Scouting Drew Allar: Why the Penn State Quarterback Reminds Me of a Young Joe Flacco

Welcome back to The McShay Report! Today, we’re continuing our Summer Scouting Series with Penn State’s Drew Allar, who is one of the most complex prospects I’ve evaluated over the past few years.

If you’re a new subscriber or haven’t read my scouting reports before, make sure to check out the rest of my notes—including tape breakdowns of Arch Manning, Garrett Nussmeier, and LaNorris Sellers—here.

On Thursday, we’ll be diving into the tape of Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, and next week we’ll wrap our quarterback tape study with Oklahoma’s John Mateer. If you have any questions about my process or are curious about what goes into scouting a quarterback, feel free to reply to this email and we’ll do our best to answer your questions in subsequent newsletters or shows.

Drew Allar Scouting Report

Allar played sparingly as a backup in 2022 (60 pass attempts). He took over as a full-time starter in 2023 and completed 59.9 percent of his throws, with 25 touchdowns and two interceptions. He improved greatly in his second season as a starter in 2024, completing 66.5 percent (262 of 394), with 24 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He’s listed at 6-foot-5 and 238 pounds.

Players are graded on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being best.

Mental Makeup (1.5)

• Tall and stands tall in the pocket. Sees the entire field with ease and shows the ability to make full-field reads.

• Fast eyes. Goes through progressions quickly and is decisive as a pocket passer.

• Good feel for reading defenses and understanding concepts. Knows where to go with the football versus varying zone looks and trusts his eyes.

• Protects the football effectively (just eight interceptions and three fumbles in 16 starts in 2024). Doesn’t make many critical errors and generally avoids low-percentage throws.

Accuracy (3)

• Allar can be deadly accurate from the pocket to a target that is facing him, coming back to him, or cutting/crossing horizontally. He stands tall in the pocket, sees the entire field, has a beautifully smooth stroke, and drives the ball through any conditions.

• He can throw with anticipation and hit spots between, over, under, and around defenders on those types of throws. He’s especially accurate on in-cutting routes and crossers. Love his confidence and anticipation in those moments.

• For a guy with a 105-mph fastball, I’m impressed with how natural layering the football comes to him. He knows when to layer it over defenders and how to lead receivers to an open spot in zone. IT ALL APPEARS TO BE NATURAL TO HIM, which isn’t always the case with these big-armed guys.

• However, his accuracy drops off a cliff when he’s throwing on the move—both to his right and to his left. As a long-levered guy, he also struggles when forced to improvise at the last second. He can look pretty clunky in moments when he needs to make a fast-reaction athletic move.

• He’s also not nearly as consistent when his targets are running away from him. This isn’t something that usually shows up on tape as clearly when studying QBs. But if you really break down his throws, he is not nearly as effective as he needs to be when forced to LEAD A TARGET THAT IS MOVING AWAY FROM HIM. Sometimes it shows up on easy throws like flat routes, while other times it’s on deep seam routes or vertical rail shots.

• Allar also likes to give the ball a little extra pat before getting it out as he’s waiting to see the angle his WR is taking out of his break.

***He just needs to see it a quarter count longer to trust it. That’s a habit that MUST be broken.

Release/Arm Strength (1)

• Beautifully smooth stroke, and there’s a ton of energy on his ball.

• Ball jumps off his hand. Generates a lot of velocity on throws when he needs to. He has zero trouble driving it vertically. The ball cuts through conditions (wind, rain, etc.).

• A lot of energy at the end of throws when drilling it to the sideline but also knows how to layer it with touch.

Pocket Mobility (4)

• Good instincts in the pocket to sense pressure. Decisive and damn competitive when it comes to tucking the ball to run. He’s tough and strong and flashes an effective stiff-arm. Also smart about his running; picks his spots wisely.

• However, while not a complete statue by any stretch, he will struggle to evade pressure in the NFL. He’s not sudden, nor does he show burst as a runner. There’s no make-you-miss in his game when he takes off running. Zero threat on designed runs or in the RPO game.

• He’s also significantly less effective throwing the ball when on the run, especially to his left.

Preseason Prospect Status

Let’s start with the positives—and there are a bunch. He’s big, smart, tough, strong, and competitive. He sees the whole field (and does so with fast eyes when going through progressions), and he’s instinctive in the pocket. Allar has an easy stroke and gets tons of energy on the football. While he’s neither sudden nor fast, he is a tough and strong runner who will tuck the ball and run for occasional first downs.

With all of that said, Allar is a complicated study because I keep asking myself the same questions about how “correctable” the weaknesses are in his game.

Let’s get the easy-to-explain portion out of the way first. He’s simply not very agile or sudden as an athlete, so while he’s adept at sliding/climbing away from pressure and making some tough runs for first downs in college, he will struggle to extend plays with the same regularity in the NFL if his foot agility does not improve.

