Matt Campbell has ‘elite’ praise for Penn State QB
· Yahoo Sports
The quarterback position may have been the biggest question mark for Penn State heading into the 2026 season, but the team views it as a positive. Head coach Matt Campbell is supremely confident in the group, namely Rocco Becht and Alex Manske, and he showed that during the team’s media day.
The new Penn State coach was asked about Manske’s play following his return to action and he couldn’t refrain from raving about the redshirt freshman. Campbell told reporters that Manske has “all these elite traits. You just saw it, this guy is really special.”
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These comments came when the former Iowa State coach was discussing his quarterback’s versatility, citing his basketball and golf skills as examples. From everything Campbell said about Manske, it sounds like he’ll get a shot to lead the Nittany Lions in the coming years.
Becht is in his final year of eligibility, so the team has done a lot of digging to find quarterbacks in future recruiting classes to fall back on in case none of the in-house options pan out. It may just be a way of building up a young signal caller, but it sounds like Campbell would be comfortable with Manske starting Week One if need be.
When discussing his play on the field, the first-year Penn State coach told reporters, “he’s got elite arm talent. He certainly is an elite athlete… he’s got the ability to play quarterback.”
Sure, it would likely be a bigger story if Campbell didn’t rave about one of his quarterbacks, but this is elite praise that just doesn’t get thrust onto run-on-the-mill players. There is no realistic path for Manske to get on the field this year barring an injury to Becht, but the sky is the limit for his future. He seems to be a player to keep an eye on for the rest of the summer and early next spring as a potential breakout candidate.
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This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Matt Campbell has ‘elite’ praise for Penn State QB