Where will Drew Allar, Beau Pribula take Penn State? Your early training report ...

STATE COLLEGE − They keep talking about the way he throws a football.

Sure, Penn State football fans have seen glimpses of this, a few effortless, accurate fastballs, here and there, from starting quarterback-to-be Drew Allar.

But they can't possibly know how it feels. As in catching one of those passes from the true sophomore who stands 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds and still doesn't look close to growing into his body.

“The velocity he throws with is crazy. It still hurts my hands. We got to turn the JUGS machine damn near all the way up to get ready to catch from Drew," said receiver Kaden Saunders, who got to understand this phenomenon sooner than most as a high school throwing buddy in Ohio.

Asked to clarify, Saunders smiled during a Tuesday afternoon media session in Beaver Stadium to introduce the team's new receivers coach as well as all of last year's freshman class, in a way.

“It just comes out of his hand so quick and smooth and the ball gets on you faster than you expect it to," Saunders said. "You’ve got to be ready when he throws the ball."

Of course, they do. Allar is, after all, the ninth grader who was throwing a baseball 86 mph, even though he never truly invested in that. Baseball was a good-time, sidelight with friends. Football was his passion, and now he's finally working toward doing the thing that has tantalized Penn State supporters ever since he signed with the team as that rare 5-star quarterback to choose them.

He will work with good friend and competitor Beau Pribula, the Central York High grad who offers a smaller, quicker, dynamic skill set similar to former Nittany Lion Trace McSorley.

So everything bold and exciting and expected of this Top 10 Penn State football team will be riding on the arms (and legs) of two of the youngest guys on the team.

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Allar's thrown all of 60 college passes as Sean Clifford's backup. That's precious few, especially considering how only a handful in the opener at Purdue were under any kind of game-deciding pressure or importance.

Pribula hasn't yet thrown one. (His last public work was in the Blue-White Game last April).

The time is now theirs, though, in measured steps. Winter workouts began this week and it was Pribula who earned the first shoutout from coaches for being the group's top performer on Day One.

His fire and give-everything effort has won over staff and teammates alike soon after arriving a year ago. He was a star at Central, leading his team to a state title game one year, earning big-class player of the year honors twice. But now? Even if he is the backup, as expected, in the opener against West Virginia, he will always be just one unexpected injury away from being the starter.

He talked this week about his behind-the-scenes progress made in a year on campus. That first winter workout at Penn State after enrolling early last January? He described those early-morning fire drills in Holuba Hall pushing sleds and carrying water bags and pulling tires with his football peers watching.

"It was a lot better this year. Last year, barely knew anybody and you're brand new and its freezing and you miss home and don't know what’s going on," Pribula said. "This year you know what’s going on and can attack the workout."

He's spent the past year preparing to lead his team and just play on the field − even as the previous fourth-string option. Offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich praised him in December for an "inner drive and competitiveness as good as I’ve ever been around. It’s impressive."

"The physical part is natural. You can always get better physically, there's always room for growth," Pribula said. "But I really want to put an emphasis on the film room. High school to college is a lot different, a lot more to focus on whether it's (pass) protections or reading coverages, the X's and O's part. So I think I really taken that and tried to grind on it ... something I really want to get better at."

He knows he doesn't own the same skill set as Allar, probably can never throw a 1-yard touchdown pass with the kind of stunning force he showed to Tre Wallace at Indiana last November. When was the last time a Penn State QB lasered a pass like that?

But Allar acknowledged how Pribula pushes him, too. Their varying strengths may complement each other in intriguing ways to come.

"His mobility," Allar quickly offered. "He’s a super-athletic quarterback and super-strong quarterback. He’s helped me a ton because he’s pushed me in that aspect. He’s really mobile and a really good thrower, too, so that makes him a true dual threat."

Truly taking over the team for these two must come in steps. From winter workouts to spring practice, from summer throwing sessions with teammates to preseason camp.

Where will they truly end up in six months?

The beginning of the run-up to the ever-anticipated 2023 season, at least, appears to be starting well enough.

"Just throughout the workout today, him encouraging everybody. He wasn’t doing that last year," Saunders said of of Allar.

"It's been good. He's ready for that leadership role."

Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on Twitter @YDRPennState.