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James Franklin addresses spring practice plans for Penn State’s QB competition
By Paul Harvey
Published:
James Franklin and Penn State are in the process of moving on without Sean Clifford as the starting quarterback for the Nittany Lions. While the expectation is that former 5-star prospect Drew Allar will be the starter next season, Franklin addressed his plans for the spring on Tuesday.
The focus for many fans might be on Allar, but Franklin announced the repetitions will be split evenly between Allar, Beau Pribula and Jaxon Smolik during the early part of spring practices. Pribula was a 3-star prospect in the 2022 recruiting class while Smolik joined the program as a 3-star recruit in the class of 2023.
Franklin says he wants to split the reps evenly between the three quarterbacks to start spring ball.
— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) March 14, 2023
Franklin went on to add that Pribula might actually get more reps than Allar toward the end of spring. As for the prospect of both playing in the fall, Franklin admitted there are some athletic traits Pribula has that “maybe make sense for us to use if they give us the best chance to win.”
“There could be some situations where Beau actually gets more reps [than Allar] by the end of spring because I think there’s some things that we may want to do with Beau to take advantage of his skill set.”
— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) March 14, 2023
Franklin on the possibility of playing both Beau Pribula and Drew Allar: “Beau has some athletic traits that that are desirable and maybe make sense for us to use if they give us the best chance to win.”
Franklin clarified that there is a competition at the quarterback position.
— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) March 14, 2023
Who lands the final nod as QB1?
While Franklin might label this offseason as a QB battle — and rightfully so — there is little reason to expect anything other than Drew Allar receiving the nod as the starter to begin the season. Allar came to Penn State as a 5-star prospect in the 2022 recruiting class and is widely regarded as one of the best prospects ever to come through Penn State under Franklin.
Add in the fact that Allar has experience as the primary backup to Sean Clifford last season and all signs point to Allar being the guy for the Nittany Lions. Pribula and Smolik might factor into the offensive plans at some point, but their role is likely to be as a complement to Allar’s skillset.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.