The Pittsburgh Steelers wasted no time making noise during the 2026 NFL Draft, as the major storyline after Round 1 was that the Steelers were sniped by the Philadelphia Eagles in an effort to draft Makai Lemon.

The polarization surrounding the Steelers didn’t stop there, however, as Pittsburgh caught a lot of people off guard when they used the first of their three first-round picks to select Penn State quarterback Drew Allar. One person still trying to wrap their brain around why the Steelers did that would be Ben Roethlisberger.

Ben Roethlisberger questions Steelers’ decision to draft Drew Allar in Round 3

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“This is one that I’m not sure yet if I love it or hate it,” said Big Ben when discussing the Allar selection on his YouTube channel. “You can get a lot of really good players in the third round…I think it was [that] we liked a big physical quarterback. I think he had a lot of hype behind him at one point…I didn’t watch a lot of Penn State games.”

“When I did watch, he never jumped off the page to me. Is he big, can he move, can he throw? Yeah, but there was never a time when I was like ‘Whoa.’…We’ll see about this one … Will was a sixth-rounder. This is a third-rounder. I think this will push Will. When I watch tape, or if I watch games, Will Howard jumped off the tape to me way more than Drew did.”

The difference between Will Howard and Drew Allar

Drew Allar and Will Howard may both be quarterbacks, but you’re talking about apples and oranges. In the case of Allar, he’s all tools. Big time arm, good scrambler, tall and big. Howard, on the other hand, is a lot of the intangibles. Great leader, tremendous processor, and a good anticipatory thrower.

The ceiling with Allar is Josh Allen, but the floor is Christian Hackenberg. As for Howard, his ceiling is probably Kirk Cousins or Matt Ryan, but his floor is Chase Daniel, who made a lot of money as a backup for years in the league.

We’ll see who comes out on top over the years in Pittsburgh.