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Pre-Season Week 1 vs Packers....Post Game Thoughts.....

I agree with all that take…

Except for the mason analysis… he was under severe duress every time he dropped back to pass and made the most put of **** sandwiches that are offensive line in particular our tackles were giving him..

I thought him and Ashanti Samuel were the two best Steelers in the first quarter..

Still don’t understand why we let Danny Smith walk… Coach bubbles will be missed this year
The line didn’t help but Mason doesn’t always move to the right spot to avoid the rush. It is the one thing that has held him back the most. While his pocket presence is better it is still his weakness. He may be a starter right now if he had the right pocket awareness but I doubt it ever clicks for him at this point beyond where he is.
 
Keep 4 quarterbacks. Rodgers is gone next year and having these guys all come back next year imo would be great.
Rudolph is a free agent after this season. Yesterday he looked as good as he is going to -- I would attempt to trade him for draft capital to a QB-weak team like the Jets or Carolina.

It's tough to justify keeping four QBs on an NFL roster -- the only team to do so last year was Cleveland.
 
I never put much stock in the first preseason game, but its nice to see young guys with playmaking ability..

We had to play more system and less vanilla than id like cause its the first year of a total system change, but still you want preseason to show off physical gifts, and they did that..

What it showed was a lot of potential.. and thats great
 
I liked what I saw especially with the three QBs and most notably Drew Allar. McCarthy knows offense and QBs and between him and Tom Arth, Drew may just be our answer in the future. Howard looked good too but his throws simply didn’t look the same as Allars whose passes exploded out of his hand and looked a lot better. The talent, tools, and size are all there and just needs to be refined by McCarthy and Arth.
I like the young receivers, Germie, Wetjen, and Roman Wilson. Robert Tonyan looks solid and will fit nicely with Muth and Washington.
I also like the FB and happy to see McCarthy use him near the goal line.
McCarthy’s playcalling was refreshing after years of Tomlin’s bullshit. The middle of the field has been rediscovered boys and we should be excited that we have a HC that knows offense.
I like the play of Asante Samuel on defense and think he’s a huge bonus.
Tackling looked good, and overall defense played well. I think Patrick Graham will do well with this defense.
ST not so good but I think that works itself out throughout the preseason.
Overall, good night by the black n’ gold.
 
Let's not pretend that Allar was out there with the 1's. He was playing with guys that will be sacking groceries right along with the Packers' defenders.

Yeah, fair point. Allar's footwork and delivery were very impressive. He is a big guy with huge hands so he is made to play in the AFC North.
 
Rudolph is a free agent after this season. Yesterday he looked as good as he is going to -- I would attempt to trade him for draft capital to a QB-weak team like the Jets or Carolina.

It's tough to justify keeping four QBs on an NFL roster -- the only team to do so last year was Cleveland.
What are we paying Rodgers? 20-25 million. I bet Mason comes back for 5 million. Regardless, he definitely had the best command and reads of the three. He was getting harassed from the left side and he still got through his progressions. It’s going to be hard to trust either Howard or Allar to do that at this stage. Remember Mason didn’t have his top two receivers going against a starting defense. Howard and Allar at least had comparable players going against each other. If we could get decent draft capital I would be for it but that probably would entail an injury and us keeping him on the 53 man to at least start the season.
 
Let's not pretend that Allar was out there with the 1's. He was playing with guys that will be sacking groceries right along with the Packers' defenders.
But if he was playing with scrubs and against scrubs then they cancel each other out…which means his performance had to be the real deal and not an anomaly.
 
But if he was playing with scrubs and against scrubs then they cancel each other out…which means his performance had to be the real deal and not an anomaly.
That’s the point. All over the internet, that’s all you read. “Well he was playing against third and fourth stringers.” Anything to dismiss his performance, never admitting he was playing WITH the same level of talent.

I keep also reading “Pickett had a near perfect pre-season in 2023. This is Penn State’s version of that.” I might agree if Tomlin was still the HC.

I feel like this is different.
 
That’s the point. All over the internet, that’s all you read. “Well he was playing against third and fourth stringers.” Anything to dismiss his performance, never admitting he was playing WITH the same level of talent.

I keep also reading “Pickett had a near perfect pre-season in 2023. This is Penn State’s version of that.” I might agree if Tomlin was still the HC.

I feel like this is different.

And adding to those points, Sarge, Allar's first professional throw had more velocity than any pass Kenny Pickett threw in his Steelers career. We also forget that Pickett's 2023 pre-season featured a TON of quality passes over the middle but when the regular season started, back to Tomlin's "thar be dangers in the middle" approach.

