PITTSBURGH -- For the Steelers and new coach Mike McCarthy, drafting Penn State's Drew Allar in the third round Friday was about adding depth to the quarterbacks room, and it didn't have any bearing on Aaron Rodgers' impending decision about his future.
"No, not at all," McCarthy said Saturday. "This is about developing the room and trying to make the room as deep as we possibly can."
McCarthy pitched himself to the Steelers as a quarterback specialist, and with two young, inexperienced signal-callers in Allar and 2026 sixth-round pick Will Howard on his roster, the coach's ability to develop the position will be under a microscope.
McCarthy, though, didn't show concern about the possibility of having two developmental prospects behind a veteran quarterback if Rodgers does return.
"These are all questions, answers, hypotheticals that really, it won't change what I've already said," McCarthy said when asked if he would be comfortable with Allar and Howard as backups or if he needed to keep veteran Mason Rudolph on the roster. "I will coach the hell out of that room. I have a lot of confidence. I have history and experience that I will give everything I can to any quarterback in that room.
"We want to grow the quarterback room. We don't want to just rely on one quarterback."
McCarthy also said he wasn't worried about the challenge of juggling reps for both Allar and Howard, who missed most of his rookie season following a freak training camp pinkie finger fracture.
"CBA rules is the only challenge we have," McCarthy said, cracking a joke. "But everybody coaches under 'em. It's a good place to be. I was very impressed with Will last week [at voluntary minicamp]. I know he's a good athlete. ... But there's a training regimen that's involved, but we'll stick to it. And I'm excited about both those guys."
Speaking for the first time since the Steelers selected Allar, McCarthy said the quarterback's solid frame makes him a good fit to play in the cold and physical AFC North. He believes Allar, who played only six games in his final season with the Nittany Lions as the result of a season-ending ankle injury, hasn't reached his full potential.
Allar finished his Penn State career with 61 passing touchdowns (third most in program history) and 7,402 passing yards along with a career interception rate of just 1.29%. However, for all his accomplishments, Allar went 1-6 in games against AP top-10 opponents and completed just 50.3% of pass attempts at 5.5 yards per attempt in those games.
"Like anything, I believe in first impressions," McCarthy said. "I've had a chance to watch him play, meet him at the combine. ... I liked everything about him. I think he's young. I think he's got a lot of room for growth. And he's a young man that can throw the ball with the best of them, and that's a great starting point to have."