Penn State legend thinks Drew Allar has “it,” and will thrive in the NFL

If there’s anyone who understands what it takes to thrive as the quarterback of the Penn State Nittany Lions, it’s Kerry Collins. Before his 17-year NFL career that began as the No. 5 overall pick in the 1995 NFL Draft, Collins led the Nittany Lions to an undefeated season in 1994, exactly the trajectory that the most hopeful members of the Penn State fanbase see for their current QB. 

Well, you can count Collins among the most optimistic Drew Allar supporters, and his opinion certainly holds quite a bit of weight. Collins observed Allar in person at the Peach Bowl last season and returned to Happy Valley for the homecoming game against Illinois, when his 1994 Rose Bowl winning team was honored. The greatest quarterback in Penn State history liked what he saw. 

“How the ball comes out of his hand, he’s got it,” Collins told ESPN senior writer Jake Trotter. “It’s got a good whip to it, good snap to his arm. All the physical tools are there.”

Collins wasn’t just talking about the physical tools to succeed at this level. He sees Allar as the first Penn State quarterback since he was on campus who will be able to thrive at the next level. 

“He’s physically imposing. He’s got an NFL body and skill set. There are guys that have had tremendous success. But I wouldn’t necessarily say what they had necessarily translated into what is needed in the NFL,” Collins told Trotter. “Drew Has that, a hundred percent.”

Allar will be eligible to enter the NFL draft after this season if he chooses to forgo his final year of collegiate eligibility. However, that decision will almost certainly be predicated on how this season finishes. Allar is in his second year as Penn State’s starting quarterback and outside of two games, is coming off a fantastic debut as a sophomore starter. The problem is that those two games just happened to be the two most important ones of his season, losses to Ohio State and Michigan. 

Penn State avoids Michigan on its schedule this year, so even after showing improvement with his downfield aggressiveness under first-year offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki through his team’s 5-0 start, Allar needs to excel against the Buckeyes late in the year, but also on the road at USC in Week 7. If he can win those games, he’ll all but guarantee the Nittany Lions a spot in the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff and a chance to win the team’s first national championship since 1986, something Collins came ever so close to. 

An endorsement from Collins should go a long way for Allar, who amassed quite a number of doubters when he failed to immediately live up to his five-star billing. Though if the 6-foot-5 235-pound junior struggles in LA on Saturday, the non-believers will come out in full force, claiming to know much more than a man who played the game at the highest level for 17 years.