The ball leaves Aaron Rodgers' hand with the same zip it had a decade and a half ago. Tight end Darnell Washington noticed it. The rest of the Steelers offense has noticed it. And standing a few yards away, watching every release, rookie quarterback Drew Allar noticed it most of all.
The third-round pick out of Penn State is in the midst of his first NFL mandatory minicamp, held June 2-4, and his quarterback room includes a four-time MVP. That changes the calculus of a rookie summer.
Allar is soaking in plenty of knowledge from Rodgers during these structured workouts. It is the kind of apprenticeship Pittsburgh hoped for when it drafted the 22-year-old in the third round of April's draft -- a developmental year behind a legend, with no pressure to start, no mandate to win the job in July. The Steelers signed Rodgers in free agency this past March, and the roster around him is built to contend now. Allar is the long-term project.
The numbers from Rodgers' 2025 season tell the story of a player who still has it: completing 327 passes on 498 attempts for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns and just seven interceptions across 16 games. That passer efficiency is no accident. The guy can still throw.
And the rookie is paying attention.
Mandatory minicamp is the first time the full team has worked together in a structured environment since the draft. For Allar, it is a graduate seminar in quarterback play. He is not competing for the starting job. He is competing to learn as much as possible before training camp opens in July.
Washington, the third-year tight end who has emerged as a key piece of Pittsburgh's offense, described what the veteran quarterback brings. "Just to see the arm challenge still there," Washington said on June 5, "and you know, Roman just... opening up the deep ball."
Washington was referencing Roman Wilson, the second-year wideout who missed time in 2025 but caught 12 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns in 13 games. With DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr. on the outside and Wilson developing as a slot option, the Steelers have a receiver room that can test defenses vertically. Rodgers still has the arm to reach them.
Allar does not need to be that guy yet. He needs to watch and absorb.
The developmental arc for a third-round quarterback is rarely linear. Some players never develop. Some take two years and become starters. The Steelers structured their offseason to give Allar the best possible runway: a veteran ahead of him, a veteran offensive coordinator in Brian Angelichio, and a head coach in Mike McCarthy who has worked with quarterbacks from Brett Favre to Dak Prescott.
Allar is the long bet. But that bet only pays off if the rookie is learning the right things right now.
"I do take things from other people's game, definitely the receiving game and the route running game," Washington said of his own approach, but the same principle applies to a young quarterback watching a future Hall of Famer. Every drill, every film session, every check at the line of scrimmage is a data point.
The Steelers have about $3.19 million in cap space, per Over the Cap. They are not in a financial position to carry a high-priced backup. Mason Rudolph is the No. 2 quarterback, entering his ninth season, familiar with the system. The room is deep enough that Allar can develop at the right pace.
Here's the take: Drew Allar will not play a meaningful snap in 2026 unless something unforeseen occurs. That is by design. The Steelers can win now with Rodgers, and they are giving Allar a redshirt season that could define his career. If he learns the footwork, the pre-snap reads, the pocket manipulation -- the things that made Rodgers elite -- Pittsburgh might have its quarterback of the future.
But the league is littered with quarterbacks who had the arm and the opportunity and never made the leap. The difference is often what happens in the months nobody sees. The June minicamp reps. The extra film study. The willingness to sit and learn rather than demand.
Allar is doing the right thing. He is soaking it in.
Washington summed up the veteran's impact on the entire offense: "It's crazy just to see a guy like... he ain't lose a step yet," the tight end said.
He has not. And the rookie is watching every step.
When training camp opens in July, Allar will get more reps, more chances to test what he has absorbed. The preseason games in August will offer live bullets against a defense that is not his own. But what he learns between now and Week 1 will determine whether he is a viable option in 2027 or just another developmental quarterback who never developed.
The Steelers bet a third-round pick on the latter not happening. They built a veteran offense around Rodgers. They gave Allar a mentor who has seen every coverage, every blitz, every situation.
Now the rookie has to learn.
He is in the right room. The arm still looks live. The mind still works. And Drew Allar is paying attention.
That is the story of June. Whether it becomes the story of September 2027 is up to him.
