PSU's Drew Allar 'Has a Chance' to Be No. 1 2026 NFL Draft Pick, Scout Says

At least one scout believes Drew Allar's senior season with Penn State could take him to the top of the 2026 NFL draft.

One NFL scout told ESPN's Pete Thamel that the quarterback "has a chance" to be the No. 1 pick in the next draft.

A different scout, however, expressed doubt that Allar would live up to that potential.

"Is he going to be a guy who teases you?" the scout asked about Allar, per Thamel.

A third scout told Thamel: "He needs to play more instinctual. When he plays loose, he's better. I thought the Oregon game was a great microcosm— big-time throws and scoring points. Then a couple of brain farts. The talent is all there. First-round talent. Good make-up. He's just not a swashbuckler type."

The scout was referencing Penn State's Big Ten championship game loss to Oregon last December. On the final two drives of the game, Allar gave the Nittany Lions hope for a comeback with a stellar fourth-down touchdown pass before sealing his team's defeat with an interception.

The report comes days after Thamel shared the results of an ESPN poll of 25 NFL scouts and executives regarding who they consider the top quarterback in the 2026 draft.

The poll resulted in seven different answers, with South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers (eight votes) and LSU's Garrett Nussmeier (seven votes) leading the pack.

Allar received two votes. Other scouts and executives named Miami's Carson Beck, Oklahoma's John Mateer, Arizona's Sam Leavitt and Texas' Arch Manning, per Thamel.

The B/R NFL Draft Scouting Department projected Allar as the No. 19 pick in the 2026 mock draft published after the first week of the college football season.

At the time, Allar was coming out of leading Penn State to a season-opening win over Nevada. He has since overseen victories over Florida International and Villanova.

Benefitting from a strong offensive line, an experienced backfield and a new-look wide receiver room, Allar has completed 64.8 percent of his passes for 626 yards and four touchdowns with one pick through three games.

That has all been against non-conference competition, however, and Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen have carried the run game by combining for 452 rushing yards in three games.

Scouts could get a better look at how Allar performs against top competition on Saturday, when Penn State takes on its first ranked opponent of the season and Allar gets a shot at redemption from last season's conference title game in a game against No. 6 Oregon.

The Ducks have allowed opponents to record just 4.86 passing yards per attempt through three games, good for ninth in the FBS. Being able to find more consistent success against Oregon's passing defense could be the next step in Allar establishing himself as a top quarterback in the upcoming draft.