Penn State is well on track to put forward a seamless performance this season. And at the center of it all is its star QB1, Drew Allar. Touted as a round 1 pick as he gears up for his senior season, Allar sure is looking every bit the part. The Nittany Lions will have a new look this year, and so will the QB. Allar had some issues from 2024 to improve, which he has already put in the work. Along with that, he’s also building himself up to improve his odds for a life beyond Happy Valley.

Drew Allar arrived at Penn State as an extremely flashy recruit after quite some time. Over his 3 years at Happy Valley, Allar has shown immense promise. He still needs a little more fine-tuning in areas like pocket pressure, where he tends to lack accuracy. The run game, too, needs some attention. For his last dance with PSU football, Allar is locked in on emerging as a finer QB1 this season. Simply put, the change in him is evident, as he debuts a noticeably different physique in the offseason. Last season, he weighed 238lbs. Now, he’s estimated to stand at 230lbs.

Penn State insider Nate Bauer gave fans an insight into Allar’s physical development. “He just looks jacked. He just looks really, really huge, but lean,” he said in a Jun 17 episode of Blue White Illustrated. Allar’s current look reminded Bauer of Sylvester Stallone in Rocky IV. “It’s that, [but] without the injectables,” he remarked. If the comparisons go that high, Allar must be looking like a man with a plan this season. “The level of detail given to nutrition and sleep and all of those things, it’s legitimate. And it’s certainly something that’s happening with him this offseason and seems to be taking well to it,” Bauer added.

The dip in weight continues from his freshman season, when he was recorded at 242 lbs. However, right from winter practices, Allar has built muscle. By spring, the results of his regimen began to show. Host Thomas Frank Carr said that this development will play an important role for Allar, because he is on the threshold of his pro career. “This is a part of the growing-up process. Because these guys are now, you know, Drew Allar is a senior, he’s got to get ready for having a job in the future. And his job requires this. So he’s getting into the practice, habits of having good diet nutrition, all those things.”

The wait for Drew Allar to hit the draft and go big will not be long. He could have declared last year and still have found a respectable team. Allar is coming back this year to close his collegiate career, with an extremely minimal room for error. And to do that, the star QB has a plan in place.

Drew Allar is ready to thwart opponents with a game-winning weapon

Last year, Drew Allar led Penn State to the playoffs for the second time in his career. Not many quarterbacks shared that feat with him that season. However, the 13-game winning streak came to a brutal end in the semifinals against Notre Dame. Allar’s costly, costly throw, that was interrupted by Notre Dame’s Christian Gray at the Penn State 42-yard line, ended his glorious season right there. And fans unleashed their fury on the QB. Now, however, Allar seems to have bolstered up on a key area of his game that needed attention.

Allar’s long-time QB coach Brad Maendler told 247Sports, “I think his biggest on-field area of improvement is just his ability to extend plays, right? So, part of that’s just comfort level, really understanding the playbook, that ability to move and slide in the pockets and keep your cool, and so just improved mobility means that should get even better, right? And I think that’s such a secret weapon of his. Everybody kind of talks about the arm and those kinds of things.” Allar used to display some improvisation at times of pressure. Now, Allar has learnt how to reel in control of those situations.

“His ability to extend plays is, I think, one of the best in the country… I’m pretty bullish on what that could look like this year,” Maendler repeated. Allar began the cleanup in 2024 itself. He became more than just a QB with a good arm and great size. He began to escape pressures better, and broken plays tended to go on for longer. He looked significantly better than his 2023 version from last year. 3327 yards, 24 TDS, and a completion percentage of 66.5%: they’re enough proof that Allar was already on the mend.

Few starting quarterbacks in 2025 come with an experience like that of Drew Allar. This will be his 3 season as a starter, and is looking to dust off the remaining flaws in him before the 2026 draft. The odds of him stunning the crowds this year are high, and he’s looking like a QB1 who can inflict some serious damage on his opponents. James Franklin, once again, has a great shot at finally being able to lift the National Championship.