You\u2019ve heard takes that Mason Rudolph is the odd man out. Or that Mike McCarthy secretly isn\u2019t a big fan of Will Howard. Now, Chris Simms is floating the idea that Drew Allar could become a rare example of a third-round pick who doesn\u2019t make the initial 53-man roster.<\/p>\n
Responding to Mike Florio\u2019s take that Howard could feel the squeeze, Simms thinks the pressure is on Allar.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t be shocked if it was the other way around,\u201d Simms said on their NBC Sports podcast<\/a>, referring to Allar being cut for Howard to be kept. \u201cFor all the things you just said about Drew Allar. It\u2019s raw. That\u2019s why I couldn\u2019t get behind the pick. I like the kid. He\u2019s big. His arm is strong.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the throwing motion, the drops, the offense that he was in, it\u2019s all bad\u2026he could be so raw that they get through training camp and they go, they can\u2019t make him the third either.\u201d<\/p>\n Simms thinks that if Allar struggles in the preseason, no other NFL team will want him, allowing Allar to pass through waivers unclaimed and land on Pittsburgh\u2019s practice squad.<\/p>\n As we noted last week, the Steelers\u2019 last third-round pick who failed to make the initial roster for non-injury reasons came in 1980. Pittsburgh traded third-round pick TE Ray Sydno<\/a>r, a talented but troubled player, to the Philadelphia Eagles before he ever made the team. The last NFL example came in 2020 when the Las Vegas Raiders drafted RB\/WR Lynn Bowden 80th overall, only to deal him to the Miami Dolphins<\/a>\u00a0that September.<\/p>\n In other words, moving on from a third-round pick out of the gate is extremely rare.<\/p>\n Simms used the moment to share intel that the NFL personnel he talked to believed Pittsburgh over-drafted Allar.<\/p>\n \u201cHe wasn\u2019t a third-round pick on a lot of teams\u2019 radars\u2026I think that caught a lot of people in the NFL by surprise,\u201d Simms said.<\/p>\n