Many Penn State fans and football experts alike feel that the program didn’t put Drew Allar in the best positive position to succeed, and that extends to at least one assistant coach as well.
PSU assistant head coach Terry Smith is known as “the ultimate truth teller” around the team, and he lived up to that reputation Monday afternoon on an interview with 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh.
Smith revealed an interesting peace of information on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ third-round selection during an interview on 93.7 The Fan Monday. Smith, who was the interim Penn State’s head coach last season after Allar’s year ended with an injury, admitted that the Nittany Lions’ system was not built for Allar.
Allar has experience in a vertically-based passing attack. Some knocks on Allar include: lack of rhythm and vision, poor decision maker and comes up short in big moments.
It appears Penn State’s offense contributed to some of those flaws.
“Yeah, you know, I’ve been known as the truth-teller here at Penn State. I think, unfairly to Drew, our system wasn’t built for him. It wasn’t made for him. Some of the decisions were taken out of his control,” Smith told Bob Pompeani and Joe Starkey of The Fan.
Derrick Bell of Steelers Now shared a clip of Penn State running four verts in the low red zone last season. That is one of many examples of how Penn State failed Allar.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Allar’s senior season was cut short due to a broken left ankle, but in six games he threw for 1100 yards, eight touchdowns, and three interceptions. In his junior season, he threw for 3327 yards, 24 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. His combination of physical tools and experience in a pro-style system makes him an intriguing prospect for head coach Mike McCarthy to work with.
Allar stands at 6-foot 5, 228 pounds. He has 32 3/4″ arms and 9 7/8″ hands. Lance Zierlein of NFL.comsaid Allar has an elite frame that looks like it was assembled in a quarterback factory.
“He had a good end of the season (in 2024). He can make throws that a lot of people can’t. He just can’t make a lot of throws that people need to make,” an NFC scout said, via Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. “I had a high grade on him last year. It just seems like the more he’s played, the more warts that have shown.”
Pelissero was also told by an NFC quarterbacks coach that Allar has Joe Flacco-like traits.
“I went into my Zoom interview with him thinking he’d be kind of a dope, like the things that were happening on film. But he was incredible. Blew me away with his interview,” the NFC QBs coach said. “His knowledge of what they did at Penn State, his ability to call plays, all of it. He’s got a chance to be like a Joe Flacco. He’s big, he’s strong, he runs straight ahead fast. But does he have Joe Flacco’s s— to him?”
