Quarterback Scouting Thread

[SteelBuckeye]

SLAP him hard and make it twice.

If Pittsburgh wants Allar, they will have to pick him Day 2 if he is still there.

I think he has moved up through the combine and has shown coaching up capability.

His foot work was better as in working on it and results showed.

All passes were effortless, I know they were not under game conditions.





Salute the nation

An AI assisted conglomeration of opinions on Allar's decision making and footwork (under pressure). It ain't pretty.
Your most favorite HC used to call what Allar showed over the weekend "Football in shorts" as a way of saying it all looks pretty until "the bullets start flying".

Drew Allar's decision-making under pressure is characterized by a "risk-averse" or "cautious" approach that prioritizes ball security over explosive playmaking, though his physical mechanics often deteriorate when faced with a collapsing pocket.


Performance Under Pressure
While Allar maintains a low turnover-worthy play rate even under duress, scouts highlight several recurring issues in high-pressure situations:

• Mechanical Breakdown: When pressured, Allar’s footwork often becomes "choppy" or "flat-footed". He has a tendency to throw off his back foot and fail to step into throws, leading to decreased accuracy.
• Processing and Vision: Under heat, he frequently "drops his eyes" to the pass rush rather than keeping them downfield. This often results in a quick check-down to a running back or tight end rather than working through his full progression.
• Interior Pressure: He specifically struggles with pressure up the middle, which often forces him to drift backward rather than climbing the pocket to find a clean throwing lane.

Statistical Impact
Data from his 2024 and 2025 seasons reflects a significant performance dip in "big game" or high-stress environments:

• Efficiency Drop: In 2024, Allar completed 66.5% of his passes overall, but this fell to 53.7% in losses to elite opponents like Ohio State, Oregon, and Notre Dame.
• Late-Game Interceptions: He ended three consecutive high-stakes losses (2024 Big Ten title game, 2024 Orange Bowl, and 2025 "White Out" game) with interceptions.
• Time to Throw: His average time to throw increased from 2.84 seconds in clean pockets to 3.55 seconds under pressure, indicating a slower processing speed when the pocket collapses.

Mental Approach
Allar has been described by his coaches as having a "tremendous ability to retain information" and a high football IQ. He consciously internalizes a "next play" mentality to filter out external noise, which helps him remain composed after errors. However, critics argue this results in a "robotic" style that lacks the improvisational "gunslinger" creativity needed to thrive when plays break down.

 

[TDX27]

Allar has had a total of 3 games over 300 yrds in his career. Last year in the 6 games he played he did not break 220yrds passing and only had one game above 8yyrds/attempt. He also had 3 games below 7yrds / attempt. I don't care how physically talented someone is if he can't throw it where he is supposed to consistently. Coaching can hold you back but in big name schools natural talent usually shines though especially against physically mismatched teams. I just don't see that with Allar.

Maybe so, but Allar was absolutely held back by Franklin. He was in the same mold as Tomlin. Even with his big arm, Franklin had him throwing most passes behind the line or within 10 yards of the line. He threw deep most of the time on obvious passing downs. Stupid, stupid, stupid play calling and schemes. He did have a poor OL most of his time there and didn't have top receiving options other than Warren. Even Warren wasn't target for a quarter or two or more in some games. It was just like watching a Tomlin offense over the past few years. Living in their fears.

 

[jitter77]

Maybe so, but Allar was absolutely held back by Franklin. He was in the same mold as Tomlin. Even with his big arm, Franklin had him throwing most passes behind the line or within 10 yards of the line. He threw deep most of the time on obvious passing downs. Stupid, stupid, stupid play calling and schemes. He did have a poor OL most of his time there and didn't have top receiving options other than Warren. Even Warren wasn't target for a quarter or two or more in some games. It was just like watching a Tomlin offense over the past few years. Living in their fears.

Franklin and the WRs were definitely an issue and I get Allar struggling against the OSUs, Oregon, Michigan's, etc etc... My issue is he struggled against the FIUs, Nevada, etc etc...PSU normally has a early cupcake schedule and I would think just based on talent alone Allar would feast in those games. I don't have anything against the guy and hopefully the light comes on for him. I just think he is way too risky for a first / second round pick. I would take a flyer in 4th or possibly late 3rd but no earlier.

 

[Crossdogblitz]

Here are the stats for four QBs. I was curious to see how JJ McCarthy compared since he went in the first (10th overall). Will obviously in the sixth and then the projections for Drew and Garrett.

JJ M - 40 Games, 67.6 Comp%, 6226 Yds, 49 TDs, 1.5 INT%, 160.5 QBR

Will - 50 Games, 63.8 Comp%, 9796 Yds, 83 TDs, 2.9 INT%, 149.2 QBR

Drew - 45 Games, 63.2 Comp%, 7402 Yds, 61 TDs, 1.3 INT%, 142.7 QBR

Garrett - 40 Game, 64 Comp%, 7699 Yds, 52 TDs, 2.3 INT%, 138.6 QBR

Really no conclusion can be made because there's so much more to it other than some stats, this was just a curiosity thing on stats alone. Since Will dropped all the way to the 6th and Drew/Garrett are projected for the middle rounds, I was expecting to see Will have the worst stats but they're pretty comparable to Drew and Garrett. It will be interesting to see where those two go this draft.