Then there are the more nuanced portions of his evaluation that I’ll lay out here:

On platform with his feet right, Allar can be a deadly accurate thrower of the football. But when forced off the spot—and particularly throwing on the run—his ball placement drastically declines. I want to see improvements in his short-area agility and his ability to tie his feet to his eyes more consistently. But that doesn’t happen overnight, and there’s no guarantee that his accuracy on the move will improve even if his foot agility does.

Here’s the other interesting part of his evaluation: Allar is not nearly as accurate throwing to targets running vertically away from him as he is when receivers are facing him, coming back to him, crossing in front of him, or making horizontal cuts. It’s fascinating because it’s a bit unusual. But it’s an inarguable trend—and something that needs to be improved upon in his final year at Penn State.

And finally, he has a bad habit of buying himself a quarter count (by patting the ball an extra time) before pulling the trigger. He does so when he’s looking for the WR to declare his angle out of his break. Much like the issue with “throwing to targets running vertically away from him,” this appears to be a “visualizing” obstacle that Allar will need to overcome.

There are a lot of NFL starter traits here. And another strong season at Penn State in 2025 will almost certainly land Allar a spot in the top five or 10 picks of next year’s draft. But what I’m most intrigued to see from him this fall is his agility (to evade pressure and improve his accuracy throwing on the move) and whether he’s improved his accuracy on throws that require visualization.

As far as his mobility and pocket presence, Allar is instinctive in the pocket. He tucks and runs for first downs, and he’s a tough/strong runner. However, he lacks suddenness in the pocket and speed/shiftiness in space. Continuing to improve his foot agility will be important both to extend plays and to throw more accurately on the move.

NFL Comp: Joe Flacco, Browns

From the Scouting Notebook: A bonus inside look at some of the stream-of-consciousness notes I took while watching Allar’s film. (These are intentionally unedited!)

West Virginia

13:21 2Q: Off target on anticipation throw along LT sideline.

13:05 2Q: Tucks ball and runs when initial read breaks down. Picks up 15 yards. Upright runner with no wiggle in space, but decisive and showed quickness in pocket with quick-cut and go.

12:37 2Q: Wobbly ball but better placement on anticipation throw to RT sideline (17-yd out).

5:49 2Q: Really good anticipation and read (CB starting to bail, ball out!) on 10yd out to his LT. But ball placement is off again on LT perimeter throw. PATTERN TO MONITOR? ***But also could have been miscommunication w/ WR, who could have broken off route sharper with CB bailing early??? Just keep an eye on it.

0:10 2Q: Excellent touch and placement on B-S fade LT EZ for 18-yd TD. ***AND with time running out before half!

 14:14 3Q: Really like his decisiveness and WHEN he chooses to run. But feet are sluggish.

***SIDE NOTE: WVU camera crew is maddening. Too many plays with no scoreboard or tight copy!

 

Illinois

9:36 1Q: Stands tall, fast eyes. Identifies WR on crosser and DELIVERS the ball to a spot with CONFIDENCE. Just a 13-yard crosser, but he drills it (in a small triangle window between three defenders) with energy and confidence. This is Allar at his best.

8:15 1Q: Rolling RT, off target on easy throw. He just struggles with accuracy on move.

1:53 1Q: Climbs himself into a sack in the pocket. Unnecessary climb. Sit tight.

5:07 2Q: Behind WR on simple seam route. Gets his WR’s back sawed off. DA seems to like targets facing him and coming back to him, not running away??? MONITOR.

5:04 2Q: Bootleg RT, easy throw to flat, misses high. BAD MISS on third-and-6!

:44 2Q: BUT … from the pocket and with target coming back to him, DA drills a perfectly placed 15-12 comeback!!!

UCLA

5:05 1Q: Steps up (good instincts) vs. outside pressure. But doesn’t have foot quicks to extend right. Caught from behind by pass rusher.

12:57 2Q: Drills skinny post (middle field) on a rope with juice 30 yds in air. Easy stroke with lots of energy on ball—and perfect placement behind LB and in front of DS. Third-and-11 strike for 1st down.

 2:00 2Q: Love this throw on seam route! Drills it to WR2 versus zone with three defenders around him.

10:30 4Q: Deep ball down right hash. 50 yards in air (very easy stroke, no strain). Doesn’t overthrow it on purpose. WR has DB on hit. Probably could have led him a few more yards but this gives WR easy opportunity to make play on ball.

USC

6:54 1Q: Forced to roll right. Can’t get feet set, misses on curl.

2:35 1Q: INT (poor read). Has had a lot of success on this concept, so trusts his read. Eyes start left, then back to right side. It all happens fast … DA sees LB with curl/flat responsibility start to widen out. Thinks he can sneak it back inside of the LB, but the LB reads it perfectly and gets back to make INT. DA will learn from this!

3:12 2Q: Drop. But beautiful fade route to back RT corner of EZ (drops it in from 16 yl).

15:00 3Q: Nice job coming back to middle of field with EYES. Locates TE44 and drills the in-cutting route. ***Ball just jumps off his hand.

