James Franklin discusses the future of quarterback Christian Veilleux

There has been some controversy around the quarterback position at Penn State this season. Head coach James Franklin has consistently chosen to play Sean Clifford, a veteran, instead of five-star freshman Drew Allar, who has a higher upside than Clifford. However, these aren’t the only two quarterbacks on the roster that Franklin has had to manage.

In total, Penn State has four quarterbacks on its roster, including Christian Veilleux. He’s currently third on the depth chart. James Franklin was asked about how he’s handling things and how Veilleux himself is doing. After all, it seems like if he stays at Penn State, he’ll be behind Allar going forward.

“Yeah, he’s been phenomenal,” James Franklin said. “He really has. I think that whole quarterback room has been great. I think Sean has kind of set the tone for that whole room. But Christian has been phenomenal.”

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“You know, those are tough conversations and tough decisions that have to be made. You know, it’s interesting because I’ve kind of used this with the players before, you look at some players who may play as a true freshman, and play well, and another guy redshirts and they’re in the same class. Then, you look three years down the road and the guy that redshirted ends up having what people would describe as a better career. So, there’s a lot of twists and turns along these journeys.”

James Franklin then praised Christian Veilleux for the work and attitude that he’s put in while at Penn State. He’s hopeful Veilleux stays, but also seems to recognize that in the modern game, college quarterbacks are going to look for somewhere they can start.

“But I think Veilleux has been phenomenal. His attitude has been great. He’s been great in meetings. He’s totally engaged. We’ve been rotating those guys down to the scout team. They’ve been awesome down there. He’s been great. His body language, his demeanor, his leadership, his attention to detail, the way he’s preparing as if he’s the starter, has been really good. So, those types of things specifically at those positions, I think are really important. So, you know, we’ll see how this all plays out, but I hope he stays at Penn State and continues to chase his dream and gets his degree and see how it all plays out because, again, there’s a lot of twists and turns along these journeys.”

James Franklin has lost quarterbacks at Penn State before, just like most coaches and programs in the country. However, he very prominently saw Will Levis leave Penn State to be the starter at Kentucky. Now, Levis is considered a first-round NFL Draft Pick.

Christian Veilleux was a three-star recruit in the Class of 2021, originally from Canada. He has appeared in two games this season, against Auburn and Ohio.

James Franklin says that rule changes can ‘break my heart a little bit’

James Franklin, like many coaches, is still adjusting to a new system in college football. It’s a system that he sees benefits in while he also lamented some of the changes that have come to the sport.

“There’s a part of me that it breaks my heart a little bit about the conversations and things that you have now in college football that you didn’t use to have,” James Franklin admitted.

“But, I also, as you guys know, I also understand this is where we’re at and try to embrace it, and there’s really good in both. There’s a lot of good things that I believe exist in the old model, and there’s a lot of good that exists in the new model. I don’t know if they’re necessarily the same things, though.”