Saturday’s game between Penn State and UCLA shouldn’t be particularly close on the scoreboard, but it will feature a pair of quarterbacks who have seen their NFL draft stock fall this season due to underwhelming play.
The Nittany Lions’ Drew Allar was viewed as one of the top quarterbacks in college football this season but his play just hasn’t matched that. His inaccuracy has become a major concern at the collegiate level, which could prove to be a serious detriment at the NFL level. Allar was outplayed by Oregon’s Dante Moore last week and while Allar has the looks of an NFL QB, he needs to prove he also has the talent.
UCLA’s Nico Iamaleava has had a much different route than Allar. Iamaleava entered the college football landscape as a top recruit but he underwhelmed as a redshirt freshman with Tennessee last season. After an NIL dispute, Iamaleava transferred to UCLA where things went from bad to worse, as he’s led a completely dysfunctional Bruins’ offense. It’s almost been hard to grade Iamaleava this season with how much of a mess UCLA’s offense has been but that still doesn’t help his NFL stock, with Iamaleava likely having to transfer to another program next season just to get better film out before testing his luck in the NFL draft.
Iamaleava’s struggles have been more profound but Allar has less excuses, Penn State has a loaded roster and strong running game but he’s still struggled. Iamaleava joined the 5-7 Bruins and now they’re one of the worst teams in the country. Both need serious turnarounds in the second half of their season to generate some more NFL buzz.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Stock down: Nico Iamaleava-Drew Allar was once viewed as an elite quarterback matchup
Reporting by Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
