What if? This is Penn State's No. 1 concern

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- All the hopes, all the dreams, all the expectations ... could be gone in the blink of an eye.

Sort of like when this happened ...

We all knew going into the 2021 season that Sean Clifford was really the most important player in college football to his team. Meaning, the dropoff from Clifford to the backup quarterbacks was so massive that if anything happened to the starter, it could be devastating.

It doesn't get anymore devastating than being undefeated and on the verge of moving up to No. 2 in the country, to losing and then collapsing to a 7-6 finish.

To this day, the name Ta'Quan Roberson still brings about nightmares for Penn State fans.

As we get closer and closer to the start of this season, there are many, many reasons to believe the Nittany Lions can have an outstanding year. But by far, the biggest reason is Drew Allar and his enormous potential.

With No. 15, we think Penn State can contend for a playoff berth and possibly even a national title. If he plays up to expectations, that is.

But if you think about this another way, it really kind of leads us back to the same place we were in 2021 with regards to just how important the starting quarterback is for this team.

The single biggest concern, therefore, that the Lions could have this season will be:

What might happen if Allar were to get injured?

The backup is redshirt freshman Beau Pribula. After him, all that's left is true freshman Jaxon Smolik.

Now look, there's no way for me to argue this whole thing without it all coming across like ripping Pribula. And yes, that might sound very unfair to that young man.

But hey -- and I hate using this phrase -- it is what it is.

Allar is believed to be so much better than Pribula that we just can't sugarcoat this kind of thing. Of course, hype and recruiting hullabaloo have been wrong before -- Matt McGloin and Trace McSorley are prime examples -- but in this case, the dropoff from Allar to Pribula figures to be massive.

Here's a recap of what I wrote about Pribula from the Blue-White Game:

Not to knock Beau Pribula, but the difference was really night and day between him and Allar.

Pribula completed 7 of 22 passes for 56 yards for the White team, but was better at 3 of 5 for 36 yards with the Blue. His total, then, was 10 of 27 for 92 yards.

In all fairness to Pribula, he was running for his life much of the game. His offensive line on the White team did not do a good job of pass protection, with defenders often having pretty clear paths to Pribula, who had to scramble on nearly every throw and rarely had a clean pocket.

OK, but that's where we've been led to believe that Pribula is at his best -- making things happen with his feet. On this day, though, when he had to throw on the run, he simply wasn't very accurate.

Putting all this into greater perspective, here's the same graphic I used last week noting how Phil Steele loves the Penn State defense. Check out how he feels about the Lions' QB situation, ranking it seventh in the Big Ten and -- gulp! -- 54th in the country.

C'mon now, does Steele really think Allar should be ranked behind quarterbacks at Nebraska or Iowa?

But that's not what his ranking is about. It's about the position groups, meaning no matter how highly one may think of Allar, there's just no way to feel overly confident about the players behind him.

Here's the big question in all of this: How will the dropoff from No. 1 to everyone else impact how the Penn State coaches will use Allar?

He's not a running quarterback by any stretch, so there won't be as much desire to have Allar take off and run like Clifford and McSorley did in recent years. That alone should help keep him healthy.

At the same time, Allar cannot be a statue in the pocket, and he's gonna have to run some. This is the Big Ten, and defenses will find a way to pressure quarterbacks. It is not, therefore, out of the question that Allar will take a pretty good beating at times. We'll just have to wait and see if he's as tough as, again, McSorley and Clifford were after taking their share of big hits.

One good thing this Penn State team will have going for it that the 2021 squad did not is that the Lions have a strong running game. Clifford faced the pressure of pretty much having to do everything in 2021, but Allar will have a good offensive line and two outstanding running backs in Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen.

If you're a Penn State fan out there who's hoping for the very best this year, you have plenty of reasons to do so. The defense should be tremendous, as I pointed out last week, and there are lots of good players on both sides of the ball.

Still, priority No. 1 for this program should be making sure No. 15 remains healthy at all costs.

GIGER'S TAKES

Some of my thoughts on various things around football.

• There's no way the Giants should give in and pay Saquon Barkley any more than what they have to with the franchise tag.

This isn't a Saquon thing. The guy is probably the greatest physical specimen I've ever seen covering football.

But he's a running back. Football has changed. Running backs are not and should not be valued as much as they have been in the past.

The last NFL rushing leader to win a Super Bowl came way back in 1998 -- Terrelle Davis with the Broncos.

The last rushing leader to even get to a Super Bowl was Shaun Alexander with the Seahawks in 2005.

The Patriots won a bunch of Super Bowls with running backs most people cannot even name off the top of their head.

DO NOT OVERPAY RUNNING BACKS!!!!!!

DO NOT OVERDRAFT RUNNING BACKS!!!!!

You can make up their stats, by and large, with a lesser-paid guy. Or you can find a way to win by emphasizing other parts of the game plan and using the extra money on different positions.

Yes, even a guy as talented as Saquon is replaceable.

If he chooses to sit out a season, which he has suggested, he'd be a fool.

• How much should fans be on the hook to support NIL?

This continues to be a beef of mine. And I was reminded of it again this week by a quote from former Penn State tight end Adam Breneman.

Why should Penn State be the best in the country at NIL? It's an assumption that comes across more as arrogant than understanding of what real people are going through in their own lives.

I get it that Penn State folks want to keep coming back to having the largest alumni association and a rabid fan base. But to just flat out assume that all those regular, Joe Schmoe fans should be forking over extra money besides tickets, parking, merchandise, travel, etc., is pure folly to me.

NIL has basically become a luxury tax for fans. That's right, a tax. Fans already have to spend so much money to support the team, and now everybody from coaches to players and such are counting on these same fans to keep paying for everything else through NIL.

Enough is enough.

Penn State fans have given and given and given over the years. Tickets are expensive. Everything's expensive. I would venture to guess that the overwhelming majority of regular fans just don't have anymore that they can give after paying for everything else.

Sure, maybe the mega-rich alums can give more. But my guess is most of them already have given everything they could trying to help the program get back to the level it's at, and maybe they just don't feel comfortable giving more.

I totally get that James Franklin wants and feels the need to keep up in the expensive NIL race, and Penn State must do so to reach all of the program's goals. But Franklin makes $8.5 million a year, and when he and these high-paid college coaches keep bringing up the need for more and more and more money from regular fans, it all just sounds so out of touch with the fact that many people in this country are dealing with serious financial issues that are more important than the success of a sports team.

By the way, Pribula -- who again is the BACKUP quarterback and would be a major concern if something happens to Allar -- will be driving around in a brand new BMW this year thanks to an NIL deal. How many of you can afford that? And if you can, would you still be asking everybody else around you for more, more, more?

• Both Corey Crisan and I were asked a fantastic question this week in our Live Qs about which coach -- James Franklin or Pitt's Pat Narduzzi -- has made a bigger impact on their program.

Corey and I both came up with the same answer. You can read his right here, and mine is right here.