Mel Kiper ranks Drew Allar fourth among 2026 QB prospects. His college struggles and injury cast doubt on his NFL readiness.
Penn State quarterback Drew Allar entered the 2025 season hoping he could play his way into becoming a Day 1 pick for the 2026 NFL Draft.
However, the quarterback struggled in the early season, throwing for 1,100 yards, eight touchdowns, and three interceptions in the six games he played before suffering a season-ending knee injury against Northwestern.
Allar finished his four-year PSU career with 7,402 passing yards, 61 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions.
The six-foot-five, 235-pound athlete's best season came as a junior in 2024, when he threw for 3,327 yards, 24 touchdowns, and eight interceptions before the Nittany Lions season ended in a loss to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinal.
ESPN's Mel Kiper ranked Allar as the No. 4 quarterback in the 2026 class behind Indiana's Fernando Mendoza, Alabama's Ty Simpson, and Ole Miss' Trinidad Chambliss.
In October, Kiper was critical of the way Allar was performing in the early season. Against non-Power 4 teams like Villanova, he was struggling to hit his receivers in stride.
“We talk about what has to happen in the NFL," Kiper said on First Draft. "You have to play to a consistently high level in the NFL. He’s not doing it in college. So for me, Drew Allar’s not there yet...
“I’m not going to say all of a sudden that he’s moving way down the board, but for right now, the arrow is pointing down. And did he look like an NFL franchise quarterback? I can get anybody who is just a casual observer of college football who says, no.”
“We talk about what has to happen in the NFL. You have to play to a consistently high level in the NFL. He’s not doing it in college,”
Before the 2025 season, Allar did name one team he'd like to be drafted by in 2026. He thinks highly of the Cleveland Browns.
“That would definitely be special," Allar said on the Ross Tucker Podcast. "My dad had season tickets growing up. They've been passed down since my great grandfather. So like, back in the 50s or 60s is when my family first got the tickets in their name.
"That would definitely be surreal just because I grew up going to every home game from the time I was seven to eight years old to by the time I was a freshman in college.”
Allar can't choose what team will draft him. But the Browns would be an intriguing option.
New Browns head coach Todd Monken isn't sure who will be their starting quarterback next season, and Allar could be a potential Day 2 pick for the team to draft.