Week 12 revealed a potentially fatal flaw in Ethan Grunkemeyer’s game

From the moment Penn State lost its third game of the season, officially fell out of College Football Playoff contention, and fired James Franklin, the season became about evaluation. Not just of interim head coach Terry Smith, but of redshirt freshman quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer, who replaced the injured senior Drew Allar. 

Grunkemeyer has shown flashes, particularly in the second half against Indiana when the Nittany Lions took the lead over the No. 2 team in the country, and he finally began to push the ball down the field. However, Penn State’s Week 12 win over Michigan State revealed a concerning flaw in Grunkemeyer’s game. 

Ethan Grunkemeyer’s pressure response could be a fatal flaw

A former four-star recruit, Grunkemeyer is not a big-time athlete. He has the arm to make most, if not all, of the throws he needs to from the pocket, but he’s not going to wow you with his arm strength or athleticism. Instead, he dominated in high school with his accuracy and anticipation, getting the ball out on time to let his receivers make plays after the catch. So far through his redshirt freshman year, that has not been the case. 

Even against Indiana, very little of Grunkemeyer’s game has been on time, and in East Lansing, he looked overwhelmed by one of the Big Ten’s worst defenses. Grunkemeyer finished the game with a 4.01-second average time to throw, and his 10 pressured dropbacks averaged 5.65 seconds. 

Grunkemeyer’s pressure response was to bring his eyes down and look to create with his legs, which is not his game. The Michigan State pass rush wasn’t dominant either. His 47.6 percent pressure rate was largely a product of his prolonged decision-making. 

While he was pressured on 10 dropbacks, he finished just 1-for-2 passing, was sacked four times, and scrambled four times. His average depth of target on pressured dropbacks was an absurd 44.0 yards downfield (according to PFF), one of which connected for a 75-yard touchdown pass to Devonte Ross. 

Honestly, I’d dispute whether we can call that play a pressured dropback because while Grunkemeyer has to step up because of a rusher off his backside, he has a perfect pocket to step up into, and no pressure in his face. 

His full game stat line of 8-for-13 for 127 yards and two touchdowns is not a proper reflection of the way he played. His 40 percent pressure-to-sack rate is unsustainable, and though it sits at 19.2 percent for the season, his pressure response against the Spartans was alarming. His eight percent scramble rate since taking over as the starter is not a fit with his ideal play style. 

Grunkemeyer still has two more games of growth before Penn State’s next head coach has to decide to fight to keep him or to go into the portal for the Nittany Lions' next QB. Unless his pocket presence and pressure response begin to improve, it would be hard to have any faith in him next season.