Penn State quarterback Drew Allar seemingly has all of the tools of an NFL quarterback, but he just needs a little bit of work. Who, and how early, will someone take a chance on him?
Penn State quarterback Drew Allar is one of the more intriguing storylines to watch in this weekend's NFL Draft. Had Allar come out in the 2025 Draft, he would have likely been a first-round pick after leading the Nittany Lions to the Semifinals.
Instead, he went back to school with the intent of winning a National Championship and becoming the first overall pick. Pretty much the exact opposite happened. He was at the helm of the biggest disaster of a college football season, maybe ever, and on top of that, he broke his ankle, ending his year in the middle of it. There was a lot wrong with the Penn State program last season, and Allar is not absolved of any of it. He is going to pay for it dearly in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Daniel Jeremiah has Allar ranked as the third quarterback in the draft and the 94th player ranked on his big board. That would slot Allar as a third-round pick, and depending on where you get your draft information, he is somewhere between a third- and fourth-round pick.
With all of that said, I think that the conversation behind closed doors starts much, much sooner than the third round.
If you were asked to make the prototypical NFL quarterback, you would make Drew Allar. Simple as that.
© David Reginek | 2023 Nov 24 He stands at 6'5", he is 240 pounds, he is athletic enough with his feet to make plays in the NFL and stay alive in the pocket, and all of that adds to his rocket launcher of an arm. The negatives with his game are that his mechanics are an absolute mess, and he never developed as a defensive processor.
Both of which are coachable pieces.
There is absolutely a coach out there who believes that they could correct some of the question marks in Allar's game and turn him into a player who can be very successful in the NFL. The only question is, which team and which coach are going to pull that trigger?
I believe that the ceiling for Allar starts in the middle of the second round. The coaches that Allar is hoping to play for next year are Sean McVay in Los Angeles, Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco, or Kevin O'Connell in Minnesota. If he lands with either one of those coaches, he is going to be a starting quarterback in the NFL in the next three seasons.
For me, the ceiling is the middle to the end of the second round. I think that Los Angeles is going to be live in this conversation as they have to start succession planning for life after Matt Stafford in the next couple of years. It would be a heck of a pick to take him in the second round, but I do think that he becomes a legitimate option starting the third round, around pick 70. If he survives the third and gets into the 90s, his value is now through the roof as a low-risk, incredibly high, and cheap reward.
The floor for me is at pick 99 to the Pittsburgh Steelers. If he survives this far, this is more to the story that is being told.
Allar could make a general manager, a coach, and a fanbase very happy if he can develop into his potential. He just needs to land in the right spot.
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