The biggest problem is that CJF didn't tank the season to give Allar experience .....LOL
Going forward, QB in 2023
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No doubt the QB is an extremely important position, however, it seems to me that Michigan has shown that you still need to dominate the LOS in order to win championships. JJ seems to be a great athlete, but has not really impressed me as an elite QB, neither was the guy he replaced, yet they have won the BIG twice in a row and made the playoffs again this year.
Yeah we do. If this team brings back most of its players you have a shot at a special season and you don't want one injury stopping that.
Another thing that hasn't been represented enough in this thread is Drew's size. He's going to put on 20 pounds or so in the next few years...and ALL of that will be good muscle. Like Josh Allen, he's going to be a load to bring down on short yardage situations and scrambling situations. I'm not calling for him to run as much as Josh Allen...or to be an option QB...just stating that it's another freakish aspect of Allar's future.
If we can increase our 3rd and 1 or 4th and 1 conversion rate from 25% to 75%...that's going to do so much for our offense!
If we can increase our 3rd and 1 or 4th and 1 conversion rate from 25% to 75%...that's going to do so much for our offense!
Great points. We have to understand that Allar is just a kid. He hasn't been in college for even a full year. In the spring game, he'll have had a full winter of diet and conditioning. I expect that he will be much more physical than he is today. I believe he is still only 18 years old.
Yeah, don't think he has the speed and running ability of Josh Allen, but Allar's size and strength are important attributes.
Reminds me some of a young, healthy Ben Roethlisberger.
I'm going to make some generalization on this so take it with a grain of salt. I think there are ample cases of big, strong passers -- kids that grew considerably before age 18 -- versus smaller types like Trace McSorley and Alabama's QB.
The bigger, stronger armed pro-style quarterbacks are often late bloomers. I think of Will Levis, who is now a first round pick. Huge improvement in him from just two years ago. I think of Tom Brady. Some, like Hackenberg, do not pan out. Christian in my opinion never was able to make the shorter touch throws. Allar is already able to make all of the throws. We've seen this. We've seen some overthrows, but as long as he gets protection, that will work itself out. The staff should never let their QB start throwing off the back foot no matter the pressure.
Another quarterback that no one mentions is Christian Veilleux, who just entered the portal, as I would have expected. He seems to be on a Levis trajectory. Huge improvement (to my eye) in the limited action we saw of him this year relative to the past. Whether he turns into a Levis-like leader is another question. Very disappointed to lose him but this is what we can expect going forward. No one will have a great backup. Teams must now forget about running the QB, concentrate on pass protection, and make sure their starter doesn't get hurt. I'm good with this as it brings the kind of football I want to see.
I think the smaller, four year high-school starter QBs a la McSorley plateau earlier. If they are used as a runner they get banged up, just as Trace got banged up. Same with some of OSU's QBs, which is why they are turning to more of a pro-style attack as well. No one can afford to lose their starter.
The bigger, stronger armed pro-style quarterbacks are often late bloomers. I think of Will Levis, who is now a first round pick. Huge improvement in him from just two years ago. I think of Tom Brady. Some, like Hackenberg, do not pan out. Christian in my opinion never was able to make the shorter touch throws. Allar is already able to make all of the throws. We've seen this. We've seen some overthrows, but as long as he gets protection, that will work itself out. The staff should never let their QB start throwing off the back foot no matter the pressure.
Another quarterback that no one mentions is Christian Veilleux, who just entered the portal, as I would have expected. He seems to be on a Levis trajectory. Huge improvement (to my eye) in the limited action we saw of him this year relative to the past. Whether he turns into a Levis-like leader is another question. Very disappointed to lose him but this is what we can expect going forward. No one will have a great backup. Teams must now forget about running the QB, concentrate on pass protection, and make sure their starter doesn't get hurt. I'm good with this as it brings the kind of football I want to see.
I think the smaller, four year high-school starter QBs a la McSorley plateau earlier. If they are used as a runner they get banged up, just as Trace got banged up. Same with some of OSU's QBs, which is why they are turning to more of a pro-style attack as well. No one can afford to lose their starter.
