At the end of the day, I am sure that Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Drew Allar would rather win a national championship than to be named to an All-American or an all-conference team. Allar has the potential to be a first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. To me, he is a better version of J.J. McCarthy, but is a bit too erratic to be QB1 on anyone's board. It plays a part in why he is so often overlooked.
While I did not reasonably expect to see him on either the first or second team, Walter Camp completely disrespected Allar and a slew of other quarterbacks by naming Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt to the second team over him. Cade Klubnik out of Clemson is totally justifiable, but Allar in is a group of a handful of quarterbacks I would take over Leavitt at this stage of the offseason.
In time, I could be proven so wrong. Again, I do like Leavitt a whole lot as a quarterback and as a future NFL prospect, but we need to slow down with him just a bit. You would have thought his hype train was getting out of control like Arch Manning's is over at Texas... Could you imagine how much uproar there would have been had he made either the first or second team? Thankfully, that did not happen.
As for Allar, he has a chance to go in the first round like Kerry Collins and Todd Blackledge once did.
Drew Allar can play the nobody believes in him card all offseason long
Admittedly, I think where Allar lands to begin his NFL career matters a ton. He is cut from the same cloth at McCarthy and Zach Wilson. One busted hard, while the other is more popular than Kevin Garnett or Kirby Puckett ever were in the Twin Cities. Allar is physically gifted, but I do not feel his blue-chipped nature offers as much pedigree as Klubnik's. As for Leavitt, he played with more pizzaz.
What does pizzaz get you in college football? It ends up having you join the likes of Seneca Wallace, Collin Klein and other dudes we remember from yesteryear. I look at the opportunity ahead of Allar and if he cannot make the most of it, then we have every right to pour it hard on him and downgrade him as such ... just not right now. Penn State is my pick to win the College Football Playoff right now.
Then again, as is the case with Penn State, I will likely end up being disappointed in Allar in the end. Maybe it was totally fair not to have him on either Walter Camp All-American team for the preseason? Regardless, if his mental makeup is good and he gets total buy-in from his teammates, he can become a legend in Happy Valley. He has the team, but must keep the car on the road for The Driver.
For as much promise as he has, Allar continues to be the most disrespected college quarterback.