Penn State's new quarterback room is in shambles at the start of Spring Ball, and it really is a bummer for the first look at the Nittany Lions.
Penn State's quarterback room is beat up, already, as the Matt Campbell era gets underway in Happy Valley.
The quarterback position over the last 10 seasons has been such an up-and-down experience. From Christian Hackenberg to Trace McSorley to Sean Clifford and then to Drew Allar to finish it off has been quite the experience.
Outside of McSorley, each one of those guys had major NFL potential. Hackenberg was touted as the next great, Clifford had the goods to be a future star, and Allar was supposed to be a top overall pick.
None of those theories came to fruition for any of those guys, as they all just never got their careers off the ground.
Now that Campbell comes to lead the Penn State program, part of what he is tasked with doing is getting a quarterback in there that can not only elevate the Nittany Lions program, but can go to the next level.
Penn State fans are going to have to wait until the fall to see if any of the guys on the roster have what it takes to do that this year.
The Nittany Lions quarterback room will be comprised of nearly all Iowa State players. Rocco Becht is likely going to be the starter after a full career at Iowa State. His backup in Ames was Alex Manske. The two others in the room are Division 3 transfer Connor Barry and freshman Kase Evans.
While this is a solid room, the problem right now is that the room is riddled with injuries. Becht is only participating in non-contact periods as he nurses and returns from shoulder surgery that he had this offseason.
It was then announced on Thursday that Manske is also injured, but he is out for the rest of spring as he also had surgery.
This is a big blow for both players personally, but honestly, for the team as a whole. Spring ball is a time when an offense builds chemistry and gets to learn all of the new systems and new teammates.
This is a very valuable time that is being lost by these guys, and the bigger issue is that it's not like a wide receiver or a running back is missing practice. No, this is the quarterback room, and the whole offense is going to suffer from this.
It's a disappointing reality to start Matt Campbell's time at Penn State, but it is one of those bouts of adversity that they just have to work through.