A Chance to Chase a Dream: Inside Drew Allar's Decision to Return to Penn State

LAS VEGAS — During the two-week window between Penn State’s loss to Oregon in the Big Ten Championship game last December and its College Football Playoff quarterfinal against SMU, streams of data and opinions were funneled toward star quarterback Drew Allar as he weighed the decision to return for another season or enter the NFL Draft.

Some of the information came from head coach James Franklin, whose recruitment of Allar began when the Ohio native was a relatively unknown three-star prospect, long before he blossomed into the highest-rated quarterback in the 2022 recruiting cycle. Some of it came from his agents, who helped Allar decode rumor from truth regarding what scouts and general managers really thought of his draft stock. Allar absorbed it all. 

"They did a great job giving me as much information as they could in a short time span, allowing me to make the most informed decision for myself on what I thought was best for me," Allar said. "I definitely wanted that feedback just because when you’re going into that decision, at least for me, I want to be as informed as possible, no matter if it’s good or bad. I want to know where I stand."

Penn State head coach James Franklin speaks with Drew Allar #15 during the first half against the Indiana Hoosiers. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

Where he stood, Allar explained, was far less cut and dry than the rampant social media speculation that followed him for weeks. Depending on how well Allar performed in the postseason, where Penn State ultimately lost to Notre Dame in the national semifinals, some outlets suggested he could wind up being an early first-round pick amid a fairly barren crop of quarterbacks relative to the prior season when six were taken in the