Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1495456
2 6 A P R I L 2 0 2 3 Rise And Rise And Shine Shine These up-and-coming Nittany Lions have the potential These up-and-coming Nittany Lions have the potential to develop into superstars in the years ahead to develop into superstars in the years ahead T H O M A S F R A N K C A R R | T F R A N K . C A R R @ O N 3 . C O M O ne of the reasons Penn State fans are so optimistic about the 2023 football season is because the team appears to have amassed more talent at key positions than in previous years. It would even be fair to say that a number of those players have shown glimpses of superstar potential. For our purposes, we're not talking about players who have already broken out, such as sophomore running back Nicholas Singleton, sophomore line- backer Abdul Carter and junior offen- sive tackle Olumuyiwa Fashanu. Rather, we're talking about players who have only started to showcase their abilities. The list that follows is not compre- hensive, but it's close. One caveat is that it includes only players who are currently on campus. Members of the Nittany Li- ons' 2023 class who have yet to arrive in State College are not rated here. There may be some budding superstars in that group, too, but neither we nor Penn State's coaches have seen them face col- lege competition yet. Offense Drew Allar QB | So. | 6-5 | 242 What he's shown: Even though the sample size was relatively small, con- sisting of sporadic action in 10 games, Allar's talents were obvious last season. His size, arm strength and throwing motion are some of the best we've ever seen from a Penn State quarterback. He also displayed an excellent mind for the game while at Medina (Ohio) High and throughout his true freshman season at PSU in which he saw mostly mop-up duty behind super senior Sean Clifford. What he needs to work on: What isn't there for a quarterback to work on? While coverage diagnosis is at the top of the charts, it's not the only area for improvement. In the few times he got rattled last season, Allar tended to struggle with his follow-through in the pocket. Even as a rotational thrower, the quarterback still needs to bring his hips and momentum through his lower half to W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Q u a r te r b a c k D r e w A l la r co m p le te d 3 5 o f 6 0 attempts in 10 games as a true freshman, throwing 4 touchdown passes and no interceptions. PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE