James Franklin shares Jalen Hurts’ behavior with Penn State quarterbacks

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts has built up a great reputation across the NFL and all of football, known as a hard worker, a consummate pro, and a great teammate and leader. So much so that Penn State head coach James Franklin has drawn inspiration from him, sharing his knowledge with his emerging star quarterback.

“I’ve been super, super impressed by Jalen Hurts with the Eagles and his approach, and whenever I see anything from him I kind of always forward that to our quarterbacks, some of the stuff he says,” Franklin said. “Obviously, quarterbacks are evaluated by touchdown to interception ratio, completion percentage, third down, red zone are obviously the big stats for those guys. But ultimately, the most important stat for a quarterback is winning and I think Drew really understands that.”

Sophomore quarterback Drew Allar has flourished so far in his first season as a starter, throwing for 1,092 yards, nine touchdowns, and zero interceptions as he’s led the Nittany Lions to a 5-0 start heading into their bye week. As Franklin described the intangible, Hurts-like traits that his young signal-caller has shown already early in his career.

“He’s been really good handing the ball off, get got a great picture up in our facility after him handing the ball off and Kaytron [Allen] scoring and he’s doing the touchdown signal. The picture’s a really cool picture,” Franklin said. “He just wants the offense to run well and he wants to grade out well which is following out his fakes after he hands the ball off, making the throws that he should be, making the adjustments to the protection in the run game, all those types of things. He wants to play well, and I think he understands him playing well and the offense playing well gives us a chance to be 1-0 that week.”

Stats and production are always great to see from a quarterback, but the details and little things are what separate the good from the great.

Franklin claims that Allar has been mature since his recruitment years ago, avoiding distractions and remaining focused throughout his journey to and through Happy Valley. And that paired with his impressive play on the field could not only take the Nittany Lions to new heights this season, but lead Allar down a similar path to the NFL like Hurts.

“Those guys in my time, whether it’s quarterbacks or any other positions, they tend to be very successful. Guys that are focused on the right things, those guys usually have a tendency to be successful in college and then afterwards,” Franklin said.

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