UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- My running joke is that Sean Clifford will be Penn State's starting quarterback for, like, the 17th consecutive year. And that he's somewhere in the range of 37 years old.
I kid, I kid.
For better or worse, til NCAA rules do they part, Clifford will remain the starter at Penn State. We think this will be the final year -- his sixth in college and fourth as the starter -- but hey, who knows, if something crazy happens, he could be granted another year or two or five of college eligibility.
Alright, enough joking around.
This will be Clifford's final year with the Nittany Lions, and as long as he's healthy, he is 100 percent guaranteed to be the starting QB at the beginning of the season. Why? Because, for as average as Clifford has been throughout his career, there should be no doubt that he does, in fact, give the team its best chance to win the tough games it will play early on.
Now, notice how I phrased it above as "at the beginning of the season." Since there are, no doubt, variables that will determine how the QB situation will shake out later on this fall.
So, as we project the QB depth chart for the Sept. 1 opener at Purdue, fans should all know that Clifford is going to be the guy. No matter how mediocre you think he is.
WHO WILL BE NO. 2?
The belief here is that it will not be the No. 1 QB recruit in the nation, true freshman Drew Allar. Not for the opener, at least, and probably not for at least the first month of the season.
Christian Veilleux will be the Lions' backup quarterback for the Purdue game.
Penn State plays a Big Ten road game against the Boilermakers, which is a very difficult way to open the season. And in week three, the Lions play at Auburn. If something happens to Clifford, they need someone with at least some experience who can step in right away and not be having to deal with first-game jitters in college football.
Veilleux, a sophomore, played in two games last season, including for most of the day against Rutgers after Clifford was pulled while battling the flu. Veilleux was 15-of-24 for 235 yards and threw three touchdowns against the Scarlet Knights, and he looked very poised while doing so.
Veilleux's performance that day called into question the decision by James Franklin to turn to Ta'Quan Roberson after Clifford got hurt at Iowa. Roberson looked inept running the offense and couldn't hold on to a lead, and the way Veilleux later played against Rutgers, you'd think he would have at least been able to function well enough against Iowa to preserve a win there.
Entering this season, the coaches have to do everything they can in fall camp to get the best guys ready to play immediately, given the difficult schedule. And because of that, Veilleux needs to be getting the bulk of the second-team reps to ensure that he will be ready to go, just in case.
Now, if Penn State were opening up against three lesser teams right off the bat, then sure, the prized freshman Allar would deserve every opportunity to win the backup job. But given the circumstances this season, Veilleux needs be to the No. 2 guy coming out of camp.
That will not mean Allar would be out of the running to be the backup QB at some point this season. He should and certainly will continue to get meaningful reps in practice and battle with Veilleux for the backup job, and given Allar's tremendous skill set, it would not be a surprise if he surpasses Veilleux at some point.
WHAT ABOUT LATER ON?
Clifford will be the starter for as long as the team is winning games, given that he's performing at least reasonably well.
But what happens if Penn State loses at Purdue and at Auburn? Things could start to get very, very interesting at that point. And with a trip to Michigan looming in week six, the possibility of a 3-3 start is very real.
Look, if the Lions are 3-3, the feeling here is that there is NO WAY Clifford can remain the starter. Not when you've got the No. 1 QB recruit in the nation waiting in the wings, as well as a nice-looking player in Veilleux.
At 3-3, and hey, maybe even a lot earlier than that, Franklin would be much better served turning the page toward the future and giving Veilleux or Allar a shot. And that's even if Clifford still gives Penn State a better chance to win any given game this season, which still might be the case.
Franklin has been loyal to Clifford all this time, and many people -- including me -- believe that loyalty has been at least some detriment to the program.
If the team is struggling and Franklin is faced with a decision to stick with Clifford or turn to a younger guy, I don't even think it should be a difficult decision.
BUT WHICH YOUNGER GUY?
Aha. This is where things could get messy. For this season and the future.
If, as I predict, Veilleux is the backup to start the season, you'd think he would get the first crack at taking over for Clifford early on.
But what if Veilleux plays really well? Hey, that would be great, right? Well, sure, if it means he is helping Penn State win games.
But what if Veilleux plays really well, and it winds up meaning Allar doesn't get to play much at all this season? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the writing that could be on the wall there.
If Allar is behind Veilleux all season, and Veilleux is getting a lot of experience, then Allar would be in a tough spot of wondering what kind of future he may have at Penn State. Veilleux would still have three years of eligibility after this year -- he can use a redshirt for last year because he played only two games -- and therefore could be in line to potentially be a multi-year starter.
Allar, of course, could stick around to see if he can beat out Veilleux next year. And as good as Allar is said to be, that very well could happen. But if Allar feels at all like he may be behind Veilleux for another year or more, then you'd have to figure Allar would at least have to consider entering the transfer portal.
There's only one ball, and only one quarterback can play. Old-school fans who like to see kids stick around and compete for a job need to understand that, at this particular position, that type of thinking has largely gone by the wayside.
THE BOTTOM LINE
There are a lot of what ifs and unknown scenarios in all this, I know, and at this stage it all may seem like silly speculation.
That's fair.
But when you're talking about the quarterback position, tons and tons and tons of planning has to go into who is playing right now, who could be playing in a certain scenario and who you want playing over the long haul.
The fact that Veilleux is ahead of Allar from an experience standpoint right now and that Penn State has a tough early schedule are factors that complicate a lot of this.
If Allar is the backup and does get a lot of experience this year, then he would have every reason to remain at Penn State. But if Veilleux has to take over for Clifford and performs well, then we will either have a QB controversy that spans multiple years, or Allar could end up leaving.
It's going to be fascinating to see how all of it plays out.
