James Franklin addresses possibility of playing multiple quarterbacks

As Penn State gears up for spring practice, it does so knowing full well it will have the option of playing multiple quarterbacks.

Sean Clifford is out of eligibility, which ostensibly clears the way for talented second-year player Drew Allar taking over. That’s not a given, though, and there are several ways Penn State could split its quarterback snaps next season. This spring is about learning how.

“This spring is just to get those guys as many reps as we possibly can to be able to evaluate them, to create a competition and to also create depth,” coach James Franklin said. “I do think if you look at last year, we had a very specific plan to get Drew as many reps as we possibly could to build that depth and to build that experience so if we needed him he was ready but also to help us this year moving forward.”

Allar is the heir apparent, appearing in 10 games last season and going 35-of-60 passing for 344 yards and four touchdowns, while also rushing for 52 yards.

His counterpart in the backfield this spring, Beau Pribula, offers the Nittany Lions a running threat. That’s an element that Franklin can play around with this spring.

Penn State playing multiple quarterbacks?

Whether we end up seeing Penn State playing multiple quarterbacks next fall may ultimately depend on hos things go this spring.

There are two competing factors at play: 1) Penn State wanting to have a pure quarterback competition play out to make sure the best guy is starting, and 2) seeing whether Pribula can offer some upside as a runner without disrupting Allar.

“This year’s a little bit different because we’re back to kind of having a true competition again,” Franklin said. “Then not only the true competition, to somewhat answer your question, Beau has got some athletic traits that are desirable and maybe make sense for us to use if they give us the best chance to win. But before practice has started it’s hard to say that. We’ll see how it plays out.

“I do think there’s a little bit different dynamic based on I would say Sean and Drew’s skillsets were probably more similar. They were different, but they were probably more similar where I think maybe the differences between Drew and Beau may be a little bit more dramatic in terms of their skillsets.”