Steelers winners, losers vs Bills: QBs Will Howard and Drew Allar fail to impress

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ preseason is in the books after a 28-27 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Thursday, Aug. 27 at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York.

Young players and fringe roster hopefuls saw most of the action. Coach Mike McCarthy chose to rest most of his starters and top depth players with the goal of staying healthy ahead of a Week 1 matchup with the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 13 back home at Acrisure Stadium. 

Nevertheless, the game carried some intrigue for the team’s depth. Here’s a look at the evening’s winners and losers:

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The rookie receiver had not flashed the return skills that the Steelers drafted him in the fourth round for back in April. That was, until the fourth quarter of this one. The Iowa product took a punt back 44 yards for a touchdown that put his team ahead, 27-17. He broke multiple tackles on the play to show why he averaged nearly 30 yards per punt return during his final season with the Hawkeyes. The explosive play was badly needed to solidify his spot on the 53-man roster come cut-down day this weekend. His passing game contributions were limited at Iowa, so expectations for him are low in that realm. This is where the Steelers need him to shine, and he came through in a big way. 

The Pittsburgh-area native and Navy product carried nine times for 35 yards and a touchdown in the loss. He capped the first drive of the second half with a 9-yard scamper for his score. Heidenreich was another player drafted with an eye toward special teams contributions, but roster spots are limited behind Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle at running back. He’s needed to show the coaching staff that he can be relied upon for solid carries, and this game was a step in that direction as he competes with names like Lew Nichols, Travis Homer and Kaleb Johnson. At the very least, it was a cool moment to see him score for the team he grew up watching after he was embraced by fans on stage at the NFL draft, which was held in Pittsburgh this year. 

The second-year receiver signed as an undrafted free agent in 2025 is not perceived to be a 53-man roster threat by many. DK Metcalf, Roman Wilson, Michael Pittman Jr. and Germie Bernard are likely locked in as the top four. Wetjen is projected to get a spot for his return skills. And Ben Skowronek is a returning Pro Bowler as a special teams ace. Still, Hurleman has done about as much as you could ask for from a guy in his position. His three catches for 50 yards Thursday against Buffalo pushed his preseason totals to seven catches for 99 yards. He’s also returned some kicks, so if the Steelers are looking for more receiving utility than Wetjen offers – or if there’s a significant injury – McCarthy could do worse than giving him a shot at some point in 2026. 

The team’s first-round pick in 2026 made his long-awaited debut against Buffalo. He’d missed most of training camp and the preseason with an injury. He promptly gave up a sack of Will Howard on his second series. Things settled in a little bit better thereafter – he threw some nice lead blocks on Heidenreich’s touchdown. Still, it was clear that he’s probably not ready to challenge Dylan Cook and Troy Fautanu for starting reps quite yet. 

The second-year quarterback wasn’t bad, per se. He completed nine of 15 passes for 69 yards and threw two touchdown passes. He also floated an interception to Buffalo’s Damar Hamlin on an apparent miscommunication with tight end Lake McRee. And he needed two Buffalo mistakes – a muffed punt and a shanked punt – to set up his scoring drives, which went just 13 yards and 28 yards, respectively. Through three preseason games, he drove the offense the length of the field for points one time, and that came in the two-minute drill of the opening game against the Green Bay Packers. That probably shouldn’t be enough to justify a roster spot for a former sixth-round draft pick. Not when the starter is a future Hall of Famer in Aaron Rodgers, the backup is a proven veteran in Mason Rudolph and the other option is a 2026 third-round pick in Drew Allar, who was actually brought in by the current coaching staff. Maybe the Steelers will make an exception and carry four QBs with an eye toward a 2027 competition. But that would be in spite of the preseason results, and not because of them. 

Before the Howard fans get cranky, let’s call the Penn State product’s performance what it was, too: Not great. After he completed three of four passes on the first drive of the second half to set up Heidenreich’s touchdown, the misses piled up. He finished nine of 18 for 88 yards. He averaged 4.9 yards per attempt, barely more than Howard’s 4.6. And he didn’t come close to getting the job done on the final drive with the Steelers trailing by a point. He missed on three of his four attempts to turn the ball over on downs. As exciting as his three-touchdown performance in the opener was, he’s shown in the last couple of games that he still needs to develop within McCarthy’s system. The one big positive that stands out from his preseason as a whole is the lack of turnovers compared to Howard. 

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Steelers winners, losers vs Bills: QBs Will Howard and Drew Allar fail to impress