Penn State Coaching Staff Details Quarterback Rocco Becht's Rehab Progress

Becht is recovering from offseason surgery but is expected to throw this spring for the Nittany Lions.

Iowa State Cyclones quarterback Rocco Becht runs during the second half against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Boone Pickens Stadium. | William Purnell-Imagn Images

Penn State's new starting quarterback probably won't get a full set of spring drills following offseason shoulder surgery. However, Rocco Becht is ahead of his rehab schedule after transferring from Iowa State, and his coaches expect him to resume throwing this spring.

"He's been doing awesome," Penn State quarterbacks coach Jake Waters said. "He a little bit ahead of schedule right now. He'll start running and doing some things here in the next week or so. And then shortly after that, start a little throwing program."

Becht was the most high-profile player among the 24 who transferred from Iowa State to Penn State to play for head coach Matt Campbell. He also will be the most-watched when Penn State begins installing its new offense under coordinator Taylor Mouser during spring drills.

Becht sustained a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder last season, his third as Iowa State's starting quarterback. Campbell said that Becht received weekly shots "just to practice" during the season's final month. Still, Becht did not miss a start, threw for 2,584 yards and 16 touchdowns and rushed for 116 additional yards and eight more touchdowns.

"He's one of the greatest leaders I've ever been around," Campbell said. "This poor guy had to play with a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder. He had to get shot up every Tuesday and Wednesday just to practice the last four weeks and play, and the guy gave us every chance to win every one of those games every step of the way. He's as tough and as competitive as any football player I've ever been around."

RELATED: Five questions for Penn State coach Matt Campbell

Iowa State Cyclones quarterback Rocco Becht throws a pass against the Arizona State Sun Devils during the second half at Jack Trice Stadium. | Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

Becht underwent surgery after the season and imported his rehab program from Iowa State to Penn State. Waters, who coached Becht the past two seasons, said the quarterback should be throwing midway through spring drills.

He'll obviously be no-contact during the spring but should get some throwing work during the second half of spring practice. Campbell said that he wants Becht to throw at Beaver Stadium during the Blue-White scrimmage session Penn State holds in April.

"He's doing great," Waters said. "He's been in the training room, he went back home, and he's been on it. He trains like a pro. He rehabs like a pro. And we're thinking he'll get to be able to throw in spring ball a little bit. Obviously, we won't put him in any harm's way or anything like that. But the schedule he's on now, we'll be able to get him in some things during the spring."

Penn State's spring plan at quarterback

Iowa State Cyclones quarterback Alex Manske runs with the football against the South Dakota Coyotes in the second half at Jack Trice Stadium. | Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

In the meantime, Penn State will use those early spring practices to assimilate the four new quarterbacks who joined Becht in the position room. Penn State has a variety of new quarterbacks, only one of whom has thrown an FBS pass besides Becht.

Redshirt freshman Alex Manske, who transferred from Iowa State with Becht, went 4-for-5 in limited action with the Cyclones last season. Penn State also signed two freshmen quarterbacks in the 2026 recruiting class: Peyton Falzone of Pennsylvania and Kase Evans of Texas.

Looking for an experienced quarterback, Penn State signed Division III standout Connor Barry, who threw for 2,866 yards and 35 touchdowns last season at Christopher Newport University in Virginia. Barry was a second-team Division III All-American and a semifinalist for the Gagliardi Trophy, awarded to the top player in Division III.

"We have the young guys, and we feel really confident about Rocco, who's played a lot of football," Waters said. "... [Barry's] been through the ups and downs in college and knows what it takes to be a college quarterback. He won a lot of games, threw for a lot of yards, and was a competitor and didn't throw many picks. And I think that's extremely valuable when you're trying to round out a quarterback room."

Waters said that, as Becht resumes throwing, the rest of the quarterback room will get "thrown into the fire" during spring practice.

"They'll learn, grow, fail, do great, fail again and just learn," Waters said. "... We've got to get them up to speed as best we can, and then give Rocco a chance to see it from a different lens. He's almost going to be a third coach out there with the quarterbacks and helping them out.

"So I think it'll be really good for Rocco to see it through a different lens. He's always out there playing, but now he can step back and see it through our lens. I think that will be huge. But we're really excited, though, to get all those dudes a ton of reps."

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