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Young Steelers QBs Will Howard, Drew Allar subpar in preseason shutout loss

Young Steelers QBs Will Howard and Drew Allar struggled in their preseason games, leading to a shutout loss against the Jets.

First seen Aug 22, 2026 · 4:05 PM UTC · last updated Aug 22 10:05 PM

Scoring Zone's Take

Aaron Rodgers remains the clear starter in Pittsburgh, and nothing here changes that — but the preseason shutout loss, with both Will Howard and Drew Allar struggling behind him, is a red flag for the room's depth. For draft prep purposes, this pushes both young passers further off your radar as anything more than deep-league or dynasty stash pieces. Howard came in with more helium given his draft slot and rookie pedigree, but a poor preseason showing against depth talent is worth tempering expectations on him heading into your draft — he's not someone you should be prioritizing outside of the very last rounds in dynasty formats, and there's no case for him in redraft leagues at all. Allar's stock takes a similar hit; he was already a project, and this doesn't inspire confidence he pushes into meaningful reps this year.

The real fantasy relevance stays with Rodgers himself — if the backups look this shaky, it only reinforces how much the offense leans on him staying healthy and productive, which should factor into how you value his QB2/streamer appeal on your board. Mason Rudolph isn't mentioned as involved in this particular game, so treat his standing as unchanged for now.

Confidence here is moderate; these are just two preseason-game reports (50-80% confidence) about early performance, not confirmed depth-chart or roster decisions. Don't overreact by benching or dropping anyone off your draft list based on this alone, but it's a legitimate note to revisit as more preseason data comes in before your draft.

Young Steelers QBs Will Howard, Drew Allar subpar in preseason shutout loss

With veteran signal-callers Aaron Rodgers and Mason Rudolph on the bench for Pittsburgh's second preseason tilt, it was the youngsters' time to shine on Friday night.

However, Will Howard and Drew Allar struggled to break through in their latest outings, leading the Steelers to zero points over 11 combined drives in a 17-0 loss to the visiting Jets.

The result was a disappointing one for coach Mike McCarthy, who saw standout play from both Howard and Allar in Pittsburgh's first preseason game.

"If I'm looking for one clean way to explain the production of going down from eight days ago today, the details and the execution wasn't as high," McCarthy said after the game, via ESPN.

The second-year Howard got the start, picking up one first down on the Steelers' first two drives. The next two marches ended in Howard interceptions in Jets territory.

On his first pick, Howard didn't see a streaking Andre Cisco when eyeing down Roman Wilson, his second read, on a third-and-4 in the red zone. On the second, the former sixth-round pick underthrew Wilson in the middle of the field, finding Samuel Womack instead. It was Howard's final pass of the game.

Those were two of just five incompletions for Howard on the night, who exited at halftime having completed 10 of 15 passes for 74 yards.

"I felt really comfortable in the pocket," Howard said. "I felt like I was going through my progressions well, especially early first and second down, and felt good about how I played, but those two turnovers will really, really make it sour."

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Allar, the rookie out of Penn State, fared little better in the second half. The third-round QB completed 11 of 23 passes for 110 yards, leading his first two drives into Jets territory but coming up empty each time (one turnover on downs, one missed field goal). Pittsburgh picked up just six first downs in the second half with Allar at the helm.

The rookie flashed mobility and had a few big completions -- his long was a 38-yard hookup with rookie tight Lake McRee -- but Allar also took three sacks of at least 9 yards. Dropped passes and penalties didn't help, but Friday night was still a setback for the ex-Nittany Lion after his three-TD debut.

"I just need to do a better job, especially early in drives, taking what's given," Allar said. "I felt like I passed up a couple opportunities early in drives that either set us back with an incompletion or a sack that if I just take what's there, even if it's catch tackle, we're not in a backed-up situation. I felt like that's where I could help the offense more."

With one preseason game remaining, Pittsburgh's QB room is muddled. Will the Steelers carry all four QBs on their Week 1 roster, or will at least one of the signal-callers be on the block? And if so, who? Rudolph, 31, is a known commodity at this point, whereas McCarthy may see in Howard untapped potential that he doesn't want to give up on so quickly into his Steelers tenure.

“We can’t let this trip us up going forward," Howard said. "We have to continue to make strides. And we didn’t really make any strides tonight.”

Coverage from Nfl Dot Com News · by Jeremy Bergman · Aug 22, 2026 · read original