The Pittsburgh Steelers are giving their young quarterbacks an extended look this week, and might be turning the pressure on them up a notch as well.
Coach Mike McCarthy announced Aug. 19 that Will Howard will start the team’s second NFL preseason game against the New York Jets on Friday at Acrisure Stadium. Rookie Drew Allar will then get reps of his own later in the game.
Starter Aaron Rodgers and backup Mason Rudolph will not appear. Notably, McCarthy told reporters that he saw all that he needed to from Rudolph in the first preseason game.
That confidence is a positive sign for Rudolph’s chances to make the 53-man roster later this month and puts
heat on both Howard and Allar to earn what could be one remaining spot for signal callers.
The Steelers drafted Rudolph in 2018 and have turned to him intermittently to start amid injuries to Ben Roethlisberger, Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky and Rodgers over the years. While he’s proven an ability to win games in a pinch – his three victories at the end of the 2023 season helped the team clinch a playoff berth – former coach Mike Tomlin’s regime never saw fit to put him atop the team’s depth chart as the permanent starter.
For that reason, it’s been natural to wonder whether McCarthy may turn his eye toward the future by instead keeping Howard and Allar, who’ve both been drafted in the past couple of cycles. Rodgers has said he plans to retire after 2026.
Instead it appears McCarthy wants that steady commodity behind Rodgers after Rudolph completed 10 of 11 passes for 93 yards in the preseason opener against the Green Bay Packers.
Most NFL teams only keep three quarterbacks on the active roster, at most, choosing instead to allocate spots to other positions. While it’s possible the Steelers could try to keep all four players, it would be far outside the norm for them to do so. Assistant GM Andy Weidel demurred on that question Wednesday.
“That will play itself out,” he told reporters when asked about keeping four QBs. “That will be up to coach McCarthy.”
Howard and Allar both impressed against the Packers. The former completed seven of nine passes for 86 yards and led a touchdown drive in the two-minute drill at the end of the first half. The latter had three total touchdowns while completing 10 of 13 throws for 153 yards.
Allar was the team’s third-round pick this past spring. Howard was drafted a year ago but waited over a year to make his NFL debut last week because of a 2025 preseason injury.
Now they have the spotlight to themselves for a night that could have major implications for the team’s future at the position, as both look to give McCarthy a reason to keep them in the mix for 2027 and beyond.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Steelers signal confidence in Mason Rudolph, will start Will Howard vs Jets
