Drew Allar needed a statement to remind the college football world why he belongs in the top tier of the 2026 NFL Draft. Week 1 delivered just that. The Penn State quarterback showed off size, arm strength, and growing command in a 46-11 win over Nevada, vaulting him into the New York Jets’ crosshairs at No. 3 overall.
Allar didn’t just manage the game, he owned it. He threw only four incompletions, and was only sacked once, and repeatedly pushed the ball downfield with confidence. The competition wasn’t elite, but the tape showed exactly what scouts wanted to see.
His growth in decision-making and composure under pressure. His footwork looked sharp, and his ability to read coverage pre-snap suggested the intangibles may finally be catching up to his talent.
The arm has always been his calling card. At 6-4 and 236 pounds, Allar can rifle passes into tight windows and stretch defenses vertically. What held him back was consistency. Too often, the flashes came without the follow-up.
Against Nevada, those flashes started stacking together, hinting at a quarterback learning how to turn raw talent into trust. Every connection with his receivers felt deliberate, and his ability to move in the pocket under pressure impressed early evaluators.
For the Jets, the projection couldn’t be more intriguing. Allar could reunite with his former Penn State teammate and blindside protector Olu Fashanu, giving New York a ready-made QB-LT duo to build around.
After years of searching for stability under center, pairing Allar with Fashanu feels like a plan, not a gamble. The Jets have struggled to find consistency at the position, and Allar’s combination of size, arm strength, and poise could finally give the franchise an answer for the long term.
The next step will come against tougher competition in the Big Ten. Allar has to show this same confidence against defenses packed with NFL-level talent. But in a draft class where no quarterback is pulling away early, every clean performance matters, even against lighter opponents.
The ceiling has always been there. Now, the polish is starting to catch up. If Week 1 was the first glimpse of Allar putting it all together, the Jets might not just be drafting a quarterback. They might be drafting their future. The combination of size, skill, and evolving poise makes him a player to watch every week as the season progresses, and his stock is trending in the right direction.