Drew Allar enters the upcoming season with a fair amount of expectations. The Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback is already thought to be one of the best in the nation, but NFL Draft analyst Todd McShay wants to see more out of him.
With the 2025 season drawing closer, the Nittany Lions have one of their best chances at a national championship since Joe Paterno led them. Not only that, but Allar has a legitimate shot at being a top-five draft pick.
NFL Draft Analyst Todd McShay Puts Weight of Penn State’s 2025 Season on Drew Allar’s Shoulders
Headed into his third season as Penn State’s starting signal-caller, Drew Allar is the Nittany Lions’ all-time leader in completion percentage (62.9%) and interception percentage (1.19%). With 37 touchdown passes and 303 completions, he would surpass his predecessor, Sean Clifford, on the program’s career leaderboards.
“I like him, and I like him more than I thought I was going to, watching tape,” McShay said in a clip of his podcast posted Thursday on YouTube.
“I need to see more. He’s here. I don’t know, he’s down to, like, the 10-yard line, but he’s still got 10 hard yards to earn to get to where I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, we can talk about him as QB1 this year.’ Or I feel good about using a top-10 pick on him,” he explained.
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McShay’s co-host, Steve Muench, also gave his two cents on Allar’s production. Allar ranked 13th nationally with 24 air strikes last season, tied with Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt and Toledo’s Tucker Gleason.
“If he wants to be the guy in this class, I think he’s gotta step up, he’s gotta get a signature win, he’s gotta have a signature game in one of those games, and we haven’t seen that yet,” Muench said.
“That run where they went Oregon (Big Ten championship game), SMU, Boise State, and then Notre Dame in the playoffs… he completed 53.2% of his passes with six touchdowns and three interceptions.
“I thought, during the Oregon game, I was encouraged even though he lost that game because he battled to the end.”
Muench said he expected more out of Allar in the two games that followed. Against the Mustangs, Allar went 13 for 22 for 127 yards. He completed 13 of 25 passes for 171 yards and three touchdowns against the Broncos.
“On top of that, the Notre Dame game, especially the fourth quarter, I have some issues,” Muench said. “His performances in big games, he’s got to be better in those situations if he’s gonna be the guy.”
Against the Fighting Irish, on the doorstep of a national title appearance last season, Allar didn’t register any touchdown passes.
Now, though, Penn State is aiming to atone for the shortcomings. Allar will be a key character in that effort.
