Penn State award watch list rundown: Drew Allar is a preseason candidate for the nation's top QB honor

Penn State quarterback Drew Allar has tied teammate Nicholas Singleton for the most preseason award watch list nods ahead of the 2025 season. The senior passer made his third rundown of preseason candidates for major college football honors on Thursday. He is now in the running for the Davey O’Brien award. It goes to the nation’s top quarterback.

Only two Nittany Lions have won the Davey O’Brien award. Todd Blackledge won it in 1982. And, Kerry Collins claimed it in 1994. While other former players have surely ended up on both the preseason watch list for the honor and even in the running for it during the season, Allar has by far the best chance to win it since the two who did, even if he won’t be the favorite to do so behind the likes of Garrett Nussmeier of LSU, Arch Manning of Texas, and Cade Klubnik of Clemson.

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I want him to win a Big Ten championship,” Lions coach James Franklin told the Big Ten Network when asked about Allar on Tuesday. “I want him to have a chance to win at the very highest level in college football, national championship, and then be a top 10 pick, all those things combined, and even the first pick, right? And we talk about it all the time: With team success comes individual recognition. But to your point, I think last year, he changed his body significantly, which allowed him to be more athletic. Extend plays, [and] make them big time throws.

“So it’s not really, like, one glaring area that I feel like he needs to get better. It’s just continually growing in every area. And they’re now, they’re smaller steps, but they still add up and they matter. So from a leadership standpoint, from a body composition standpoint, from an athleticism standpoint, from an accuracy standpoint, from a decision making standpoint, and then also year two in the offense for a quarterback, that’s probably the most significant thing.”

Nittany Lion award watch list rundown

Here’s the full list of award watch list honorees as of Aug. 7. Allar and Singleton are tied with three a piece.

Drew Allar – Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, Davey O’Brien award

Kaytron Allen – Maxwell Award, Doak Walker Award

Cooper Cousins – Wuerffel Trophy

Zane Durant – Outland Trophy, Bronco Nagurski Trophy

Tyler Duzansky – Mannelly Award

A.J. Harris – Lott IMPACT Trophy, Bronco Nagurski Trophy

Vega Ioane – Outland Trophy

Trebor Pena – Paul Hornung Award, Biletnikoff Award

Devonte Ross – Biletnikoff Award

Nicholas Singleton – Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, Doak Walker Award