Anonymous coach dismisses Drew Allar as ‘system’ QB at Penn State
Drew Allar may be one of college football’s best returning quarterbacks and a former five-star recruit, but the Penn State signal caller still doesn’t have the full respect of an anonymous Big Ten assistant coach who dished on what he thinks of the player.
As far as he’s concerned, Allar is good for the system he’s in, but that’s about it.
“He knows where to go with the ball, but it didn’t seem like the quarterback was beating you,” an unnamed Big Ten football defensive coordinator told ESPN.
He added: “It was the system” that was beating you, not Allar.
Whether it was the system or the quarterback, he had a year to remember in 2024.
Allar had his best outing last season, completing more than 66 percent of his pass attempts, covering over 3,300 yards in the air, scoring 24 times against just eight interceptions, and leading the Nittany Lions to the College Football Playoff.
“How good is he really in the pocket, going through the progressions, processing, getting the ball from Point A to Point B, getting the ball to the right guy?” the coach added.
“Because he really didn’t do a lot of that in that offense.”
Allar was highly-coveted as a recruit, emerging as a five-star prospect considered the No. 3 ranked quarterback and No. 28 overall player, according to an average of the four national recruiting services.
He owns the Medina Co. (Ohio) record for career touchdown passes and was a former Elite 11 Finals selection before joining the Penn State program.
And while he’ll also get both the Nittany Lions’ star rushers, Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, back this season, he also loses top target Tyler Warren to the NFL Draft.
Allar is 23-6 as Penn State’s starting quarterback, with 53 career touchdown passes, 11 additional rushing scores, and 10 interceptions.
Now the pressure is on in 2025 for Allar to prove he can take over this offense.
(ESPN)
