consider giving him a chance to compete for the job next year?
Possibly.
And after three preseason games, that's probably the most important takeaway.
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