Will - 38 Wins
Garrett - 27 Wins
Drew - 35 Wins
Wins include bowls, non-conference and conference.

 

[Drink IRON City]

An AI assisted conglomeration of opinions on Allar's decision making and footwork (under pressure). It ain't pretty.
Your most favorite HC used to call what Allar showed over the weekend "Football in shorts" as a way of saying it all looks pretty until "the bullets start flying".

Drew Allar's decision-making under pressure is characterized by a "risk-averse" or "cautious" approach that prioritizes ball security over explosive playmaking, though his physical mechanics often deteriorate when faced with a collapsing pocket.


Performance Under Pressure
While Allar maintains a low turnover-worthy play rate even under duress, scouts highlight several recurring issues in high-pressure situations:

• Mechanical Breakdown: When pressured, Allar’s footwork often becomes "choppy" or "flat-footed". He has a tendency to throw off his back foot and fail to step into throws, leading to decreased accuracy.
• Processing and Vision: Under heat, he frequently "drops his eyes" to the pass rush rather than keeping them downfield. This often results in a quick check-down to a running back or tight end rather than working through his full progression.
• Interior Pressure: He specifically struggles with pressure up the middle, which often forces him to drift backward rather than climbing the pocket to find a clean throwing lane.

Statistical Impact
Data from his 2024 and 2025 seasons reflects a significant performance dip in "big game" or high-stress environments:

• Efficiency Drop: In 2024, Allar completed 66.5% of his passes overall, but this fell to 53.7% in losses to elite opponents like Ohio State, Oregon, and Notre Dame.
• Late-Game Interceptions: He ended three consecutive high-stakes losses (2024 Big Ten title game, 2024 Orange Bowl, and 2025 "White Out" game) with interceptions.
• Time to Throw: His average time to throw increased from 2.84 seconds in clean pockets to 3.55 seconds under pressure, indicating a slower processing speed when the pocket collapses.

Mental Approach
Allar has been described by his coaches as having a "tremendous ability to retain information" and a high football IQ. He consciously internalizes a "next play" mentality to filter out external noise, which helps him remain composed after errors. However, critics argue this results in a "robotic" style that lacks the improvisational "gunslinger" creativity needed to thrive when plays break down.

I hear yaz SteelBuckeye, but his draft position has improved through the combine. I think he may be a day 2 pick as some team will take his physical attributes and hope for the best.

QB is a risk, and your favorite coach “lol” didn’t seem to be able to find a QB so well either.

We won’t move forward without taking a risk, is Allar that risk. Is his size and arm worth the risk involved to develop him?

MM is known for tutelage of QBs, maybe he could work something good out of this.

I’m just putting things out there as I’m a little attracts to physical attributes, but definately know he would need time to develop.




Salute the nation

 

[topseed]

I'm a Buckeye homer, you all know that by now, but Will Howard had an awful combine throwing session last year. It's not automatic.

Howard reportedly had 7 bad throws at the combine. That is a lot. He did say that he got positive feedback from NFL teams afterwards, and that his performance was negatively blown out of proportion by the media and fans. He also had a very solid pro day, so there was some redemption for him there.

What's more important to me is how Will did in the 2024 playoffs with pads on and eleven defenders on the field, against some of the top defenses in the country.

 

[SteelerFan448]

Howard reportedly had 7 bad throws at the combine. That is a lot. He did say that he got positive feedback from NFL teams afterwards, and that his performance was negatively blown out of proportion by the media and fans. He also had a very solid pro day, so there was some redemption for him there.

What's more important to me is how Will did in the 2024 playoffs with pads on and eleven defenders on the field, against some of the top defenses in the country.

With that said, he still fell all the way to the 6th for a reason. The offseason talk around Howard has been bizarre. A lot of hype for a QB who did not stand out in training camp, got hurt, then had limited practice reps throughout the season. Either McCarthy really saw something in his film or the Steelers are putting out a smokescreen to make a move on a QB. They heavily scouted a lot of the perceived top options during the season. Not mentioning Rudolph at all has been equally puzzling.

 

[topseed]

You are misunderstanding talent with ability. What tape is saying, is that Aller has all the things you can't teach, so his ceiling is higher than any other QB in the draft.

The coaching staff did him no favors, they wanted him to play it safe (sound familiar).

Nah. You are confusing talent with measurables. Yes, Allar has the prototypical size. Yes, he has a strong arm. Those are physical traits, not talent. If he were talented, his physicality would translate into great ability. It doesn't, because he isn't mentally talented.

Tape isn't saying he will be better than Mendoza, tape is saying that he COULD be, his physical attributes and natural talent say he SHOULD be, but does he have the mental ability, the work ethic to get better, to want to be great? He has the highest boom or bust ratio of all the QB prospects.

For as good as Mendoza is, for this draft class, he's the safe bet...but he's still not the once in a generation prospect. And that's coming from someone who would only draft Mendoza in this class.

And I'm saying Allar won't be better than Mendoza, because he lacks the mental ability. Allar clearly doesn't have that "clutch" gene that so many great quarterbacks possess. He chokes in big moments. He panics when the game is on the line. Mendoza doesn't. @tapeANaspirin2it should know that better than anybody, after watching Mendoza drive Indiana down the field with pinpoint passes in the final seconds of their win over Penn State a few months ago.