Penn State's Drew Allar to Showcase Skills at Manning Passing Academy
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Penn State's Drew Allar joins some of college football's most accomplished quarterbacks at the Manning Passing Academy in June, continuing Penn State's long relationship with the Manning family. Former Penn State quarterbacks Sean Clifford, Trace McSorley Christian Hackenberg and Will Levis have attended the camp, and that relationship helped Penn State land Eli Manning's 2022 tryout last year as Chad Powers.
The 27th annual Manning Passing Academy, which bills itself as the nation's "premier offensive skills football camp," brings together quarterbacks from the top college football programs to serve as counselors and competitors. The event's "Friday Night Lights" includes skills challenges and and an air-it-our exhibition that has come to define the weekend. The Manning Passing Academy is scheduled for June 22-25 at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana. Archie, Peyton and Cooper Manning serve as the program's directors
Allar was among the Academy's first announced counselors, joining Missouri's Brady Cook, LSU's Jayden Daniels and Mississippi's Jayden Dart. Eight of the 14 quarterbacks selected in the 2023 NFL Draft, including Clifford, have participated in the Manning Passing Academy.
Allar, Penn State's projected starter this season, is only two years removed from competing at the 2021 Elite 11 Finals. He enters the season among the Big Ten's most-watched players but has proven himself grounded to the mission of improving as a first-time starter. After the Blue-White Game in April, Penn State coach James Franklin said his quarterbacks "couldn't throw enough" this summer. To which Allar agreed.
"[Franklin] knows how good we can be, and we know how good we can be in the pass game, but we’re not there right now," Allar said. "We got a lot better through the spring. This summer is going to be huge for us. Everybody is willing to buy into it. I'm really looking forward to summer workouts and getting our chemistry down."
Allar said he spent this past offseason asserting more of his leadership side while expanding his training. The 6-4 quarterback gained about 25 pounds of lean mass over the past year, strength coach Chuck Losey said, building his frame to 242 pounds. Losey said that Allar looks like a defensive end now.
"He was probably behind [fellow quarterback Beau Pribula] from a strength and power and speed standpoint when he first got here," Losey said of Allar. "But I'll tell you what, he's closed the gap."
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