Notre Dame A Heavy-Hitter For 2022 Quarterback Drew Allar
Within the last week, Notre Dame added Denison (Texas) High School running back Jadarian Price to its 2022 class, and the Fighting Irish are already zeroing in on other key positions on offense.
At the quarterback position, Medina (Ohio) High School passer Drew Allar has become a prospect to monitor after landing an offer from Notre Dame on Thursday, making him only the fourth quarterback in the 2022 cycle with a scholarship from the Fighting Irish.
During the 2020 season, the 6-5, 220-pound signal caller from Ohio compiled school records with 2,962 passing yards and 26 touchdowns en route to a 6-4 record for the Battling Bees. Allar's standout season put the four-star prospect on the recruiting map, and he has since reeled in 22 offers with schools such as Penn State, Michigan, Texas A&M, Iowa, Ole Miss and South Carolina.
Notre Dame is the latest program to extend an offer to Allar after already forming a strong relationship with the ascending prospect.
“I've been talking to Notre Dame for a decent amount of time now,” Allar told Irish Breakdown. “I kind of thought it was just going to be a normal conversation, catching up with Coach [Tommy] Rees. He said he had a really good conversation with Coach [Brian] Kelly that morning and that they wanted to offer me a scholarship, so I was super excited and super happy about it.”
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As a former Notre Dame quarterback himself, Rees has been filling Allar in on the day-to-day life of a Notre Dame football player.
“[Rees is] definitely a good person to talk to throughout the recruiting process because he understands both sides of it as a coach and what he went through when he was trying to make his decision,” Allar noted. “It is definitely helpful.”
After putting together a 10-2 season last Fall, Notre Dame has a few different areas of the program that it can showcase when recruiting Allar, but 247Sports.com's No. 6 pro-style quarterback says that one aspect of the program stands out.
“The education piece,” said the Medina standout. “They have an unbelievable network after football and just how heavily praised their education piece is if you get a degree from Notre Dame. That part is important. Hopefully I'll have a chance to further play football on Sundays, but he has told me about the education.”
At the moment, Allar hasn't settled on what he would like to major in once he arrives at college. In addition to that uncertainty, Allar says that he does not have a top group of schools yet and is open to all prospective suitors.
“I'm just taking it pretty slowly,” Allar stated. “I am still open to every offer that I have and all the schools that are potential new offers that I could talk to in the future. I am still open to everything. As far as a commitment, I think I will know when the time is right for me and what school is right for me. I have no idea what that is now, but I will have that gut feeling when I know the time is right.”
Until that time comes, Allar is working out regularly with his quarterback coach and his school's track and field team to increase his agility and foot speed before the start of his senior season.
Right now, Notre Dame owns the No. 8 class in the country according to 247Sports.com.
Here is Irish Breakdown publisher Bryan Driskell’s film analysis of Allar:
Allar is an incredibly talented young signal caller, and his upside is as high as any quarterback in the class. If you're one who likes comparisons, current Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is a great comp for Allar due to his comparable size, athleticism, big arm but also the fact he's still quite raw as a passer.
The first thing you notice about Allar, even before he throws a pass, is great size for the position. He's every bit of 6-5 and he's listed at 220 pounds. Allar has a big frame that will continue to fill out, which means he should be able to get to an easy 225-235 pounds.
Allar has exceptional arm strength. He can power the ball down the field, he can make all the difficult throws you want from a top quarterback, and even more important is the fact he does all of this with easy effort. Allar doesn't have to muscle up at all to power the ball, and he doesn't have to get his feet set into the ground to make tough downfield throws either.
Although there are times when he puts too much mustard on the ball, Allar also shows the ability to throw with touch down needed, and his ball placement on downfield throws is impressive. Allar also shows the ability to throw off platform, he throws well on the move and he does a good job keeping his eyes downfield when he's moving around in the pocket. The Medina standout is a good athlete for his size, which helps him manipulate the pocket and also to move the chains as a runner.
On top of having a strong arm, Allar is an aggressive thrower. He'll take a lot of chances, and he's clearly extremely confident in his arm talent, which results in him attempting throws a lot of quarterbacks don't have the guts to make.
There is some work that needs to be done from a technical standpoint. Allar needs to clean up his footwork, and at times his throwing motion gets a bit long, which can cause him to have accuracy issues. Allar has a tendency to let the ball dip when he's in his drop or going through his progression. That is when you see his motion get long, and if he can get the ball up it should help him stay more compact from the pocket. When he does that Allar shows good accuracy and ball placement.
Allar ranks as the nation's No. 89 overall player according to 247Sports.
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