Yeah, limited info as to his progress at Penn State.
Pribula was a huge star at Central York, which did not have much of a football tradition up to that time. Sort of like Trace McSorley, a run/pass QB who won a lot of games in high school.
Pribula was a star but I believe Central York is in a lower division (C?). (I don't follow high school sports.)
Not thrilled with Pribula's throwing motion based on his recruiting film. That's not going to work well against big defensive linemen. His school and throwing motion are probably the reason he was a Rivals 3-star.
I'm sure he's a great kid having been a captain, 4-year starter, and state champion. He's probably the perfect match for what we will need in a back-up if we must have one within a year of Allar.
We don't need a QB controversy. I think Christian V might wind up good enough to have created a controversy had he stayed. I will probably follow his career with the same interest I had in Will Levis.
We don't have another star QB in the coming class, which is to be expected given Allar. We will need to recruit hard for the Class of 2024. Should be a golden opportunity as I would not be surprised to see Allar have only two years after this one. You just don't see throwing skills like that at Allar's age. So unless he winds up hurt or having trouble reading defenses, he won't last long.
Overall I like how college football is evolving with the portal. More kids with potential are getting an opportunity. That's as it should be, the purpose of college. It's for the students. Some are good enough to major in football.
Man I am glad you see it, because all I see is Roberson....can't put all this faith In a kid who hasn't played one snap.
Everything I have heard until now is that Pribula is a workout freak and does all the right things he needs to be doing to be prepared. I think he actually looked better than Allar in the Spring Game (or whatever it was).
Roberson according to many of the experts was the exact opposite of what Pribula is.
If I could ask JF any questions and get honest answes, one I would ask is how did the staff evaluate TR as better than CV.
I don't believe Allar will put on 20 pounds or so. He's now listed at 6'5" 238 lbs, and 20 lbs would result in a slow almost 260 lb load of a QB. I believe this off season he'll focus on transforming his body into a leaner, more muscular athlete. He'll get stronger and faster, but may begin by cutting some bad weight and building back muscle with the end result going into 2023 being posibly a 6'5" 230-235 lb QB that is faster and stronger than the 2022 version of Drew Allar.......
I'm with you on this. The staff had to have learned a lesson in Iowa. The QB is on the field to be a passer first and a runner second, and you don't leave your backup on the bench all season.
Only problem I see with Pribula is the low delivery. He'll get balls batted down or worse, fumble when blindsided. The ball is low and behind his shoulder during delivery, at least that's what I see in his high school film. Haven't really seen anything at PSU. Otherwise we might get another Trace McSorley story.
The biggest issue was that during his freshmen year he had 4 offensive linemen that had multiple years in the NFL his sophomore year he had 2 converted back up d tackles and walk-ons. After the 10 sacks given up at Temple the poor kid got serious case of the Yips.
This matches my observations EXACTLY.
And I concede that I may be completely wrong.
I just haven't seen it.
In the era of the transfer portal, we need to strive to recruit an excellent QB every year. If Pributa is really that good, I’m afraid he won’t have the patience to wait until Allar is gone.
Yep, and people said the exact same things about Anthony Morelli and Christian Hackenburg that are currently being said about Allar.
Don’t get me wrong, I hope he turns out great. But we’ve been disappointed by 5-stars in the past.
If Pribula was from anywhere other than PA I would probably agree with you. However, if we can be as good as we were this year he will get a ton of playing time and experience prior to him taking over.
I don't want to take it for granted but the kids dream was to play QB at PSU and in my timeline he is the starter for 2 years.
I’m sure Franklin and the staff have to fight off all the kids in the portal that are drooling to come to PSU to sit the bench behind a 5 star with three years of eligibility left. I’m sure the line is long.
Allar did not get enough meaningful reps. He looked good against Purdue then all his other playing time was mop up.
He needs to develop more obviously so you can't make any kind of real assessment at this stage. He has tons of potential but the key will be to translate that potential to actual on the field game performance. Hooefully he is much better than Clifford and also is strong in areas where Clifford was weak. Just because of the position he plays. a lot rides on his arm and legs and how well he plays next year.