Not going to happen with McCarthy. Dude has his QB's exploit the middle of the field.
 
And looked very good against them. He looked like a bumb last year against cupcakes while at Penn State. If you're playing against bad competition, it's better to look good than look like trash. Good progress for the rookie.
Yeah I agree. Yeah its preseason and yeah he's playing against scrubs but on the other hand he had also didnt have what Mason had when he rolled out there and that was still an NFL game with guys on the other team clawing for a paycheck. And regardless of who he was playing against he had 3 TDs on 3 drives ......you can't ask for anything more. Even on 2 of his incompletions he put the ball in a spot his receiver coukd make a play and where the ball was safe from an INT and he got DPIs.....that long floater down the left where he got a DPI, I was thinking if Metcalf was there that might have been a TD. He led the receiver down the filed. The ball had touch and the receiver got held. If we constantly scheme things where Drew is given 1 on 1s he's going to be successful. I was encouraged. Its interesting though how 1 preseason game and everyone is slobbering on this board over Drew when they were bashing him up until yesterday.
 
And adding to those points, Sarge, Allar's first professional throw had more velocity than any pass Kenny Pickett threw in his Steelers career. We also forget that Pickett's 2023 pre-season featured a TON of quality passes over the middle but when the regular season started, back to Tomlin's "thar be dangers in the middle" approach.

Not going to happen with McCarthy. Dude has his QB's exploit the middle of the field.
Here's the difference......every time Kenny threw the ball i thought , we'll hes gonna have to suceed through film study and intelligence because the ball he threw did not have zip. Those outs across the field which are like 40 yard passes did not get there in a hurry and that's because he had to put more arch on the ball to get it there.

When you have a QB with elite velocity, he can zip it there more quickly . Thats less reaction time for the defense. Thats a higher probability of success. Same thing with zipping it downfield between defenders. The guys who can zip it are giving the D less closing speed. This game sometimes comes down to small margins. Elite vs elite and a cannon arm DOES make a difference in many situations. He still has to read defenses and he still has to have ball placement but he's working with an advantage over Pickett types from the get go. Steelers picked potential in the 3rd. Pickett never had that potential

Its just genes
 
Was just happy to put the colors on an watch football again, especially a decent win. Too many penalties, especially on special teams, hopefully we can clean that up. Good QB play and some good young talent out there in all phases. Curious how the QB situation will end up. I think they need Rudolph for the experience but hard to choose between the other 2 young guys at this point.
Very basic defense last night I agree. But that quick read into a blitz was the only blitz I saw and he quickly processed and threw to the correct receiver. I’m not willing to hand the backup role to either Howard or Allar. But I also think they shouldn’t get left on the practice squad to get stolen. Who cares about a third string OL that won’t ever suit up lol
 
Very basic defense last night I agree. But that quick read into a blitz was the only blitz I saw and he quickly processed and threw to the correct receiver. I’m not willing to hand the backup role to either Howard or Allar. But I also think they shouldn’t get left on the practice squad to get stolen. Who cares about a third string OL that won’t ever suit up lol
What are we paying Rodgers? 20-25 million. I bet Mason comes back for 5 million. Regardless, he definitely had the best command and reads of the three. He was getting harassed from the left side and he still got through his progressions. It’s going to be hard to trust either Howard or Allar to do that at this stage. Remember Mason didn’t have his top two receivers going against a starting defense. Howard and Allar at least had comparable players going against each other. If we could get decent draft capital I would be for it but that probably would entail an injury and us keeping him on the 53 man to at least start the season.
I see that your undying love for Rudolph is still burning brightly all these years later.
 
Yeah, fair point. Allar's footwork and delivery were very impressive. He is a big guy with huge hands so he is made to play in the AFC North.
Allar does not have "huge" hands for an NFL quarterback. 9 7/8" is slightly above the league average of 9.7.
 
Im definitely a lot more excited by what Allar and Howard showed than I would have been in prior years.

The Steelers now actually have a Superbowl-winning coach who understands QBs and offense, and who doesnt have to worry about the meddling, overbearing nature of Jerry Jones anymore.

There's a reason the Cowboys havent reached an NFC title game in 30 years.

Even if things aren't great right away, you know McCarthy will be given a fair chance by the Rooney's to develop a QB and operate the team the way he wants to.
 
