Penn State spring practice progress report: Checking in with the quarterbacks

Penn State football is hitting the midway mark of spring practice.

The Nittany Lions will be back on the field for their eighth set of drills on Wednesday after kicking things off back on March 23. The NCAA allows 15 practices per team at this time of year. As is usually the case, Penn State will cap off its slate with the Blue-White game (April 2, 2 p.m.) at Beaver Stadium.

As the work for head coach James Franklin and his staff continues, we’re taking a look at how things are going for each position group at about the halfway point. We start with the quarterbacks.

Who’s in the mix?

It won’t always be this obvious at every position. But, we all know the score here.

Sean Clifford is back for another season in blue and white. So, too, is Christian Veilleux. The second-year Nittany Lion saw some but not much game action last year.

Then, there are the two Penn State newcomers in Drew Allar and Beau Pribula. Both are going through spring practice for the first time after enrolling early.

There are no other quarterbacks on the roster after Mason Stahl moved to receiver earlier this offseason.

Penn State spring progress report at the midway point for the quarterbacks

Clifford is going through his fourth spring practice in blue and white. But, unlike players at other positions, Penn State is not totally dialing back the number of reps he receives this year despite his many years in blue and white.

That’s Yurcich’s call, and the reason for that is simple.

“We try to maximize with everyone,” Yurcich said. Sean’s one of those guys that is ultra-competitive everywhere, on the field and in the meeting room.

“So I wouldn’t say there was extra time, just because of him being very experienced. They all need the meeting time. I need to interact with them and the relationships have to build.”

Clifford, of course, is always the first signal-caller up in both positional drills and seven-on-seven or 11-on-11 work. He has looked poised, confident, relaxed, and above all else, healthy during the portion of drills open to the media. Yurcich wants to see the Ohio native continue improving his abilities when it comes to seamlessly progressing from one read to the next on any given play to find the best open option. Another area for growth is just being comfortable with the second-year play-caller.

After Clifford comes Veilleux. He’s the clear number two after seeing some action a season ago. One key this spring must be to ensure that he’s game ready should Clifford need to come out for any reason. Not having a backup primed and ready to roll last year cost Penn State at Iowa. It cannot happen again. Spring is a time when everyone can get in on the action. But, come fall camp, there must be a clear pecking order and the associated reps that it dictates.

“We don’t have to concern ourselves with that right now,” Yurcich said. But as spring comes to a close, and as you get into fall camp, you have to be mindful of that.“That’s the hard part, right? Giving everybody enough reps to give him a good evaluation, to make sure that your depth charts where it needs to be. And, also the amount of reps it takes to prepare guys.”

Finally, there are the newcomers. Pribula worked ahead of Allar through the first half of spring. But, both are learning each day and hope to contribute in any way they can this fall.

“They’re doing an excellent job,” Yurcich said. “They’re very far along because of how they were groomed in high school. They show a lot of arm talent. They have good feet, good pocket awareness, both of them.”

What do we still want to see?

The Blue-White game can show a little in terms of Clifford’s progress, but not much. Those answers won’t truly come to the fall. But, we do want to see what Veilleux looks like airing it out. The same goes for literally all facets of what Allar and Pribula are capable of. Their high school highlight tape is terrific. But, what will they do to impress in their first public scrimmage at this level?