Preseason statistics rarely tell the entire story for young quarterbacks. What matters far more to evaluators is how a passer responds when things go sideways, and former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger sees elite mental composure in both Will Howard and Drew Allar.
Following Pittsburgh's Week 2 preseason matchup against the Jets, Roethlisberger highlighted that neither young signal-caller let early mistakes or adversity alter their aggressive mindset.
"Will Howard throws a pick and I love that he doesn't get gun-shy," Roethlisberger said on his podcast, "Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger."
"You see a lot of guys throw picks it's like okay I'm just going to throw, I'm going to just take the checkdowns. I want to take the short throws," added Roethlisberger. "I'm not going to take any chances down the field. It was like he was like, 'no I'm I'm ready to go.'"
Despite Howard throwing two interceptions, Roethlisberger praised the young passer for refusing to play scared or turn cautious, noting that his downfield confidence remained intact.
"Will throws two picks. To me, I bet if he would have played in the rest of that game, he would have kept throwing the ball down the field," Roethlisberger stated. "I bet you he would have kept slinging it. But he's not afraid to throw the ball down the field."
Roethlisberger observed similar poise from Allar, who weathered offensive line breakdowns and three sacks in the second half without getting rattled.
"Same thing with Drew. You get sacked you start getting a little bit like you start looking around," Roethlisberger noted. "It looks like right now both these guys have a little something to them."
For head coach Mike McCarthy, Roethlisberger believes this psychological resilience, having a short memory, should carry weight when making final roster decisions.
"I would absolutely take in consideration when you've got a guy that that kind of has a wipe it clean, forget the last play, on to the next one, good or bad," Roethlisberger emphasized.
McCarthy has announced that Allar and Howard will get the majority of the reps, if not all, in the upcoming final preseason game against the Buffalo Bills.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: Ben Roethlisberger highlights key mental trait in Steelers young QBs
