Pro Football Rumors
The 2026 NFL Draft is still far off into the future, but an injury yesterday may have made a big impact on how things will turn out next April. Often viewed as a potential first-round pick, Penn State quarterback Drew Allar may not be able to reach the heights many expected for him after suffering what looked to be a season-ending ankle injury in a loss to Northwestern on Saturday, per ESPN’s Field Yates.
Despite being the backup to Sean Clifford in his first year with the Nittany Lions, Allar saw plenty of garbage time snaps as a true freshman. Former head coach James Franklin‘s statement that the injury will end Allar’s season comes six games into his senior year. An injury redshirt is only available to a player who has appeared in four or fewer games, and because the team decided to burn his redshirt with 10 garbage time appearances, the injury will also end Allar’s collegiate career as his runs out of eligibility.
Allar came out of Medina HS (OH) as a consensus five-star quarterback. 247Sports listed him as the top passer of the Class of 2022, but other recruiting sites lauded recruits like Cade Klubnik, Conner Weigman, and Ty Simpson over Allar. Allar committed to Penn State in March of his junior year and never wavered on his commitment. Ohio State, a program a short two-hour drive away, offered to keep him in his home state just before his senior year, but Allar stuck with the Nittany Lions and went to a school twice as far from home.
Following what could’ve been a redshirt season, Allar took over as the starting quarterback for his sophomore campaign. Allar lauded for his poise as a young starter. In his first full season, he delivered an impressive 25 passing touchdowns to only two interceptions. While the mistake-free football is a trait to be desired, his offense lacked efficiency and explosiveness. A completion percentage of 59.9 and a yards per attempt of only 6.8 help underline why Allar barely managed to eclipse 200 yards per game.
He was able to improve on both numbers as a junior, completing 66.5 percent of his passes at 8.4 yards per attempt, but his increase in risk-taking led to a less desirable touchdown to interception ratio 24:8. In six games this year, Allar seemed to regress in those key metrics. Though he was still completing 64.8 percent of his passes this year, he was only on track for 16 touchdowns through a 12-game season and had already thrown three interceptions. With his yards per attempt dropping back down to 6.9, Allar only averaged 183.3 yards per game as a senior.
Another criticism on Allar was his effectiveness in big games. His three losses as a sophomore were all against teams ranked 11th or higher. In those games, he completed only 45.2 percent of his passes for 185.3 yards per game. As a junior, Penn State lost to the only top 10 team they faced,...
