STEELERS

The Steelers' final week of OTAs is underway. And come June 12, the offseason program will come to its conclusion, giving the players an extended break before they have to report to Saint Vincent College on July 28 for training camp.

With that in mind, and with mandatory minicamp in the rearview mirror, Mike McCarthy has one main priority for the remainder of the week.

"I think a big thing for us this week is really the distribution of reps," McCarthy said prior to Tuesday's workouts at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "We're in a really good spot as far as what we've been able to accomplish with the football team. So, we're really trying to get as many reps to our younger generation."

A key part of that endeavor is a huge uptick in reps for Will Howard and Drew Allar. Neither Aaron Rodgers nor Mason Rudolph are at OTAs this week, giving both young quarterbacks an opportunity to put into practice what they've been learning throughout the installation process.

"There's been a lot of areas (I've grown), but I'd say it's just mentally and the playbook," Allar said. "I feel really comfortable with it right now. Still learning and growing every day, trying to ask as many questions as I possibly can to really try to nail it down before we hit the break. The coaches have been great, the quarterback room's been great. I feel they've really helped me come along so far. It's been fun."

Both Howard and Allar are in different spots. Howard is competing to be the backup behind Rodgers, and has already been given plenty of runway to do so, as he's taken all of the No. 2 reps throughout OTAs and minicamp. That's expected to continue when training camp begins, as Dejan Kovacevic recently reported that Howard will have an opportunity to supplant Rudolph as Rodgers' backup.

For Allar, this is a chance to simply get more reps. Those have been much more scarce since the start of OTAs since all four quarterbacks on the roster have participated in every OTA and minicamp session thus far. Rodgers needs reps to gel with his pass catchers and learn McCarthy's playbook, which has evolved since the two were last together in 2018. Howard is being given all the No. 2 reps as part of his opportunity, and Rudolph is slotted in the third spot in the rotation. That fourth and final spot offers very few team reps, forcing Allar to take more mental reps than anything else.

Mental reps are great, but don't address the biggest need for Allar's growth: His mechanics. The coaching staff has been working diligently with Allar, particularly on his footwork. But this week of OTAs gives Allar a chance to take what he's learned and apply it to full team settings instead of watching:

"It's definitely a big week," Allar said. "I try to take as many mental reps as I can throughout the practice, but it's definitely different when you're the one taking those reps, kind of logging those in your memory bank and just on different route concepts versus different coverages. So, it's definitely a big week. Just trying to take it a play at a time and really just grow from each play, whether it's a good throw or a bad throw or whatever the case is. Just learn from it and grow from it."

The good thing for both the Steelers and Allar is they don't need him to be a polished product right away. The 2026 season is all about developing him. There's plenty of time to continue to grow. But a week like this is still very valuable in that development.