Penn State's Rocco Becht Working to 'Recondition' His Arm This Spring

STATE COLLEGE | Penn State quarterback Rocco Becht has been limited in what he can do physically during spring practice, but that hasn’t stopped him from developing mentally.

“Growing in my leadership, growing the little things,” Becht said after practice Tuesday. “I could still do my footwork out there, I could still go through reads. It’s all those mental reps.”

Becht has been throwing routes on air at practice but hasn’t participated in seven-on-seven drills yet. Penn State quarterbacks coach Jake Waters said Becht’s on-field role will expand soon but didn’t have a definite timeline.

After last season at Iowa State, Becht had surgery on his non-throwing shoulder to repair a torn labrum. He played a majority of the 2025 season for the Cyclones with the injury.

“He had to get shot up every Tuesday and Wednesday just to practice the last four weeks in his throwing shoulder and play, and the guy gave us every chance to win every one of those games every step of the way,” Penn State coach Matt Campbell said in February.

Penn State is being cautious with Becht’s return. The quarterback had not thrown a football in four months, Waters said, so “reconditioning the right shoulder” has been the focus of his spring ball.

“We just don't want to throw him out there if you've only thrown 10 yards and then go throw live reps, and could have to make a 50-yard throw,” Waters said. “So we're trying to recondition his arm to make sure it feels good. So he's still working, and he looked really good the past couple days, and [it’s] just getting the conditioning back before we kind of throw him in there is kind of our thought process.”

Taking command of the locker room

Penn State opened practice No. 2 today, offering a look at Matt Campbell’s operation. Quick look at the QBs, led by Rocco Becht. pic.twitter.com/Vg1Fh9i2r1
— Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) March 26, 2026

Campbell believes that a head coach and his quarterback should be “attached at the hip,” and that the quarterback specifically needs to be one of the loudest voices in the locker room. Switching schools, and locker rooms, when transferring from Iowa State was an extra “challenge” that also offered the opportunity to “sharpen those leadership tools,” according to Campbell.

“I would just say holistically, anytime you’re watching the quarterback’s growth process from the start of his career to the end of the career, you hope by the time he gets to the last portion of his career, he’s almost the offensive coordinator on the football field,” Campbell said. “The expectation is the quarterback is setting that standard and then bringing others with them.”

Although he's limited, Becht is never far from the play itself during spring practice. He’s typically behind the other quarterbacks, working through drills, mimicking footwork and practicing reads.

“He’s an extra coach on the field right now,” Waters said.

Becht has also taken it upon himself to spend extra time with his receivers and tight ends. After a recent practice, Waters went into the meeting room to find Becht with every receiver and tight end already going through routes.

“He’s not doing much team-wise, because he won’t get that seven-on-seven yet, but he’s doing absolutely everything else,” Waters said. “Like, ‘Here’s what I see in this route here,’ just to get on the same page with some of these guys. It was awesome to see. I walked in and was like, man I didn’t tell him to do it. I encourage, obviously for him to do that, but he took it on himself to go out and do that.”

Alex Manske should be ready for training camp

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

Alex Manske, a redshirt freshman transfer from Iowa State and the Nittany Lions’ presumptive QB2, is out this spring after having an offseason procedure, Campbell confirmed. Manske will miss his second straight set of spring drills after sitting out last year at Iowa State with an elbow issue. But Campbell added that Manske will be ready for training camp in August.

“Obviously, we feel for Alex,” Campbell said. “It’s something he’s been dealing with, but we felt it was best to get it taken care of now so we can get him back ready for fall camp.”

With Manske out and Becht limited, three new quarterbacks are sharing the live reps. That includes Division III transfer Connor Barry, who Campbell said has taken advantage of his opportunity.

“He's come in and he's really done a great job, probably [has] been the surprise so far of like four days of practice in just his ability to get quality reps. I think we were really excited when Connor decided to come here, allowing him to be with some of our veteran players and watch how he operates. So I think, as in all those situations, that there's a silver lining.”

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