USA Today rates Drew as top QB in Big-10

J

Jerry

Active member
Link below.

Not a shocker but an interesting list nonetheless.

Drew is the key this year. If he performs to his potentially elite status, we have a real shot at winning it all. If not, we'll probably make the playoffs but won't be a serious contender.

www.usatoday.com

Big Ten quarterback rankings for college football season start with Drew Allar

The Big Ten will have new faces and incoming transfers at quarterback this fall but topping the position ranking are some impressive holdovers.
www.usatoday.com www.usatoday.com
 
I think it comes down to how he performs against the top competition. He really excelled much of last season. But when those windows were tighter, he had a little more pressure coming at him and from elite athletes, he wasn't as strong. If he can improve against top competition, then he'll be a first rounder, and we are potentially in the title game.
 
On the plus side, PSU also has the best OL and RBs in the conference. On the downside, a completely new receiving corps and loss of his go-to guy and first-round pick, #11.

I am also hopeful that Coach K (OC) can add a few more wrinkles with a little more time and familiarity with the players.
 
Coach K will be key. Mixing it up and adding some twists without the gimickry. A RB peeling off for a dump pass, for example, if nothing opens up downfield.
 
Also, with the strength being at OL & RB, it still won't be easy. Good defenses and smart DCs will schemed things out. A few 4th and ones and 4th and goals have failed, as did some of those 4D chess calls. Again, something for Coach K to sort out.
 
LudicrousSpeedGO! said:
I think it comes down to how he performs against the top competition. He really excelled much of last season. But when those windows were tighter, he had a little more pressure coming at him and from elite athletes, he wasn't as strong. If he can improve against top competition, then he'll be a first rounder, and we are potentially in the title game.
Click to expand...
Yep, spot on. His big area of improvement is versus the elite teams Last year....bad game vs OSU, decent game against Oregon but not sure how elite their D was as OSU shredded them in the Rose Bowl. Then a terrible game vs ND.

He has to perform better in these big games or we probably fizzle in the first round of the playoffs or certainly the quarters.
 
Watched the Boise St playoff game again last night. Drew threw some spectacular TD passes in that game, but also threw some very poor passes as well. What struck me about the PSU offense in that game was the pathetic play calling. The running game was clicking right from the start but deep drop passes were called against blitzes that resulted in Drew taking big negative yardage sacks stopping promising drives. Boise had a very good pass rush of their own and PSU didn't do enough to stick to the run and make correct calls at the LOS for the offense to put the points on the score board that PSU's talent easily could have. The Boise DB's also did a good job of bumping the PSU WR's and TE Warren off their routs which caused some very off target passes.

The other thing about the offense in that game was that #77 Sal Wormley had 3 penalties which also significantly helped stop some promising drives. One of the holding calls was pretty weak, and overall Wormley played pretty well last season. But with the other 4 olinemen returning and it being reasonable to expect some individual improvement for each of them, I expect the OL overall to be noticably improved due to the individual improvement of the returning starter and Cooper Cousins replacing Wormley.

Other observations from that game looking towards this coming Fall:
- Rojas played a very good game and I look for him to break out further this season to help lead the LB's replace K. King.
- I'm still sad that Vanover's petition for another year of eligibility as Vanover was a difference maker at the end of last season when he got more snaps due to Carter's injury.
- Also regarding Allar, I don't believe the 2024 season WR's weren't as bad as the results vs ND led many to believe. I don't know if Franklin pushed Evans and Wallace out the door of if they just got tired of taking the blame for some bad passing game results, but I would feel better about PSU's 2025 passing game if they were still on the PSU team. It seems unreasonable to expect the PSU WR passing game to be greatly improved unless Drew improves his accuracy and decision making, and uses the time he has in the pocket to get the ball down the field when those opportunites are there.
 
GregInPitt said:
Watched the Boise St playoff game again last night. Drew threw some spectacular TD passes in that game, but also threw some very poor passes as well. What struck me about the PSU offense in that game was the pathetic play calling. The running game was clicking right from the start but deep drop passes were called against blitzes that resulted in Drew taking big negative yardage sacks stopping promising drives. Boise had a very good pass rush of their own and PSU didn't do enough to stick to the run and make correct calls at the LOS for the offense to put the points on the score board that PSU's talent easily could have. The Boise DB's also did a good job of bumping the PSU WR's and TE Warren off their routs which caused some very off target passes.

The other thing about the offense in that game was that #77 Sal Wormley had 3 penalties which also significantly helped stop some promising drives. One of the holding calls was pretty weak, and overall Wormley played pretty well last season. But with the other 4 olinemen returning and it being reasonable to expect some individual improvement for each of them, I expect the OL overall to be noticably improved due to the individual improvement of the returning starter and Cooper Cousins replacing Wormley.

Other observations from that game looking towards this coming Fall:
- Rojas played a very good game and I look for him to break out further this season to help lead the LB's replace K. King.
- I'm still sad that Vanover's petition for another year of eligibility as Vanover was a difference maker at the end of last season when he got more snaps due to Carter's injury.
- Also regarding Allar, I don't believe the 2024 season WR's weren't as bad as the results vs ND led many to believe. I don't know if Franklin pushed Evans and Wallace out the door of if they just got tired of taking the blame for some bad passing game results, but I would feel better about PSU's 2025 passing game if they were still on the PSU team. It seems unreasonable to expect the PSU WR passing game to be greatly improved unless Drew improves his accuracy and decision making, and uses the time he has in the pocket to get the ball down the field when those opportunites are there.
Click to expand...

Re the passing game and issues last year with WRs, I look at a guy like Trebor Pena who put up very nice numbers last year at Syracuse and whose skill level at the position is highly regarded.

I mean, if we can't get serious production with a guy like Allar throwing to a guy like Pena, well, I wouldn't know what to think. There comes a time when you run out of excuses.
 
Jerry said:
Re the passing game and issues last year with WRs, I look at a guy like Trebor Pena who put up very nice numbers last year at Syracuse and whose skill level at the position is highly regarded.

I mean, if we can't get serious production with a guy like Allar throwing to a guy like Pena, well, I wouldn't know what to think. There comes a time when you run out of excuses.
Click to expand...
Yes Pena was highly regarded as a transfer. But I'm tempering my expectations due to his 2024 production came in an offense that was pass crazy and against generally lesser defenses than what PSU faced in 2024. And it was really against the toughest teams, best defenses, that the 2024 PSU WR's and Drew couldn't connect, the highly talented defenses such as oh-high-ya and ND that Pena didn't face at Syracuse last year. So Pena seems like an unknown against top 10 competition to me. It's not like Pena is a sure fire NFL player, and neither are Ross or Hudson, so there may be more talent thoughout the rest of the young PSU WR roster in players like Denmark, Gonzalez, Howard and Samuel for all we know. So at this point improved WR's are still more of a "hope" than a reality as I see it. But if Drew really is improving as he has and is getting coaching and experience, that seems like more reality than "hope".....
 
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