Pittsburgh Steelers fans did not get to see QB Aaron Rodgers open the preseason Thursday night. After all the speculation, he did not dress against the team that drafted him, the Green Bay Packers. Instead, fans were treated to a stellar two-minute drill by QB Will Howard and a fantastic second half by QB Drew Allar.
Father-and-son duo Phil and Chris Simms, former NFL quarterbacks, still saw Rodgers’ influence all over the field Thursday. Especially when it came to the rookie Allar. According to both Simmses, Allar is soaking up everything he can from Rodgers to improve his quarterbacking skills.
“I think he sat there and he watches Aaron Rodgers every day and goes, ‘man, how does he throw it so hard? All he does is just *pshew*,’ and he kind of copied it,” Phil Simms said Friday on Chris Simms Unbuttoned. “That’s what I thought. The long throw-and-catch that got [Wetjen] down inside the two-yard line, that was one. He had a couple other ones where he threw it hard, had great control.
“I’m not saying he looked like Aaron Rodgers, but it [his passing] had some of those similarities.”
Yes, WR Kaden Wetjen took Drew Allar’s throw and almost ran into the end zone with it. However, it was no simple five-yard slant from Allar. Allar released the throw from the Steelers’ own 15, and Wetjen caught it at the 33. Although it wasn’t a tight window, one of the Packers’ linebackers was lurking. A quarterback can’t lazily float a ball in there.
So, Allar ripped it in there to ensure the linebacker had no chance to make a play on it. Wetjen was the only one who could make a play from there.
Drew 🤝 Kaden
📺: #GBvsPIT on KDKA pic.twitter.com/n3RghXtmzN
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) August 14, 2026
Our own Josh Carney took a deep dive into Drew Allar’s preseason debut, and he came away impressed by the tape. He saw the same difficult throws on target that Phil Simms saw. One of the throws Carney highlighted was a quick slant to WR Max Hurleman. Allar put the throw right on Hurleman’s numbers quickly to allow the wide receiver ample time and space to rack up yards after the catch.
The younger Simms, Chris, saw some similarities as well.
“He even threw the little deep out to the left; he threw a touch ball,” Chris Simms said. “Somebody was in pressure, and he kind of had to throw the ol’, like I came out and moved to the left, and then I had to throw it and kind of get my feet off and fade away. And I went, damn, that’s just copying Aaron Rodgers and what you see in practice every day.”
We saw Aaron Rodgers make off-platform throws, especially earlier in his career. Evidently, Chris Simms saw flashes of a younger Rodgers when Allar floated that pass out there.
Allar talked earlier in camp about how he’s asking Rodgers questions, especially about the deep ball. However, the Simmses think Allar is also watching how Rodgers plays the position, gets velocity on his throws, and handles pressure in his face.
If Allar keeps playing this way, perhaps he might be the guy who takes over after Rodgers retires.
