While the 2024 NFL draft is still over a month away and college teams have yet to begin spring practice with their 2024 rosters, Pro Football Focus is wasting no time ranking the quarterbacks returning to college in 2024, which puts Drew Allar into focus.
In a self-proclaimed “controversial” ranking, PFF ranks Penn State’s signal caller as the eighth-best returning quarterback for the 2024 season, and the second-best quarterback returning in 2024 in the Big Ten.
According to PFF, Allar slots behind only Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel in the conference.
While Allar’s play in his first year as a starter in 2023 has been highly criticized, PFF points out that Allar was “hamstrung” by his supporting cast last season.
Penn State ranked fifth-worst in the power five last season in drop rate, at a staggering 10.8 percent, and Allar was pressured within 2.5 seconds on 21.3 percent of his dropbacks. Even with these woes last season, Allar ranked in the top 20 among quarterbacks in 2024 with an overall PFF grade of 86.3, helped by his “elite” turnover-worthy play rate of 1.1 percent (second best in the nation).
PFF notes in its rankings that Allar should be a much better fit in Penn State’s new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki’s system, than he was running Mike Yurcich’s system last season. At Kansas in 2023, Kotelnicki’s offense ranked third in the power five in average depth of target on passing plays (12.3 yards compared to Allar’s 8.0 in 2023 (excluding the Peach Bowl)). Kansas’ offense also saw the second-best receiver grades in the country in 2023 an 89 overall PFF grade.
If Kotelnicki can elevate the supporting cast for Allar, his tools should allow him to shine in Kotelnicki’s offense. PFF notes that “[i]f Penn State’s supporting cast is elevated by Kotelnicki’s arrival, Allar has the requisite talent to climb [the top quarterback ranking] list and be one of the top quarterback prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft.”
Allar will have the opportunity to prove that he deserves a top ranking on this list at the beginning of next season, as Penn State opens the season on the road facing another quarterback on this list, Garrett Greene.
After Penn State bested Greene and the Mountaineers in week one last season, Greene went on to post the eighth-highest PFF grade among all quarterbacks in 2023. For 2024, PFF ranks Greene as the seventh-best returning quarterback, one spot above Allar, calling Greene “a big-game hunter who’ll likely become much more of a household name” in 2024. PFF compares Greene to Jalen Milroe, noting that Greene is a dangerous threat in the running game and is constantly looking for the deep ball on every dropback.
If Allar can outduel Greene in week one next season in Morgantown, it would go a long way to cementing Allar’s status on this list and help his name rise on draft boards for the 2025 NFL draft if Allar chooses to leave Happy Valley after next season.
MORE: The Case for Penn State Football Winning the National Championship Next Season
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Education: Saint Vincent College, Penn State Law School
Location: Washington, DC
Experience:Robert Casturo has covered Penn State football for NittanyCentral since 2022. Casturo previously covered Penn State football through a social media presence (@PSU_FB_Thoughts on X) since 2019. Casturo earned his bachelor's degree from Saint Vincent College in 2015, where he was a punter for 1 season on the Saint Vincent College football team and worked in the athletic department for 2 years as a student manager. Casturo earned his JD from Penn State Law in 2018 where he was a senior editor of the Penn State Law Review.
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