James Franklin reveals Penn State backup quarterback plan without Beau Pribula

With Beau Pribula considering his options elsewhere in the transfer portal, Penn State will now have to as well as far as their depth chart at quarterback ahead of their appearance in the CFP.

James Franklin addressed the Nittany Lions’ options at QB2 at a press conference earlier this week. He named two players in Ethan Grunkemeyer and Jaxon Smolik that will be possible answers to the Pribula problem.

“Yeah, um, so, both of them will be part of the equation and part of the discussion,” said Franklin.

However, between the pair of them, there’s one difference and that’s opportunities on the practice field this fall. Smolik suffered an injury back in spring practice that has had him sidelined since then up until recently. Grunkemeyer, though, has been able to prep throughout as the third quarterback behind Drew Allar and Pribula.

“The difference is Jackson’s been out all year and really has only been cleared for about the last week. So, um, obviously those things impact, right,” said Franklin. “You’re talking about a guy that’s – I don’t know what the numbers are. We were actually running the numbers before I left and haven’t gotten them yet but, if I had to guess? I bet ya, I bet ya Grunk’s probably got about 350 reps, you know, in practice and Jackson, who we love and think has a very, very bright future, wasn’t able to get those reps. So all those things will be factored in before we make those decisions.”

Neither player between Grunkemeyer or Smolik has appeared this season and neither have the other options in that room behind Allar and Pribula. Still, with Pribula in the portal, one of them will be Penn State’s backup quarterback in the playoff now if needed.