The line didn’t help but Mason doesn’t always move to the right spot to avoid the rush. It is the one thing that has held him back the most. While his pocket presence is better it is still his weakness. He may be a starter right now if he had the right pocket awareness but I doubt it ever clicks for him at this point beyond where he is.
They really need to rotate these QBs let them have different opportunities to further what they perceive behind closed doors and open doors. Rudy gets so many excuses from fans but his overall body of work paints an accurate picture. They need to let that canvas show itself outside of that. See what Will and Drew have for the here and now. Only takes one of them to beat out Rudolph then adjust the room to three.
 
I'm a believer in the Pennsylvania boy who played for tOSU. However, the Ohio boy who played for PSU showed me a lot during the game. That said, it was one preseason game for both of them. There's a chance that next game one, or both, of them show us exactly why they have been labled 'developmental". Let's just let them continue to grow and develop. Of course, that probably means the team needs to explore trade opportunities for Rudolph. They COULD keep 4 QBs. But. they've got a few exciting "bubble guys" at other positions also.
 
I'm a believer in the Pennsylvania boy who played for tOSU. However, the Ohio boy who played for PSU showed me a lot during the game. That said, it was one preseason game for both of them. There's a chance that next game one, or both, of them show us exactly why they have been labeled 'developmental". Let's just let them continue to grow and develop. Of course, that probably means the team needs to explore trade opportunities for Rudolph. They COULD keep 4 QBs. But. they've got a few exciting "bubble guys" at other positions also.
Also equal chance one or both show they are capable.

There is a greater chance that Rudolph isn’t the backup answer that promotes consistency without significant drop off in end of game point tally.

I do agree if one or both QBs can’t beat him out with his deficiencies he should stick. As it shouldn’t be a high bar to accomplish.
 
Allar does not have "huge" hands for an NFL quarterback. 9 7/8" is slightly above the league average of 9.7.

His hands are the same size as Roethlisberger's and I always thought Ben had huge hands since he could pump fake and control the ball in snow and rain.

I think the 9.7" hand size is actually the average size of NFL QB's drafted in the first round between 2008 and 2020. (I can use Google too.)

Allar would be in the top 30% of all NFL QB's. Of the 16 QB's in the combine in 2026, two QB's had larger hands than Allar. Two.

Of the 15 QB's in the 2025 combine, zero had larger hands, two (Graham Mertz and Tyler Shough) had equal size.

So in the past two combines, of the 31 QB's who participated, 2 had larger hands than Allar. 2 out of 31. That puts Allar in the top 10% of that group.

Looking over starting NFL QB's, I believe nine have larger hands (Trevor Lawrence, Michael Penix, Dak Prescott, Josh Allen, Jordan Love, Matthew Stafford Aaron Rodgers, Justin Herbert, CJ Stroud). Allar would be in the top-10 basically.

So like I was saying ...
 
Allar looked like he had the better NFL arm than Howard, it didn’t really even seem close.

Next game should be only 1-2 series with Rudy and then Allar with the 2s imho.

I’d predict another game or two like that and the writing is on the wall for Howard, stands a good chance of losing a numbers game.
 
Allar looked like he had the better NFL arm than Howard, it didn’t really even seem close.

Next game should be only 1-2 series with Rudy and then Allar with the 2s imho.

I’d predict another game or two like that and the writing is on the wall for Howard, stands a good chance of losing a numbers game.
Very well could shape out this way. I think If Will ends in an equal playing field in their eyes he sticks. Anything less probably sends him packing unless they keep 4. Which for me is a depth mistake…
 
His hands are the same size as Roethlisberger's and I always thought Ben had huge hands since he could pump fake and control the ball in snow and rain.

I think the 9.7" hand size is actually the average size of NFL QB's drafted in the first round between 2008 and 2020. (I can use Google too.)

Allar would be in the top 30% of all NFL QB's. Of the 16 QB's in the combine in 2026, two QB's had larger hands than Allar. Two.

Of the 15 QB's in the 2025 combine, zero had larger hands, two (Graham Mertz and Tyler Shough) had equal size.

So in the past two combines, of the 31 QB's who participated, 2 had larger hands than Allar. 2 out of 31. That puts Allar in the top 10% of that group.

Looking over starting NFL QB's, I believe nine have larger hands (Trevor Lawrence, Michael Penix, Dak Prescott, Josh Allen, Jordan Love, Matthew Stafford Aaron Rodgers, Justin Herbert, CJ Stroud). Allar would be in the top-10 basically.

So like I was saying ...
So let me get this right.....

What you are essentially saying is you really love a man with huge hands?
 
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