Drew Allar is a polarizing prospect. He looks like he was built in a quarterback lab, but much has been documented about his inconsistent footwork. At rookie minicamp, Mike McCarthy's main focus with him has been correcting that flaw.
"He's physically gifted. He's a gifted thrower of the football, but he's no different than any other young quarterback that I've had the opportunity to work with," McCarthy said Saturday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "Everybody teaches footwork a little differently. Everybody has a system of offense and how you tie your quarterback, particularly in the pass game, to that. There's a lot of work there. We're able to just adjust some fundamentals that we think will help him."
From the time the rookies arrived Thursday night, McCarthy wanted to mentally stress all the players as much as possible, then see how they'd respond both Friday and Saturday. And of the 41 players that were brought to rookie minicamp, Allar was the only quarterback. That was no accident.
"We pushed him. To go 35 snaps in a team drill, that's pushing it, but he handled it," McCarthy said. "If your quarterback can't handle it, then you don't get to go to the speed and the tempo and the pre-snap that we were able to go. I thought Drew did a hell of a job."
The team drills were fun to watch, especially seeing an already budding rapport with second-round pick Germie Bernard. However, for much of the time through both Friday's and Saturday's practices, there was a heavy emphasis on his footwork.
From what I witnessed on Saturday, McCarthy and quarterbacks coach Tom Arth worked closely with Allar in a variety of drills that all focused on footwork. Both McCarthy and Arth would step in prior to a rep and show the proper footwork, especially working from under center. At times, it even looked like coaches teaching a player that was brand new to the position.
The emphasis was so focused on footwork that a couple of times when Allar's throws missed the mark and he was visibly upset about it, McCarthy told him to not worry about the throw -- that the sole focus is about having everything right in his lower half.
"For me, in those drills, I was really focusing on the footwork, in general, and not really caring about the result, but more caring about the process," Allar said. "In those (individual settings), Coach McCarthy told me to not really worry about the results, but about building that foundation for myself."
McCarthy used this time to work with Allar and get his reps on film so they could put together a video profile, which is something they did with Mason Rudolph and Will Howard after both players arrived for the voluntary offseason program. Part of that process was getting that tape from Friday, reviewing it, then making adjustments on Saturday.
"(We) tried some things today that he responded to very favorably," McCarthy said. "So, he made a very good first impression."
McCarthy admitted once again Saturday that he loves working to develop quarterbacks, so having this one-on-one time with Allar during rookie minicamp has been a great opportunity for him to do something he genuinely loves to do and has done for a long time. McCarthy used to run his own quarterback school in the offseason, but the 2011 collective bargaining agreement limited time between players and coaches, so now McCarthy relies on building relationships with a quarterback's personal coach.
"Most of these guys have people they work with outside of the team they play for ... ," McCarthy said. "Some of these guys have started back in high school. So just having an understanding of who they're working with and what the expectations are of how we do it. I've never come across any quarterback coach or quarterback developer outside of any organization I've worked with that wasn't cooperative and collaborative in doing what's best for the individual quarterback."
Fundamentals are a key focus for McCarthy. In fact, he said Saturday they have five playbooks they're working through during OTAs and minicamp, one of them being fundamentals. It's no accident that McCarthy's spent so much time working with Allar this week and it's important to use this time to lay the foundation to try and develop Allar, who has the tools to be a star.
"It's more about tweaking things and it's really just different coaching philosophies, in all honesty," Allar said. "Every coach probably teaches footwork a little bit different, and with Coach McCarthy, he has his beliefs. Obviously, they've shown that they work very well with everybody he's been around. Really, it's just about me buying into that and really trying to get as consistent as possible in that because I feel like all the quarterbacks he's worked with, obviously, they've all had a tremendous amount of success. That's something I do want to achieve, but I've gotta start from the ground up."
THE ASYLUM
Rookie minicamp: Footwork priority for Allar
Drew Allar is a polarizing prospect. He looks like he was built in a quarterback lab, but much has been documented about his inconsistent footwork. At rookie minicamp, Mike McCarthy's main focus with him has been correcting that flaw.
"He's physically gifted. He's a gifted thrower of the football, but he's no different than any other young quarterback that I've had the opportunity to work with," McCarthy said Saturday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "Everybody teaches footwork a little differently. Everybody has a system of offense and how you tie your quarterback, particularly in the pass game, to that. There's a lot of work there. We're able to just adjust some fundamentals that we think will help him."
From the time the rookies arrived Thursday night, McCarthy wanted to mentally stress all the players as much as possible, then see how they'd respond both Friday and Saturday. And of the 41 players that were brought to rookie minicamp, Allar was the only quarterback. That was no accident.
"We pushed him. To go 35 snaps in a team drill, that's pushing it, but he handled it," McCarthy said. "If your quarterback can't handle it, then you don't get to go to the speed and the tempo and the pre-snap that we were able to go. I thought Drew did a hell of a job."
The team drills were fun to watch, especially seeing an already budding rapport with second-round pick Germie Bernard. However, for much of the time through both Friday's and Saturday's practices, there was a heavy emphasis on his footwork.
From what I witnessed on Saturday, McCarthy and quarterbacks coach Tom Arth worked closely with Allar in a variety of drills that all focused on footwork. Both McCarthy and Arth would step in prior to a rep and show the proper footwork, especially working from under center. At times, it even looked like coaches teaching a player that was brand new to the position.
The emphasis was so focused on footwork that a couple of times when Allar's throws missed the mark and he was visibly upset about it, McCarthy told him to not worry about the throw -- that the sole focus is about having everything right in his lower half.
"For me, in those drills, I was really focusing on the footwork, in general, and not really caring about the result, but more caring about the process," Allar said. "In those (individual settings), Coach McCarthy told me to not really worry about the results, but about building that foundation for myself."
McCarthy used this time to work with Allar and get his reps on film so they could put together a video profile, which is something they did with Mason Rudolph and Will Howard after both players arrived for the voluntary offseason program. Part of that process was getting that tape from Friday, reviewing it, then making adjustments on Saturday.
"(We) tried some things today that he responded to very favorably," McCarthy said. "So, he made a very good first impression."
McCarthy admitted once again Saturday that he loves working to develop quarterbacks, so having this one-on-one time with Allar during rookie minicamp has been a great opportunity for him to do something he genuinely loves to do and has done for a long time. McCarthy used to run his own quarterback school in the offseason, but the 2011 collective bargaining agreement limited time between players and coaches, so now McCarthy relies on building relationships with a quarterback's personal coach.
"Most of these guys have people they work with outside of the team they play for ... ," McCarthy said. "Some of these guys have started back in high school. So just having an understanding of who they're working with and what the expectations are of how we do it. I've never come across any quarterback coach or quarterback developer outside of any organization I've worked with that wasn't cooperative and collaborative in doing what's best for the individual quarterback."
Fundamentals are a key focus for McCarthy. In fact, he said Saturday they have five playbooks they're working through during OTAs and minicamp, one of them being fundamentals. It's no accident that McCarthy's spent so much time working with Allar this week and it's important to use this time to lay the foundation to try and develop Allar, who has the tools to be a star.
"It's more about tweaking things and it's really just different coaching philosophies, in all honesty," Allar said. "Every coach probably teaches footwork a little bit different, and with Coach McCarthy, he has his beliefs. Obviously, they've shown that they work very well with everybody he's been around. Really, it's just about me buying into that and really trying to get as consistent as possible in that because I feel like all the quarterbacks he's worked with, obviously, they've all had a tremendous amount of success. That's something I do want to achieve, but I've gotta start from the ground up."
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits!
We’d love to have you!