I agree with Greg in Pitt that he doesn't need to gain weight but maybe lose 5-10 pounds and get more muscular.
He needs to develop more obviously so you can't make any kind of real assessment at this stage. He has tons of potential but the key will be to translate that potential to actual on the field game performance. Hooefully he is much better than Clifford and also is strong in areas where Clifford was weak. Just because of the position he plays. a lot rides on his arm and legs and how well he plays next year.
I agree with Greg in Pitt that he doesn't need to gain weight but maybe lose 5-10 pounds and get more muscular.
My point wasn't the exact weight. My point was he is a BIG DUDE. No, I don't think becoming Jared Lorenzen is his best way forward. But with natural growth and the right kind of weight (MUSCLE obviously)...he will be HARD to bring down. Little DBs will fly off of him...LBs will need to hit him and hold on to him to make sure they get the tackle.
Kerry Collins didn't look like Kerry Collins until late in 1993...so don't judge too harshly by what you've seen so far in mop-up duty (with him taking second team reps). The ball comes off his hand like VERY few players in FBS. And we have every reason to be excited about his development.
Kerry Collins didn't look like Kerry Collins until late in 1993...so don't judge too harshly by what you've seen so far in mop-up duty (with him taking second team reps). The ball comes off his hand like VERY few players in FBS. And we have every reason to be excited about his development.
So next year Penn State is starting one of the highest rated Qbs in the country but people are already bashing him. Gotta love our fan base arm chair know it all’s.
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A couple things about him, since we did get to see him play a good bit this year.
1) Seems calm, seems to understand what's happening on the field, seems to genuinely enjoy the game (reminds me of Michigan's McCarthy in that way).
2) Arm strength is like no PSU QB since Kerry Collins. And don't underestimate the importance of that. Lots of throws into tight spaces that were too risky for Cliff are going to be safe throws for him.
3) Accuracy -- not perfect but I think pretty good consistency. And that will only get better next year with more reps.
4) If he can be just 50 percent of his potential at the start of the year next year that will be enough to win. And if he can play consistently (not perfectly, but consistently good) for 4 quarters each game, that puts him about 2 quarters ahead of Clifford.
Equally important is the support the team offers him next year. He shouldn't have to win games by himself.
1) OL was better this year and will be better again next year.
2) Because of Singleton and Allar, defenses will have to cheat to stop the run, which sets up play action and read options quite well.
3) Even if Strange leaves, PSU is in good shape at TE, plus the two soph backs will be more involved in the passing game next year.
The only thing that really worries me about Allar is that PSU is not big or deep at wideout. Hopefully there will be help thru transfer and next year's freshmen. This is not a top tier Big Ten receivers group at the moment.
1) Seems calm, seems to understand what's happening on the field, seems to genuinely enjoy the game (reminds me of Michigan's McCarthy in that way).
2) Arm strength is like no PSU QB since Kerry Collins. And don't underestimate the importance of that. Lots of throws into tight spaces that were too risky for Cliff are going to be safe throws for him.
3) Accuracy -- not perfect but I think pretty good consistency. And that will only get better next year with more reps.
4) If he can be just 50 percent of his potential at the start of the year next year that will be enough to win. And if he can play consistently (not perfectly, but consistently good) for 4 quarters each game, that puts him about 2 quarters ahead of Clifford.
Equally important is the support the team offers him next year. He shouldn't have to win games by himself.
1) OL was better this year and will be better again next year.
2) Because of Singleton and Allar, defenses will have to cheat to stop the run, which sets up play action and read options quite well.
3) Even if Strange leaves, PSU is in good shape at TE, plus the two soph backs will be more involved in the passing game next year.
The only thing that really worries me about Allar is that PSU is not big or deep at wideout. Hopefully there will be help thru transfer and next year's freshmen. This is not a top tier Big Ten receivers group at the moment.
Not bashing him. Just noting that in the past, PSU fans were horribly disappointed after crowning Anthony Morelli and Christian Hackenburg as top 5 NFL draft picks before either had his first start at PSU.
What really good portal QB that hasn't won the starting job would transfer to sit at yet another place?
