Penn State quarterback Drew Allar is happy with the strides he has been taking off the field in the weight room the past year, he told StateCollege.com on Thursday morning.
“I feel 10 times better than where I was last year,” Allar said. “Coach Losey has done an amazing job and the strength staff as a whole has done a really good job with everybody in the program. When I came in I feel like I was kind of playing catch-up in terms of, like, just actual lifting and conditioning. I feel like I’ve put in the extra work [with the strength staff]. I’m like 240-pounds right now but I’m moving a lot better and am more fluid than what I was at 225. I’m still working on a lot of things like how I eat. I think the nutrition staff has done a phenomenal job with just providing me with, and the whole team with, resources and education on how we should be eating and what why we should be eating a certain way. And I think that …it’s helped me a ton because I feel a lot better just from a movement standpoint, and physically I feel a lot better.”
At 240 pounds, Allar comes in 28 pounds heavier than his predecessor Sean Clifford’s last listed weight at 212 but also boasts a larger frame in the first place, about two inches taller than Clifford and generally broader.
The physical development of Allar will be an interesting story to track over the course of his career as he tries to pair the required mobility of quarterbacks in college football and the size and strength he already possesses. Penn State’s backup quarterback has had to take meaningful snaps due to injury (or illness) every season since 2018, so keeping Allar on the field is as important as his play while he’s on it. For strength coach Chuck Losey, in his second year in the head role, Allar is also his first major profile Day 1 project following in the footsteps of longtime strength guru Dwight Galt.
Fortunately for Penn State, Allar is already feeling like those gains in the weight room have contributed to both his abilities with the ball and his abilities to take hits with, or without it.
“I think from a durability standpoint, it definitely helps. Coach Franklin always talks about your best ability is your availability. And I think that’s huge for quarterbacks,” Allar added. “I think just from that standpoint of durability that it has helped me a ton and I think just overall getting like stronger and faster and my lower half has really helped me a ton. I think that really helped me just kind of have success on the field even last year, just breaking a couple tackles that maybe I wouldn’t have broken without the strength and conditioning program we had when I first got here. I don’t think I would have made some of the plays that I made during the season when I first got here. [As for passing] I’m a rotational thrower, so having a really strong core and a really strong base and lower half has really helped me just add velocity onto the ball and a little bit of distance too.”
As for Allar’s counterpart and fellow sophomore Beau Pribula, he has also reaped the benefits of another year in the weight room. In many respects his health is as important as Allar’s, Penn State boasting just three quarterbacks on the entire roster makes the health of each a crucial aspect of stability in the quarterback room. The Nittany Lions have had the luxury of a competent backup quarterback, and the curse of not having one, both in the span of the last five years. So keeping Pribula healthy is no less important.
“My body feels really good,” Pribula. “It feels right where I should be. I’ve been working really hard in the weight room and also just trying to get faster and really be the best athlete I can possibly be. I just really want to be a great athlete for this team. I think the work I’ve put in now has really helped in these winter workouts. Looking back to last year is really night and day … I feel like I’m way farther than I thought I would be [and that’s a credit to the strength staff].”
A good sign for all parties.
