Mike McCarthy is done splitting hairs. The Steelers coach announced that Will Howard will start Friday's preseason game against the Jets, with fourth-round rookie Drew Allar following him for the rest of the snaps. Aaron Rodgers and Mason Rudolph, the two vets on the roster, won't play at all.
McCarthy's explanation was pretty simple: the kids need the reps more than the vets do. "They're young. Will didn't get to play last year," McCarthy said. "I really want to max out the opportunities with both Will and Drew." As for Rudolph, McCarthy said he already "saw what I needed to see" after Rudolph went 10 of 11 for 93 yards in the preseason opener against Green Bay.
That opener set the stage for this. Howard flashed too, going 7 of 9 for 86 yards and leading a scoring drive before halftime, while Allar closed the game out by completing 10 of 13 passes for 153 yards and 3 total touchdowns. All three quarterbacks made their case in Week 1 of preseason. Only two of them are getting a second look this week, and it's not the guy with 7 years in the league.
There's a subplot here too. Ben Roethlisberger has been publicly campaigning on his podcast for the Steelers to lean into Howard and Allar and cut Rudolph loose, a stance rooted in a genuinely frosty history between the two former Pittsburgh quarterbacks. Everything out of Pittsburgh had suggested Rudolph would simply slide back into the veteran backup job behind Rodgers this season. Handing Howard and Allar the entire workload against the Jets, while Rudolph watches from the sideline, at least raises an eyebrow about how settled that pecking order really is.
For fantasy purposes, none of these guys matter in 2026 redraft leagues. Rodgers is entering his age-42 farewell season as Pittsburgh's clear QB1, and last year he posted a modest 6.7 yards per attempt (29th among qualified starters) with zero 300-yard games, the profile of a low-end streaming option at best. Nobody's touching Howard or Allar for lineup purposes with Rodgers still under center.
The dynasty angle is where this actually moves the needle. Howard and Allar are both stashable in deeper dynasty formats as potential 2027 starters once Rodgers rides off into the sunset, and this week's rep distribution functions as a real-time audition for that job. If Howard keeps building on his strong debut and Allar keeps flashing arm talent and playmaking as a Day 2 rookie, both see their long-term dynasty stock climb. A shaky performance from either against the Jets, on the other hand, starts to separate them in a battle that's currently a coin flip in startup drafts.
There's a betting wrinkle too. Pittsburgh's 2026 win total sits around 8.5, and Rodgers' health and performance through a full 17-game slate is the single biggest variable in that number. McCarthy clearly wants tape on his young quarterbacks in case something happens to Rodgers or he simply needs a breather late in a game the Steelers are trying to close out. The more McCarthy trusts Howard specifically, the more comfortable Pittsburgh can feel about its season-long floor if Father Time catches up with its 42-year-old starter.
Keep an eye on the box score Friday, not for fantasy points, but for signal. Efficient reps from Howard start pushing him toward RB2-in-a-QB-room dynasty value, while any real flashes from Allar suggest Pittsburgh may be building a genuine quarterback controversy for 2027 rather than just handing the keys to whoever's next in line.