James Franklin updates Penn State's backup quarterback competition

With Drew Allar as the starter, Penn State has four quarterbacks behind him to set the rest of the position’s depth chart. The Nittany Lions are closing in on doing so, too, with a decision close on their backup between Jaxon Smolik and Ethan Grunkemeyer.

James Franklin shared the latest on where Penn State’s backup quarterback competition stands with the media earlier this week at fall camp, with their opener being eight days out now. He said Penn State nearly made that choice last week, but since they didn’t, one should officially be coming soon.

“We’re close to making a decision. We haven’t sat down and talked to those guys yet,” Franklin said. “You know, probably a week ago, we were close, you know, to making a decision, and then held off because we had a couple of inconsistent practices. But, we’re close to making that decision.”

Franklin actually said the snaps at practice have started to kind of reflect who his team’s backup quarterback is going to be, especially with the season now right at a week from kickoff. BlueWhiteIllustrated has hinted at who it is based on intel on Smolik and Grunkemeyer. However, that isn’t an official call made yet as for the Nittany Lions’ QB2.

“The guy that we feel like is in the lead right now, we’ve started to adjust those reps,” Franklin said. “But not to the point where the decision has been made.”

Smolik is a former Top 40 QB signee and three-star recruit from back in the 2023 recruiting cycle. He appeared in one game as a true freshman and then didn’t play last season as a redshirt freshman due to injury.

Grunkemeyer is a former Top 10 QB signee who was a four-star prospect in the 2024 recruiting cycle. He redshirted as well after last season, where, as a true freshman, he appeared in the 38-10 win in the playoff over SMU, being the backup at that point following the transfer of Beau Pribula, and completed one of his two passes for nine yards and an interception.

With game week upon them, one of these reserve quarterbacks has a slight edge in reps to be the backup for Penn State. Still, Franklin, who always expected this “to go right down to the wire”, hasn’t made that call yet with either Smolik or Grunkemeyer – but soon will, though, entering the final weekend of the preseason.