What will it take for Drew Allar to start at QB? That and more in the Penn State mailbag
Our first mailbag of the season is officially here and we have the answers to your questions. As a reminder, if you have any questions send them to psu_mailbag@centredaily.com for inclusion in the mailbag in the future. From big picture to small minutiae, we’ll answer your queries about the Penn State football program.
How big of a role are you expecting Mitchell Tinsley to have in the offense after seeing him in the first game? —Josh D.
I’ll go on the record here and say Tinsley is going to be the star of the Nittany Lion offense this season. He showed the type of talent that it takes to carry an offense by himself, assuming his quarterback can get him the ball.
Tinsley created separation with more ease than I anticipated against Purdue, largely because his game speed seems to have taken a step forward from last season. He’s already an excellent route runner who has the nuances of the position down pat, but his ability to win with athleticism now adds another dimension to his game.
He’s strong in the open field and has the catch radius/hand strength combination that allows him to bring in passes that aren’t necessarily on target. Tinsley reminds me of former Penn State receiver Chris Godwin — and I expect him to make his way into the conversation about day two of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Keyvone Lee, Nick Singleton, and Kaytron Allen all had almost the same amount of carries (9,9,8 respectfully) with relatively similar success. With the state of our running game these last few seasons, is there a reason or strategy for not committing to a feature back? In my opinion all these guys are extremely talented, but without the consistency of touches, aren’t we setting up all three backs for failure (or at least lackluster outings)? I guess my question would be what does one of these guys have to do to become THE guy? — Wes D.
Some of the reasoning here is definitely to keep all four (but really three) backs fresh throughout the season. Penn State pitches recruits on keeping their carries down in college so when they make it to the NFL, they can reach their second contract.
I don’t believe it’s necessarily setting the backs up to fail. There is a level of rhythm that comes with running the ball, but being fresh for the fourth quarter is more important as long as there isn’t a steep drop from one player to the next.
I don’t know that there will ever be one feature back that gets 100% of the snaps as long as James Franklin is the team’s head coach, but I do think there’s a window for a back to take control like Saquon Barkley and Miles Sanders have in the past. Frankly, the backs haven’t been good enough to earn that distinction since they left, with the exception of Journey Brown who was forced to medically retire.
That isn’t the case this season, specifically with Singleton and Allen. Both have been mentioned as standout performers throughout camp and I think it’s perfectly reasonable for them to take over the majority of the team’s backfield touches by the end of the year. That being said, since both are so talented, it’s hard to envision either pulling away from the other to take the job on their own. If Singleton was on the team, but Allen wasn’t I would bet on him being the feature back by November, and vice versa.
What will it take for Penn State to bench Sean Clifford for Drew Allar? — multiple readers
I have a feeling this won’t be the last time this comes up. The brief answer seems to be a lot, but I also don’t think it will take as much as it would have in the past for the backup to take over. Allar was impressive in his one drive of action against Purdue and looks like he can be a legitimate elite quarterback — the type of player that can make an offense one of the best in the country.
That being said, Franklin has always been loyal to veteran players and long-time starters. Well, Sean Clifford is in his sixth year on campus and fourth as a starter. That sure seems like the type of player the head coach would have a hard time benching. To his credit, Clifford played well on the team’s game-winning drive against the Boilermakers. However, that doesn’t make up for the mistakes he made earlier in the game.
I don’t think it’s unfair to say Allar is almost as good as Clifford already — if not better — and if that’s the case then it shouldn’t take long for him to take over. But will the team make that decision? The best guess is that it won’t happen until Penn State loses multiple games — if it happens at all.
