Penn State's Drew Allar Eager to Make Himself Uncomfortable
In the huddle, Penn State quarterback Drew Allar carries a commanding voice. But the sophomore had to work on transferring that voice to other aspects of the program, such as the weight room.
Allar is getting there.
"He's done a good job in the sense that he’s pushed outside of his comfort zone," Chuck Losey, Penn State's director of athletic performance, told reporters in State College on Thursday. "By nature, Drew probably is not the loudest person you'll ever see. ... But I've seen during our workouts that he's put himself in uncomfortable situations to where he's forced himself to speak up to other guys."
These are the moments that help define winter workouts, and a team's future success, in college football. Penn State on Thursday held its max-out day as part of the winter session. The Lions will return from spring break in mid-March to begin spring drills, which culminate with the April 15 Blue-White Game at Beaver Stadium.
Of course, Losey has overseen more than 100 players during these workouts, all at various levels of strength, health and fitness as they labor through the challenging physical process. But Losey also must help the Lions breed an environment in which new leaders can grow.
Head coach James Franklin called this a fundamental mission of the offseason, as the Lions bid farewell to some of their most vocal, longest-tenured leaders. In particular, Franklin wants his quarterbacks, notably Allar and classmate Beau Pribula, to assert their voices and presence in an offense that will be without starter Sean Clifford for the first time in four years.
"No one cares that they’re young," Franklin said of Allar and Pribula. "They’re in that position, and a big part of that position is leadership."
After Thursday's max-out day, Losey discussed how those quarterbacks have grown over the past year. Both enrolled early in 2022, with Pribula holding a distinct workout edge, according to Losey.
But in addition to finding his leadership voice, Allar has advanced in his training as well. The 6-4 quarterback has gained about 25 pounds of lean mass over the past year, Losey said, building his frame to 238 pounds. Losey said that Allar looks like a defensive end now.
"He was probably behind from a strength and power and speed standpoint when he first got here," Losey said. "But I'll tell you what, he's closed the gap."
Pribula, a redshirt freshman, inspired Allar to want to close that gap. Pribula has impressed Losey since he arrived. Last year, Losey called Pribula a "dynamic athlete" who was more advanced than Allar from a training perspective.
That still holds true. "Beau was kind of an elite person and elite athlete when it comes to speed, strength and power," Losey said Thursday. However, Pribula raised Allar's will.
"Having somebody like Beau, who was in the same [position] room and having those two in the same class, it’s really benefited Drew," Losey said.
Noteworthy
Graduate transfers Storm Duck (North Carolina) and Malik McClain (Florida State) have made life easy for Losey. They're thriving in the new training system, which Losey said often happens with graduate transfers, and acclimatizing well to the roster.
A little nudge for the running backs, perhaps? Losey said that Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen have been "phenomenal" but also have some "deficiencies" to fix. "But they're working hard at it," Losey said.
Meet the new Kaden Saunders. The redshirt freshman receiver, listed at 5-10, 177 pounds, arrived last season carrying too much weight, Losey said. But Saunders has changed his body completely and begins spring practice with fresh confidence. "With that confidence, he’s a different player right now than he was certainly this time last year," Losey said.
Defensive tackle Jordan van den Berg had a lively max-out day, as this video from The Athletic's Audrey Snyder demonstrates.
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