7:35 3Q: Even a simple seam route to a massive target TE44 can be trickier at times for DA. TE44 makes the catch but has to climb the ladder (at 6’5” to begin with) to reel it in. It’s just interesting how these throws (with targets running away from him) are more challenging than the rest of the throws for DA.

3:55 4Q: Rolling RT. Ball is a tick late and behind the WR. Should’ve been picked off.

Wisconsin

9:53 1Q: Rolling RT. Misses within strike zone but still one of better throws on the move (to an in-cutting route 15 yds downfield).

14:47 2Q: Really nice touch dropping ball in on slot-fade (from the 5 yl).

 1:23 2Q: Drills 15 yd out RT. Ball out before break w/ perfect placement.

***LEAVES GM W/ LT LEG INJ. Does not return.

Ohio State

:26 2Q: Time running out before half. Nothing open. Instinctively tucks and runs to his RT side, where there’s more real estate. Shows some scoot for him. Nice slide to clock run off.

:16 2Q: Nice touch throw down RT sideline. Leads WR back inside but drops it in before safety. Perfect throws for that situation and with time running out before half. Completes it down to the 3.

***INT on next play was just a ridiculous play by the CB on a ball that was placed in his WR’s hands!

9:47 3Q: Nice feel for pressure. No panic. Climbs, slides, hits wide open target on in-breaker 15 yards downfield.

1:16 3Q: Slight hesitation in pocket. Not agile enough to run free from sack.

Washington

1:53 2Q: One of his better ball placements when throwing . Rolling RT, hits WR along sideline. Perfectly spotted over the OOB line, where only WR could make play on ball.

7:25 3Q: 17-yard in-breaker into a TIGHT window. Great ball on a 3rd down.

Minnesota

12:56 1Q: Really nice throw on wheel to TE44 down LT sideline

8:10 1Q: Off target on 15-yd out to the sticks on third-and-16. Ball out on time, but placement? Or was it WR not making proper break? Tough to tell on occasion with these WR??

1:26 2Q: Off target on 10-yd out route on third-and-6. This time to right side. And this time it’s definitely on him. Just off target OOB.

7:30 3Q: Short boot RT to throwback Sail route LT corner. Feet not set and overthrows WIDE OPEN WR (combo of feet and leading WR running away from him … same pattern).

Oregon

2:54 1Q: Nice job with feet not set of drilling in-cutting route for 1st dn on 3rd-and-15.

10:22 2Q: Misses easy dump-off to RB (running away from him) in flat.

10:18 2Q: Critical error. Even if it wasn’t the right break from the WR (or if he was late), it feels like DA is pressing here (down 21-10 backed up in shadow of EZ). Good job going through progressions but take off running and set up easier 3rd down opportunity. Instead, INT returned to the 1!

7:15 2Q: Nice job locating vulnerability in ORE zone. Hits WR5 on seam route in EZ for 6.

***Shows a lot of competitive GRIT! Scrambling, running, and continuing to FIGHT in this game.

3:47 4Q: Climbs, defender hanging from jersey, locates WR and drills a strike for TD between two defenders. Big time play in this moment!!!

 
SMU

3:40 1Q: Misses on simple out-route LT. Just off target.

 2:20 1Q: Misses on dump-off when rolling LT. See too many of these when he’s throwing on run and target is moving AWAY from him.

7:36 2Q: Misses badly on an in-cutting intermediate throw he almost always hit. Difference here is SMU has him uncomfortable in the pocket (lot of pressure in first QTR and a half—and DA’s feet are not settled). ***NOTE THIS VS. PRESSURE STUFF TO STUDY IN 25.

Boise State

6:47 1Q: Could have hit TE44 earlier but nice touch pass to back RT corner for TD.

3:40 1Q: Nice 55-yd (in air) deep ball. Slightly underthrows but not much room back of EZ, so the safer throw. TD.

14:02 3Q: Rolling LT, trying to quickly stop/redirect/throw—just not what he does well. Ball way off target.

 
Notre Dame

4:43 1Q: Misses wildly on dump-off in flat. Pressure bearing down on him but he needs to improve on these layups.

4:04 1Q: Early jitters? Misses a wheel to TE44 with no pressure. Makes that throw a lot.

:51 1Q: Overthrows RB10 in EZ. Required touch and just overthrows it in back LT corner.

15:00 2Q: Underthrows RB in flat (and behind him). Would have been easy TD. Settle for FG.

9:35 2Q: Overthrows RB10 on wheel route down RT sideline.

14:07 4Q: Nice job layering ball to TE44 on crosser.

9:45 4Q: Overthrows WR on shallow cross. Easy change but missed it because feet weren’t set.

 9:33 4Q: Tough run on third-and-6 to continue drive.

4Q: Underthrows TE44 on a cross-and-go. There were two defenders trailing TE44 but TE44 had a step on both—it would have been a TD if DA led TE44 properly. Kills a productive drive trailing by 7 points in Q4 of CFP semi.

:37 4Q (TIED 24-24): INT—gets hit while throwing off target in front of WR on in-cutting route RT side.