Former Medina QB Drew Allar Explains Why Browns Would Be ‘Surreal’ NFL Draft Fit

Former Penn State quarterback Drew Allar is keeping his hometown of Medina, Ohio close to his heart ahead of the NFL Combine.

During his availability at the NFL Combine, Allar admitted that he didn’t start playing quarterback until his freshman year of high school football at Medina. His NFL dreams became real during the first-round of high school playoffs where Allar’s Medina Bees fell to St. Edward’s.

But Allar impressed in that loss, throwing for just under 300 yards and a touchdown at Byers Field in Parma. That loss finished his sophomore year where he took the reins as the starting quarterback at Medina and realized that he had an honest shot at playing quarterback in the NFL.

Allar’s connection to his hometown NFL team, the Cleveland Browns, are stronger than the organization’s ongoing search for a franchise quarterback. Allar’s great grandfather had season tickets to the Browns at old Municipal Stadium and passed the tickets down to his family, where he’d attend every home game.

Ahead of Allar’s freshman season at Penn State, the Browns traded three first-round picks for Deshaun Watson. As his college career winds down, his hometown NFL team finds themselves still searching for that coveted franchise quarterback. In Indianapolis, members of Cleveland’s front office and coaching staff met with Allar, who projects to be selected on the second day of the NFL Draft.

New Browns quarterback coach Mike Bajakian was the offensive coordinator at Northwestern when Allar was still at Medina. Bajakian tried recruiting Allar out of high school, so they had familiarity with each other ahead of their informal meeting.

“Any opportunity that I would have to play in the NFL would be a dream come true,” Allar said. “I mean that one would be really cool and surreal just because I grew up going to games and grew up a Browns fan.”

Allar said the first NFL jerseys he owned were either former Browns quarterback Charlie Frye and Hall of Fame left tackle Joe Thomas. Frye was a fellow hometown kid that grew up in Willard, Ohio before quarterbacking at Akron and was ultimately drafted by the Browns, where he started 19 games.

Drew Allar says he had an informal meeting with the Cleveland Browns.

He grew up going to Browns games as his great grandfather was a season ticket holder who passed the seats down to his family.

Said it would be an extra special fit in the NFL. https://t.co/4QiDbKH58j pic.twitter.com/2j1kGSrkBa
— Nick Pedone (@NickPedone12) February 27, 2026

Frye was Allar’s first college football offer, when he served as the quarterback coach at Central Michigan. Their paths crossed again during Allar’s freshman year at Penn State, when Frye was serving as a broadcast analyst. The 21-year-old said that meeting one of his favorite childhood quarterbacks was a full circle moment in his life.

Would the Browns really draft Allar?

During Browns general manager Andrew Berry’s NFL Combine availability, he wouldn’t rule out drafting a rookie quarterback in this class. Even though the Browns selected both Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders last season, Berry believes that the position is important enough to invest into every year.

Alabama’s Ty Simpson is expected to be the second quarterback off the board once the Las Vegas Raiders select Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick. Simpson has a relationship with Browns head coach Todd Monken, who tried recruiting him while he served as the offensive coordinator at Georgia. Monken also has a relationship with Miami quarterback Carson Beck, who started his college career at Georgia under Monken. Beck also had an informal meeting with the Browns in Indianapolis.

The Browns are doing their homework on this quarterback class. While the team said they’re open to Sanders and Watson competing for the starting job, it feels like another name will be added to the mix.

Maybe Allar will have his surreal moment come true at the end of April.

Would the Browns really draft Allar?

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