The Pittsburgh Steelers have been searching for their next franchise quarterback since Ben Roethlisberger retired. On Thursday, he got to watch two young quarterbacks looking to take that title: Will Howard and Drew Allar.<\/p>\n
Each got a handful of drives, and both were impressive in limited reps. Roethlisberger really liked what he saw from Howard, who entered the game first.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was pleased with what I saw. I thought his pocket movement was really good; I thought he got rid of the ball when he had to,\u201d Roethlisberger said Friday on his Footbahlin podcast<\/a>. \u201cHe was very efficient, did exactly what you were hoping for\u2026 He more than put his hat in the ring, his name in the hat, whatever you want to say, for QB2. He\u2019s like, \u2018I\u2019m here. I\u2019m standing here; y\u2019all need to consider me with Mason\u2019. I would take some reps away from Mason.\u201d<\/p>\n Roethlisberger has been Howard\u2019s fan for a long time. It\u2019s hard not to be excited about how Howard looked, especially since it was his first time taking snaps in an actual game since his final season at Ohio State.<\/p>\n Howard\u2019s first drive was a little rocky, and the offensive line didn\u2019t give him ample protection. But he later took over a two-minute drill and performed very well. Howard made a big fourth-down throw to Ben Skowronek and hit Robert Tonyan on a couple passes in a row. The final was a nice layered throw over the middle of the field that fell just inches short of the end zone.<\/p>\n Rudolph has held the backup role through training camp, but Roethlisberger wants Howard to start taking some more of those reps. For what it\u2019s worth, Rudolph isn\u2019t getting an abundance of them. Howard took plenty of snaps during spring practices, and Mike McCarthy has mentioned Rudolph\u2019s reps being limited during camp<\/a>.<\/p>\n Howard wasn\u2019t the only quarterback to impress. Roethlisberger also liked what he saw from Drew Allar.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel the same way about Drew. Like, I want him to get more reps\u2026 I was pleasantly surprised,\u201d Roethlisberger said. \u201cI thought he was super consistent. Just like Will, he made good decisions with the ball and didn\u2019t turn the ball over.\u201d<\/p>\n For as much praise as Howard gets, Allar deserves his as well. He finished out the second half and looked very impressive. Allar hit Kaden Wetjen on a slant on his very first pass attempt, which the latter took for 74 yards. His three scoring drives ended with a rushing touchdown of his own, as well as passing touchdowns to Wetjen and Nowakowski.<\/p>\n Roethlisberger would consider giving one of Howard or Allar the starting nod during one of the last two preseason games.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Aaron\u2019s not gonna play again, I would strongly consider starting Will or Drew,\u201d Roethlisberger said.<\/p>\n