Penn State Position Preview: Quarterback

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With Spring practice in the rearview mirror and with Fall camp only a handful of weeks away, we begin our Summer position preview series here at BSD, as we take a look at how Matt Campbell’s first Penn State roster is shaping up. Up first: The quarterback room.

The Starter

Rocco Becht (redshirt senior)

Perhaps the most heralded of the Iowa State players Matt Campbell brought to Happy Valley, Rocco has been recovering quicker than expected after labrum surgery on his non-throwing shoulder and was a non-contact participant in Spring practice. Not only does he already have familiarity with his head coach, but his offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser, quarterbacks coach Jake Waters, and a few favorite passing targets in Ben Brahmer, Brett Eskildsen, and Chase Sowell also followed him to PSU. If he can stay healthy this upcoming season, he should see a level of production more akin to his 2024 peak of 3,505 passing yards and 25 touchdowns.

The Backups

Connor Barry (senior)

Alex Manske (redshirt freshman)

Manske was another quarterback to follow Campbell to Penn State but was forced to miss all of spring practice after having surgery to fix an injury. This opened the door for Connor Barry, a Division III transfer from Chirstopher Newport University in Virginia to put on an showcase during spring ball and put himself in the driver’s seat for the backup spot. As CNU’s starter last year, Barry led the team to its first-ever undefeated regular season and to the second round of the D3 playoffs. It should be noted that Barry did originally start out at the FBS level, having been a backup at Appalachian State before transferring down to D3, so this won’t be his first rodeo playing at some of the highest level of football.

The Other Guys

Jack Lambert (redshirt junior)

Kase Evans (freshman)

Peyton Falzone (freshman)

Lambert is one of those run-ons you never hear much about but plays an important role every week on the practice squad mimicing the opposing team’s best players. The native Texan Evans was originally an Iowa State commit before flipping to PSU, while Falzone was one of just two high school players to officially sign with the Nittany Lions in the December signing period last year. It was a giant leap of faith on Peyton’s part, considering PSU didn’t have a head coach in place, as they were fresh off of the Kalani Sitake debacle and still a few days away from heating up talks with Campbell to ultimately become their guy.

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