Next Tuesday, Penn State will begin their 2024 spring practice schedule which will culminate on April 13 at Beaver Stadium in the program's annual Blue-White Spring Game.
To prepare for spring practices, Happy Valley Insider will take a position-by-position look at the Nittany Lions heading into the first few practices of the spring, starting today with the quarterback position.
In 2023, Penn State had a new full-time starting quarterback since 2018 as Drew Allar took over the reins of the Nittany Lions' offense following the departure of Sean Clifford to the NFL.
As a result, there were some notable highs for Drew Allar and the passing offense but there were plenty of lows as well as the Nittany Lions' offense averaged just 215 passing yards per game. All in all, the Nittany Lions' passing offense in 2023 was "uninspiring".
After an up-and-down first nine games of the season, Penn State's 24-15 loss to Michigan on November 11 in which Drew Allar completed just 10-of-23 passing attempts for 70 yards and one touchdown proved to be a final straw. Just a day later, Penn State head coach James Franklin made the move to fire offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Yurcich.
In December, Franklin would tab former Kansas offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki to take over the Nittany Lions' offense. But Kotelnicki will not be serving as the program's quarterbacks coach.
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Danny O'Brien, a rising star in the profession is now the Nittany Lions' quarterbacks coach. The former Maryland quarterback has served as a graduate assistant for the program over the last few years but has made a name for himself quickly.
Kotelnicki and Franklin are both expected to be involved as well when it comes to the quarterbacks though a majority of the responsibilities will fall on the shoulders of O"Brien.
Projected Starter: Drew Allar
All eyes will be on Drew Allar this spring. His first season as the Nittany Lions' starting quarterback did not necessarily go as expected. The rising junior had his fair share of ups-and-downs in 2023 and the final stat line while not bad was by no means eye popping.
The Medina, Ohio native completed 59.9% of his passes for 2,631 yards and 25 touchdowns. Though he impressively did only throw two interceptions throughout his 13 games played.
Despite the very good turnover-to-interception ratio, what often stood out more during the 2023 season was the lack of explosion in the Nittany Lions' passing attack.
While he didn't necessarily have a wide receiver room of weapons at his disposal, some of the Nittany Lions' struggles in the passing game were a result of missed opportunities, poor reads, and poor decision making from Allar as well.
The development of Allar this spring will be the biggest storyline to watch and it will continue to be so throughout fall camp and into the season as well. There's no doubt that the former high four-star prospect has all the tools to be an elite quarterback but he'll need to take a big step forward in 2024 if the Nittany Lions hope to achieve their lofty goals.
Second String: Beau Pribula
When on the field in 2023, no one could argue that the Nittany Lions offense didn't have a spark. The York, Pennsylvania native provided the Penn State offense with a dual-threat dynamic that Drew Allar just couldn't match and the additional aspect of the offense, opened up things a bit more for the offense as a whole. That being said, Pribula still has plenty of development to go as a passer. In 2023, he completed 11-of-21 passing attempts for 149 yards and four touchdowns. He also had 56 carries for 329 yards and six touchdowns.
Third String: Jaxon Smolik
While Smolik only saw the field briefly this past fall, the 2023 signee out of Iowa impressed those around the program in his first year on campus. Entering 2024, Smolik will once again play a depth role for the Nittany Lions with Drew Allar and Beau Pribula seemingly locked into the top two spots.
Fourth String: Ethan Grunkemeyer
The 2024 four-star signee enrolled on campus in January which is always a huge benefit for any true freshman but especially quarterbacks. There's a lot of hope and excitement around what Grunkemeyer could develop into at Penn State but in 2024, he's unlikely to see the field but don't be surprised if Grunkemeyer's name is brought up often by James Franklin this spring and next fall as young players who are impressing in practice. If his development goes smoothly, he could make a strong push for the starting job following Drew Allar's eventual departure.
Additional Depth:
Also on the depth chart for Penn State is a pair of walk-on quarterbacks in Karson Kiesewtter and Jack Lambert who will both be entering their redshirt freshman season in 2024.
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