Allar was quite the athlete growing up.
Drew Allar high school stats: Inside the Penn State QB's transition from linebacker in Ohio originally appeared on The Sporting News
Penn State senior quarterback Drew Allar hopes to lead the Nittany Lions back to the Big Ten title game this season. One major obstacle is No. 6 Oregon, which visits Happy Valley on Saturday night.
Allar has passed for 6,928 yards with 57 touchdowns and just 11 interceptions over his four seasons at Penn State. But before he became the Nittany Lions’ star quarterback, he played linebacker.
Before switching to quarterback in high school, Allar played on the defensive side of the ball.
Here’s a look at Allar’s history as a football player, first as a linebacker and then as a quarterback.
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Where is Drew Allar from?
Allar is from the state of Ohio, growing up in Medina. His hometown, which sits southwest of Cleveland, is a little over 230 miles west of Happy Valley.
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Did Drew Allar play linebacker?
Allar also played linebacker as well as fullback in youth football. At 6-foot-5, 235 pounds, it’s easy to see how he had the size for the position. In addition to football, he played basketball growing up. Allar explained to the Medina-Gazette in 2021 that his dad being his youth football coach played a role in him landing on defense during his early years.
"I wanted to give it a try," Allar told the newspaper of playing quarterback in high school.
"My dad (Kevin) was my coach in youth football and he didn't want me to play quarterback. We didn't want it to be perceived that I was playing because my dad was the coach. Plus, I was one of the bigger kids on the team, so I ended up playing fullback and blocking for (Luke) Petrowski and Andrew Gormley."
Allar played his four years of high school at Medina High School, but perhaps what's more impressive is that he didn't start until the last four games as a sophomore. where he earned the starting job as a sophomore.
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Drew Allar high school stats
During his first two seasons at Medina, Allar threw for 4,764 yards with 49 touchdowns. He had his best season as a senior, passing for 4,444 yards and 48 touchdowns with just seven interceptions. He also added 382 rushing yards and eight touchdowns.
At the end of his senior camapign, he was named Ohio's Mr. Football, an annual award given to the state’s top high school player.
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Drew Allar as a recruiting prospect
Per the 247Sports Composite, Allar was a 5-star quarterback prospect from the class of 2022. He was the No. 4 overall ranked quarterback prospect, and was the No. 3 overall prospect out of his home state of Ohio.
Allar committed to the Nittany Lions in March of 2021, and remained committed despite receiving an offer from Ohio State in September of that year. He signed with Penn State during the Early Signing Period in 2021.
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