James Franklin evaluates Penn State's spring game, what's next for his QBs

Spring practice is officially in the books for Penn State following Saturday’s Blue and White spring game. James Franklin sounded pleased with how the spring went, but acknowledged there’s still a long way to go.

Franklin spoke with Big Ten Network’s Matt McGloin after the game and shared his initial thoughts on how things went. He pointed out a few players who stood out, notably Omari Evans and KJ Winston, who played well in front of a good crowd at Beaver Stadium.

“There’s a lot of moving parts,” Franklin said. “Guys playing positions and working with guys they don’t always working with. But I thought it was really good work to be in here, in this stadium, in front of the fans. on TV to evaluate some of these young players. I was very pleased with Omari. I thought he stepped up today, which we need somebody to step up there at wideout.

“I thought KJ Winston really flew around. … And tonight, [Dani Dennis-Sutton], I thought, was unblockable. So some guys flashed. That’s going to be good for us. We’ve got a ton of work to do, obviously, between now and West Virginia. But I was pleased with today what we were able to get done.”

James Franklin on the Penn State QB situation: ‘We love both our quarterbacks’

One of the big questions Franklin has to answer is who will replace Sean Clifford at quarterback. Drew Allar looked to be the heir apparent last year as Clifford’s backup, appearing in 10 games as a true freshman. He competing with fellow second-year quarterback Beau Pribula, who took a redshirt year last year and is trying to make a run at the starting job.

The competition is likely to go through the summer and into fall, and Franklin said the two will continue to push each other in the lead-up to the season opener.

“Today, to me, is one piece of it, but it’s really over the 15 days who they were going against on defense, what some of the matchups were,” Franklin said of the quarterback competition. “But we love Beau. He’s done a great job for us. I said this last year, it was a battle. It will be a battle again this year. We’ll continue that on through training camp. The best guy will win.

“But we love both of our quarterbacks. We’re in a good situation from that standpoint. We’ve got to get our third quarterback, Jaxon Smolik, going as a young kid.”