Penn State football quarterback Drew Allar watched his team take a tumble in the top 25 rankings. But is his NFL Draft stock trekking downward after the Oregon loss? Mel Kiper Jr. weighed — by giving Allar a dose of reality.
Kiper dove into Allar's league chances on his First Draft Podcast Wednesday. The verbose and longtime draft expert hit the PSU QB1 with this reality check.
“We talk about what has to happen in the NFL. You have to play to consistently high level in the NFL. He’s not doing it in college,” Kiper began.
He pointed out that Allar even struggled against Villanova, which plays in the lesser Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) compared to the Big Ten. Allar settled for only 209 yards, one touchdown and got intercepted once despite the 52-6 rout of the Wildcats.
Does Mel Kiper Jr. believe Drew Allar is NFL ready after Penn State?
Allar threw a costly interception against the now No. 2 Ducks. The home team Nittany Lions eventually forced overtime in erasing a 17-3 deficit, but fell 30-24 in overtime at Beaver Stadium.
Kiper locked in on Allar's skillset and how he can handle a highly-ranked foe. He drew this conclusion.
“So for me Drew Allar’s not there yet,” Kiper said. “Will he even things out and become that consistently high level quarterback moving forward we’ll see.”
The road doesn't get any easier for the now 3-1 and seventh-ranked Nittany Lions.
“The Ohio State games coming up. That’s an opportunity against the Buckeyes So we’ll see how it goes,” Kiper said.
Yet, does Kiper's words paint the picture that Allar is moving down his big draft board?
“I’m not going to say all of a sudden that he’s moving way down the board, but for right now the arrow is pointing down,” Kiper explained. “And did he look like an NFL franchise quarterback? I can get anybody who is just a casual observer of college football who says, no.”
Allar and the Lions can aim to bounce back against winless UCLA inside the Rose Bowl Saturday.
