Drew Allar impressed by Theo Johnson's leadership

The keys of Penn State‘s offense have now been passed down from quarterback Sean Clifford to Drew Allar, who’s expected to be the Nittany Lions starter this upcoming season entering his sophomore year.

Being QB1 comes with a lot of responsibility, especially regarding leadership. But in a recent sit down with Next Up’s with Adam Breneman, Allar revealed that another offensive player for the Nittany Lions has actually taken the leadership reins for the team this offseason.

“One of the guys I’ve been really been impressed with is Theo Johnson, I can’t say enough great things about him,” Allar said. “He’s a great teammate, he’s a great player to be around, and he’s great to be around off the field as well.”

Johnson is entering his senior year with the Nittany Lions after showing improvement in each and every one of his seasons in Happy Valley. He was a four-star prospect out of Holy Names High School in Pennsylvania, where he was ranked the No. 74 overall recruit and No. 4 tight end in the country for the 2020 class according to On3’s Industry Ranking.

He’s coming off of his best season to date, hauling in 20 receptions for 328 yards and four touchdown catches in 2022. His role in the offense will likely increase even more on the field in 2022 with tight end Brenton Strange now in the NFL, and according to Allar, he’s already made embarked on his increased role as a leader this offseason.

“He’s been taking more of the vocal leadership on for the offense so far, but I think we have a really good thing going with developing leadership as a whole team,” Allar said.

Allar added that the team’s three main leaders from last season are now not a part of the team this season, and that Penn State’s leadership this season may not just be different, but better dispersed as well.

“I think we’re going to have more leaders than last year in the sense of there’s going to be more guys that are going to have the young guys looking up to them,” Allar said. “But maybe not as many vocal leaders, but we’re gonna have guys step up when the time’s right.”

Hopefully, Allar is right, as many members of the Nittany Lions’ impressive past few recruiting classes will now be expected to step up on and off the field with Penn State seeking to break through and appear in the Big Ten Championship and College Football Playoff conversation this upcoming season.