Depth chart breakdown: Here’s where Penn State football stands at quarterback in 2021
Penn State should have a deep and talented roster this season but the question marks at quarterback could alter the team’s floor and its ceiling.
Let’s take a look at where the position stands heading into the 2021 season.
Projected starter
Redshirt senior Sean Clifford
All eyes will be on Sean Clifford in 2021, as they should be.
The redshirt senior is entering his third year as the team’s starting quarterback and needs to show serious advancement in several facets of his game. Clifford was effective early in 2019, but didn’t show progress toward the end of the season and saw major regression in 2020.
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This analysis is based off of watching games live, 20+ hours of film study and watching Penn State’s two open spring practices.
He still struggles with consistency when it comes to several areas of his game. His footwork is his most inconsistent aspect, and leads to multiple other inconsistencies. Clifford doesn’t set a solid base when making deep throws and frequently will try to make off-platform throws that he doesn’t have the arm strength to make. He has to clean up his footwork and navigate the pocket better to improve as a passer.
His legs will continue to have a role in his ability because he’s been good as a runner, but his passing ability needs to catch up at this point.
Part of the reason for his success in 2019 was because he managed the game for Penn State and moved the ball down the field without forcing passes into tight windows or taking unnecessary risks. That’s a fine showing for a first-year starter — and any starter with weapons on the outside and a strong running game — but that version of Clifford was nowhere to be found last season. Instead, he frequently made poor decisions and felt pressure when it wasn’t there.
His timing with his weapons on the outside appeared to be off under former offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca. That could be attributed to a lack of reps with his wide receivers due to the pandemic, but the other issues are more concerning.
The redshirt senior should be in more situations that allow him to succeed under new offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich — who tends to get good quarterback play out of his signal callers — but some of the onus will be on him to make adjustments and improve.
There’s no doubting Clifford’s competitiveness and his stated desire to get better, but getting benched for now-Kentucky quarterback Will Levis — who left Penn State in January — in the middle of a lost season shows the team won’t be afraid to make a change if one is necessary. With that being said, Clifford is the starter for a reason. It’s extremely unlikely that any quarterback on the roster will unseat him in the 2021 season.
Just as in 2020, it will be entirely on Clifford and his development to decide how good Penn State can be. Even a reversion to his early 2019 game-managing style should be seen as a positive, given just how good the rest of the offense should be. An improvement to a quarterback who can go out and win games on his own is unlikely, but if it were to happen it would vault Penn State into contention for the Big Ten title.
Key backup
Redshirt sophomore Ta’Quan Roberson
Ta’Quan Roberson is the only other scholarship quarterback with actual game experience at this point, making him the clear frontrunner to back Clifford up this season. Even his game experience is limited to two appearances and a single pass attempt in 2019 — essentially no meaningful playing time.
The situation at backup has essentially put the Nittany Lions in a bind at quarterback at each spot on the depth chart. Nobody behind Clifford has enough experience to challenge him for the job and nobody can reliably step in if things go awry.
In an ideal situation, Roberson would be the third-string quarterback with a backup with more experience ahead of him. But with Levis now at Kentucky, Roberson must prove he can step in as needed this season. He’s inexperienced but brings tools to the table that could make him a starting-level quarterback.
Roberson has above average arm strength and can add zip to his passes in the intermediate range. He isn’t an elite runner but can take off when necessary to create room to throw or gain yardage with his legs. His biggest struggles as a passer come with his accuracy and decision-making. In the two spring practices open to the media, he displayed inconsistency from both standpoints.
His passes missed the mark too often but he did show the ability to make difficult throws at times. If he can clean up his accuracy and stay calmer when pressure comes, Roberson could take a step forward. Those are big “ifs” especially considering they’re not particularly dissimilar from the faults in Clifford’s game. It’s unlikely Roberson is going to do enough to win the starting job this season, but the Nittany Lions should hope to get him more significant game time in blowouts.
He needs to see the field eventually if he’s going to replace Clifford down the line. Penn State should hope that time can come this season in mop-up duty, specifically in a game against a team like Villanova — because there might not be many other inconsequential opportunities for Roberson. If he plays snaps outside of that game, they’re far more likely to come at the expense of Clifford.
Freshman to watch
Freshman Christian Veilleux
Christian Veilleux is the last of the team’s three scholarship quarterbacks, but he does bring notable skills to the table. He has a very strong arm and is a good athlete for the position.
However, he’s very raw and that showed in the team’s two open spring practices. Veilleux took too much time to work through his progression and didn’t always make the correct throw. His accuracy was lacking as well, and his internal clock for feeling pressure was off in the practices. That being said, all of those issues are to be expected from a freshman who enrolled at Penn State in January.
He still presents plenty of upside and has the tools to be a starter down the line. He’ll have plenty of time to work on his game because — barring something completely unforseen — he shouldn’t see any meaningful playing time in the 2021 season.
This story was originally published June 15, 2021 at 2:50 PM.
