Coming off of a run to the College Football Playoff, the Penn State Nittany Lions have hopes to make another playoff run and to contend for the Big Ten Championship. The vast majority of Penn State's belief comes from the fact that Drew Allar shockingly to pass up on potentially being a first round pick returning to Penn State for his Senior season.
After pushing the NFL off a season, Drew Allar comes back to Penn State looking to prove that he's one of the best quarterbacks in the Country and deserving of being a Top NFL Draft pick. Among the group of supporters for Drew Allar is NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr who appeared on ESPN's First Take today praising the Penn State signal caller.
"I think, you look at Drew Allar? He looks the part. He’s going back, smart move to go back. Now he has receivers who can get open. Keep in mind, final four games of last year? He was below 60%. Guys couldn’t get separation, the new wide receivers, and he’s got two young tight ends as well, a heck of an offensive line, and (Nick) Singleton and (Kaytron) Allen in that backfield? This offense is ready to roll with Drew Allar this year. He could be in line to be a top-ten pick, maybe one of the top two, three picks overall."Mel Kiper Jr
Mel Kiper is significantly overhyping Drew Allar
Drew Allar is a great quarterback for Penn State but, calling him a potential Top Ten pick and arguably the best quarterback in this draft class is a stretch. Last season, Drew Allar put up a ton of stats against bad opponents while falling flat in the Nittany Lions biggest games of the season.
Against Ohio State, Allar completed just 60% of his passes with less than 200 yards with an interception and no touchdowns. Against Oregon, he completed just 51.3% of his passes with 3 touchdowns but, also threw a pair of interceptions. In the Nittany Lions playoff run, Allar never surpassed 180 yards passing which shows that the team wasn't fully in on a pass heavy attack.
The excuse that will be made in Drew Allar's defense is that he didn't have the playmakers on the outside to make any big plays. The excuse is more than fair but, we'll get to see if it's true or not this season as Power 4 schools quickly brought in the Penn State WRs that transferred.
If Drew Allar is truly going to be a top end NFL Draft pick, it's going to have to be because he took a massive leap as a passer. Allar's numbers were heavily inflated by short passes to Tyler Warren and NFL Scouts are going to want to see him start to push the ball down the field this season.
Even if Drew Allar has an impressive season, it's highly possible that he slides out of the Top 10 in the class. Cade Klubnik is poised for another massive season as is Garrett Nussmeier with an improved group at LSU. LaNorris Sellers is a toolsy playmaker with a ton of upside which is something NFL GMs fall in love with every season. Add in the fact that Arch Manning could declare for the draft or another quarterback can emerge and it's tough to fully place Allar.
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