Penn State quarterback Drew Allar during Pro Day in Holuba Hall on March 28, 2025. Joe Hermitt | [email protected]

Drew Allar is one of the top quarterbacks in college football and the face of Penn State’s program. PennLive sat down with Allar for an extensive interview last month. This is the second story in a miniseries stemming from our one-on-one conversation. You can read the first story here.

Drew Allar has plenty to offer an NFL team searching for a franchise quarterback. Entering his third year as Penn State’s starter, he has experience. He has the size. He has a cannon of an arm. He’s played on the big stage — and is primed for more time in the spotlight in 2025.

For all of those reasons and more, Allar is one of the buzziest prospects in the 2026 NFL draft class.

Some draft analysts have pegged Allar as a potential No. 1 overall pick. Some experts need to see more to warrant that consideration. Some believed he would have been a top-five pick if he left early for the 2025 NFL draft.

“There’s a lot of different opinions out there. And honestly, the only ones I care about are the ones that are in the Lasch Building and then my support system between my parents and agents and that sort of thing,” Allar told PennLive. “For me, it’s more about unfinished business. That’s a part of the reason why I came back. I want to become the best player that I can be. And I thought for that to happen, I wanted to come back another year.”

Penn State quarterback Drew Allar leaves the field after he threw an interception during the fourth quarter of the Big ten Championship game on Dec. 7, 2024 Joe Hermitt | [email protected]

Let’s rewind to when Allar announced his decision to return on Dec. 16, 2024. Penn State was nine days removed from its loss to Oregon in the Big Ten championship and five days away from its first-ever College Football Playoff game against SMU.

Allar made serious strides in 2024. His numbers improved. He became more of a leader. He grew in confidence, both in the pocket and in the locker room. He guided Penn State to the CFP, showing how far he had come from being a heralded but unproven five-star recruit.

Still, Allar was young compared to some recent first-round QBs. At the time of his decision, he was 20 years old. After backing up Sean Clifford as a freshman, Allar experienced growing pains as a first-year starter in 2023, and he did in 2024, as well. He made spectacular throws, showing off his rare arm talent. He also had interceptions in losses to Ohio State and Oregon (and later Notre Dame). There was room to improve, and there was a decision to be made.

And even though he could have waited until after Penn State’s CFP run, Allar felt as though he had to make his decision shortly after the Big Ten title game loss.

“That process was kind of crazy just because of the timeline of everything that was happening,” Allar recalled. “I wanted to make my decision relatively fast after that Oregon game. I knew with the timeline of the transfer portal, it was in the best interest of myself and Penn State, either if I decided to leave or come back, to have that decision made sooner rather than later.”

Penn State quarterback Drew Allar celebrates the 26-25 win over Minnesota with fans on Nov. 23, 2024 Joe Hermitt | [email protected]

Translation: Allar didn’t want to leave Beau Pribula or Penn State hanging out to dry. If Allar was coming back, he wanted to give Pribula, his backup, the opportunity to find a new home via the winter transfer portal. If Allar knew he was heading to the NFL but didn’t announce it until later, he didn’t want to potentially leave Penn State without a starting quarterback in 2025.

Pribula ended up entering the portal the day before Allar announced that he was coming back. Pribula landed at Missouri while Penn State retained Allar for one more year. That was that.

Right?

In the days and weeks after Allar’s announcement, there was speculation that he could reverse course. During Penn State’s commanding CFP quarterfinal win over Boise State — a game in which Allar shined — The Athletic’s Dane Brugler reported that “there are several NFL GMs who believe Allar could enter the 2025 NFL draft with a strong playoff run.” Brugler added that teams were still “heavily scouting” Allar for the 2025 draft class.

A big reason why was the possibility of Penn State winning the national championship. Allar, Nick Singleton and more ended up returning for the 2025 season with a national title on their minds. Would they have come back if Penn State beat Notre Dame and Ohio State and hoisted the trophy?

Another reason why scouts reportedly continued to scout Allar was how weak the quarterback class was for the 2025 NFL draft. In April, only Miami’s Cam Ward (No. 1 overall) and Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart (No. 25) were selected in the first round. Notably, the Cleveland Browns traded out of the No. 2 pick and waited until the third round to select a QB.

It’s worth acknowledging how much money Allar left on the table with his decision to return. Ward signed a $48.7 million rookie contract with the Tennessee Titans. Allar would have received a similar contract if he declared and was selected by the Browns at No. 2 overall.

In March at the NFL scouting combine, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported that a couple teams “actively encouraged” Allar to declare for the 2025 draft. Breer didn’t specify when those teams were encouraging Allar, before or after his December decision. But he noted that those scouts expected Allar would “rise through the process and go in the top 10.”

We asked Allar if he was ever “actively encouraged” to enter the NFL draft and if he knew teams were reportedly still scouting him for the 2025 NFL draft.

“Directly with me, I didn’t have any communication with NFL teams or that sort of thing. But I did hear those things,” Allar said. “And those things, from what I understand, were somewhat real. I don’t know how real they were, or what things were real and what things weren’t. Maybe there was a good chance of that.”

Ultimately, none of it really mattered. Penn State was stopped short of winning the national title, losing to Notre Dame in the CFP semifinal. Allar didn’t play particularly well, throwing a decisive interception late in the fourth quarter. His decision to return for 2025 was reaffirmed.

Now, Allar faces tougher competition in the 2026 NFL draft class. LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, Clemson’s Cade Klubnik, South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers and, of course, Texas’ Arch Manning could all be first-round picks next April. With more high-end options at quarterbacks, his path to being a top pick isn’t as straightforward as it might have been this past year.

But that doesn’t bother Allar. Now six months removed from announcing his return, he’s comfortable with his decision to play one more year for the Nittany Lions.

Sure, Allar’s favorite target, Tyler Warren, is in the NFL. But Singleton and Kaytron Allen will spearhead arguably the best backfield in the country. The offensive line is top-notch. Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki is back for a second season after receiving head coaching interest. Wide receiver help was needed, and the Nittany Lions responded by adding three transfers: Syracuse’s Trebor Pena, Troy’s Devonte Ross and USC’s Kyron Hudson.

Allar would have been a high-upside option if he declared early for the 2025 NFL draft. Now? He’s positioned to thrive in his third year as Penn State’s starter on a team with national title aspirations — and cement himself as a top prospect in the 2026 NFL draft.

“Honestly, I don’t regret my decision at all to come back,” Allar said. “I have a lot of things that I wanted to improve on, on the field and in the weight room. I felt like I had a really good year last year. But Coach K was coming back for another year, and I knew what pieces would potentially be coming back and that we’d be adding pieces.

“So I was excited about that opportunity to have one more go at it and play one another year for Penn State football and have more experience going into that next step.”

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