How Drew Allar takes the next step, Abdul Carter’s move to DE and more from James Franklin

There isn’t a single player on Penn State’s roster that’s more important heading into the 2024 season than junior quarterback Drew Allar. Allar plays the most important position on the field and has arguably as much upside as anyone in the program.

Which makes his development one of the most consequential aspects of the team’s spring practice.

That begs the question, is he ready?

“I think he’s ready to take the next step,” Penn State head coach James Franklin said Tuesday at his first press conference of the team’s spring practice. “He’s excited about some of the things that we’re doing. He’s had a great offseason. He’s moving better, he looks better, he looks leaner. His weight is still very similar but I think he’s changed his body composition in a lot of ways.”

Franklin said the focal point of that step will be the consistency of what he does on Saturdays, with the team needing him to produce week in and week out during the season.

However, the head coach made sure to note that his ability to produce will rely on more than just his own playing ability.

“That’s not just Drew,” Franklin said. “That’s how we call the game. It’s the complementary pieces around him, the run game, the O-line, the running backs, the tight ends, the receivers making plays for him. It’s all those things.”

One of the key cogs around Allar this year is new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, who joined the program in December and brings with him an offense that has been successful in previous years.

Franklin said there are a few key aspects of what Kotelnicki does that should open things up for Allar and the rest of the passing offense.

“I think, first of all, some of the things we can do to complement the run game and the play action pass to create explosive plays to open the field up and make them defend the whole 120 yards and the whole 53 and a third, I think is really important,” Franklin said. “I think there’s some things that you can do that we did later in the season, I think the last two games if you look at our explosive play percentage, it dramatically increased. I think there’s some things that you can do with the wide receivers in terms of motion, in terms of alignments like stacks and bunches, that we can do to help our guys versus man coverage.”

Abdul Carter’s move to the edge

Two of Penn State’s best defenders played the same position last year and are now off to the NFL, leaving a void for the Nittany Lions to fill. Chop Robinson and Adisa Isaac were high impact defensive ends, and the team will need to find pass rush ability to replace their productivity. Fortunately for the program, Dani Dennis-Sutton is more than ready to step into one of those spots and now the other will be filled by one of the 2023 unit’s most athletic players.

Abdul Carter’s transition to the position from linebacker should help make the Penn State front four look much closer to last year’s than it otherwise would have.

Franklin said the move ultimately came down to the junior.

“I remember when we recruited Abdul, I thought he was a defensive end,” he said. “Abdul and dad were adamant that he was a linebacker. The reality was we just wanted him in our program and knew he was going to be a really good player wherever he decided to play. This wasn’t really something from us. This was Abdul. He really wanted to make this move.”

Carter’s move means the team will have to back-fill in the back seven now that its best linebacker won’t be playing the position anymore.

There are several ways for them to do that with new defensive coordinator Tom Allen. Some of them will involve other linebackers stepping up, and some will involve some schematic adjustments.

“I think the other thing is with our linebacker situation, we’ve created some pretty good depth there,” Franklin said. “And then obviously the ability to play a little bit more nickel as well. Those things, I think, helped. I think this has a chance to be a win-win for everybody.”

Offensive tackle competition

The losses for Penn State in the trenches extend to the exterior of the offensive side of the ball with potential top-10 pick Olu Fashanu leaving after two high-level seasons at left tackle and Caedan Wallace off to the NFL after multiple years of locking down the right tackle position.

The team will be tasked with leaning on some youth to do that, and there are several options to replace both Fashanu and Wallace. Franklin mentioned a litany of players who will factor in, but noted that two are unlikely to get any reps this spring.

“So Drew (Shelton) did have surgery at the end of the season,” Franklin said. “It was one of those surgeries that he could get through the season but probably made the most sense to get it done as soon as the season ended. ... Not having Shelton or (Garrett) Sexton, two tackle body types and athletic guys that we probably won’t have for spring ball, we’d like to be able to get those guys back as soon as we possibly can.”

While those two are heading into different situations, with Shelton a likely starter and Sexton and incoming freshman who needs to develop to see the field, their absences will still open up reps for others.

That leaves an opportunity for different Nittany Lion tackles to show what they can do, with Franklin listing JB Nelson, J’ven Williams, Chimdy Onoh and Eagan Boyer, among others, who will have more opportunities at tackle. One of those players, Anthony Donkoh, stood out for how he closed out his freshman season.

“Donkoh was able to play in the bowl game and probably played better than a lot of people probably anticipated,” Franklin said.

Quick hitters

• Franklin said he likes having Saquon Barkley nearby after he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles, noting that it makes it easier for them to interact with the current program.

• Two former players, QB Trace McSorley and CB Grant Haley, are set to speak to the team this weekend, according to Franklin.