James Franklin evaluates potential of Drew Allar in 2023, beyond

If the Penn State football team wants to take the next step, finding a way to beat Michigan or Ohio State, if not both, will be key. Doing that will likely take exceptional play at quarterback, making the potential of Drew Allar very, very important in 2023.

Coach James Franklin seems to think he has something special in the sophomore, though. He saw it in Allar’s first major action in the season opener last year.

“The thing that I think probably stood out to me the most is when he got in the Purdue game as a true freshman he just was like super poised,” Franklin said. “And you can do all the drills you want throwing and footwork and run game fundamentals and all that stuff, but at the end of the day it’s hard to teach that, the poise in the pocket. And he just seems to have that.”

Allar didn’t get a ton of action last fall, but he got more than most freshmen playing behind a veteran like Sean Clifford.

The numbers don’t necessarily jump off the page, but Franklin continues to point to a bunch of little things his quarterback has done well that make him extremely excited about the potential of Drew Allar. How he moves in the pocket is a big one.

“There can be chaos all around him and he just is efficient with his movement,” Franklin said. “Some guys move in the pocket more than they need to and they actually move into problems. So just moving enough. Keeping your eyes up when you do scramble, he showed some examples of that last year where he stepped up in the pocket and made a big throw with pressure. And he’s able to make people defend the entire field because of his arm.”

Allar finished his freshman campaign with 344 yards passing, with four touchdowns and no interceptions.

Penn State will get a lot more from him this fall in a full-time role. One other reason Franklin is expecting a potential Drew Allar breakout campaign?

His arm allows for more chances to run after the catch.

“The other thing that happens with arm strength, everybody gets excited about arm strength, but you better have accuracy,” Franklin said. “But when you do have arm strength and accuracy it creates opportunities for yards after the catch.

“Because if I’m running the route on you and I have separation from you but the ball comes and it’s kind of, doesn’t have a whole lot of pace on it, while I’m going to catch the ball you’re closing the distance and now it’s a catch, tackle. Where if that ball can get to you fast where you still have separation it creates an opportunity for run after the catch. There’s a lot of things like that to be excited about.”

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