STATE COLLEGE, PA. — Former Penn State quarterback Drew Allar might have become the forgotten man in this year’s draft class after a fractured ankle cut his final college season short.
But Allar’s road back to full health appears to be going well. He’s been fully cleared for physical activity for seven weeks and said he feels like he “could have played a game two weeks ago.”
Allar was able to fully participate in the passing workout at the NFL combine. On Wednesday, he threw to five Penn State teammates in a scripted pro day workout with NFL scouts and position coaches in attendance.
“Just showing teams what I can do, kind of showcasing a lot of different things you see on Sundays,” Allar said Wednesday. “So we did a lot of play action, under-center stuff, just trying to layer some throws and drive the ball. Really fun to be back with the guys here, and I’m really proud of everything with the pro day.”
At 6 feet 5 inches, 228 pounds, Allar looks the part. He showed off his arm strength in his college career and again in Wednesday’s workout, with only one of his deep passes missing its mark. During his scripted pro day workout, Allar was unofficially 49-of-55 passing, with four of the incompletions coming on drops.
The Athletic’s Dane Brugler projects Allar as a fourth-round pick with a chance to become a third-rounder, depending on how teams view the quarterback class and how they view Allar’s ceiling.
“Just taking it week by week with these visits and interviews and then the chips can fall where they may,” Allar said. “I don’t know what round or what pick or what team I’m going to. I just hope for the opportunity to go into a good situation and just compete, work to make myself better and hopefully contribute to winning.”
Allar completed 66.5 percent of his passes while throwing for 3,327 yards and 24 touchdowns in his junior season in 2024. He’s been on the NFL radar for multiple seasons and briefly considered entering last year’s draft before returning to a Penn State team that had College Football Playoff aspirations.
The team faltered, Allar was injured and coach James Franklin was fired amid an October losing streak.
Over his sophomore and junior seasons, Allar threw 49 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions. Though he struggled in some of Penn State’s biggest games, he’s hoping to use this pre-draft period to show NFL teams that he’s worth further development and has been working to address some of his inconsistencies.
Allar said he’s been training with “no limitations” since early February and has not worried about the ankle as he’s returned to full activity. Allar did not share details but said he has some private workouts scheduled and will take “a handful” of formal visits to team facilities over the next several weeks.
He’s been talking with NFL teams via Zoom meetings this month and returned to State College a week ago to begin preparing for his pro day.
“I’m a competitor,” Allar said. “Whenever there’s a chance to throw, I’m gonna throw. I’d do it seven days a week, and I’ve always been wired like that. Just trying to show off my work ethic through this whole rehab process.
“Obviously, there’s nothing ideal about what happened last year, but I took it as an opportunity to grow and make myself a better player both athletically and mechanically.”
