Drew Allar saw his grade before the draft and felt like his priority was still at Penn State. That’s saying something.
Allar was informed NFL evaluators viewed him as a likely first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Now that’s winning. Any spot in the top half of the first round brings a four-year guaranteed contract. Pick No. 16 is paid about $20 million over four years.
Faced with a very similar decision a year earlier, now-former Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy turned pro. As the No. 11 pick in the 2024 draft, he signed for more than $21 million over four years with the Minnesota Vikings.
Winning or not, $5 million per year will spend.
But it wasn’t the zeroes that tipped the scales for Allar to return to the Nittany Lions. It was the hardware McCarthy took with him to the NFL as a college football national champion that Allar wants.
He has a 21–5 record as Penn State’s starter and described last season as “the most fun I’ve ever had in my entire life playing football,” adding, “I know there’s still more work to do, which is why I look forward to making more memories with my teammates this year and beyond.”
Field Level Media’s core NFL draft analysts pegged Allar as a top-12 draft target had he entered in 2025. Instead, he’ll try to improve on stellar numbers to check a few other boxes. He already has the natural tools at 6-foot-5, 235 pounds. He has also produced in a pro-producing environment with 21 touchdowns and seven interceptions in 2024 before the playoffs, and 25 touchdowns with two interceptions in 2023.
Allar’s presence has Penn State back in the top tier of teams capable of claiming the national title.
Coach James Franklin returns another stellar defense and described Allar on Wednesday as a player still in attack mode, far from satisfied by last year’s appearance in the College Football Playoff.
“He’s made significant leaps every year. We expect him to take another significant leap this year,” Franklin said. “Most people had him projected as a first-round draft choice last year, and he decided to come back to school—unfinished business collectively as a team but also as an individual.”
Some pundits were down on Allar after the postseason. In a 27–24 loss to Notre Dame, Allar threw a late interception with 33 seconds remaining that he’s likely still thinking about. He had only 12 completions for 123 yards. The Fighting Irish kicked a game-winning field goal set up by the pick in Penn State territory and went on to win it all.
Franklin isn’t concerned about any lingering effect on Allar because of the road he traveled to get to this point in his development. When Franklin first saw him play as a three-star recruit, there wasn’t a lot of clamoring for the “old-school” recruit in Ohio. Allar never doubted. And Franklin believed.
“Kept getting better, kept moving up the charts. Depending on which recruiting service you follow, some people had him as the No. 1 quarterback in the country before it was all said and done,” Franklin recalled Wednesday.
“Showed up on campus, was a backup quarterback for us as a true freshman behind an NFL quarterback, and has gotten better every single year, really in every single area. He’s 6-5. He’s now 235 pounds, can make every throw on the field, has shown that he can hurt people with his feet, and has really, really made tremendous strides as a leader—holding himself to a high standard and willing to have tough conversations with his teammates as well.”
Allar’s stock is on the rise. It will skyrocket if he ends his final season as the last QB standing.
