Hackenberg focuses on season, not NFL draft

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Christian Hackenberg knew the inevitable question was coming. He's had to answer it dozens of times since his sophomore year ended with his redemptive performance in Penn State's dramatic overtime victory in the Pinstripe Bowl. But his dread for it hadn't waned.

Wearing shorts and a T-shirt from the Manning Passing Academy, where he worked as a counselor this summer, Hackenberg reluctantly honored a request to again give his thoughts on whether he will consider entering the NFL draft following the conclusion of the 2015 season, when he becomes eligible.

The pensive quarterback took a deep breath, lowered his head, avoided eye contact with the questioner, and replied: "I just take it one day at a time.

"I haven't really thought about it," he said in a recent one-on-one interview with The Inquirer inside the Lasch Football Building. "It would be unfair to even come out and say that I've thought about it to my teammates. I'd be cheating them. So for me, it's one day at a time, just trying to raise my game and help our team win as many games as they can and play my role in that."

Before taking the initial snap of his junior season, the 6-foot-4, 233-pound Hackenberg is considered an almost certain first-round draft choice in 2016. Some call him a top-10 pick. Others, like former Penn Stater and Big Ten Network commentator Matt Millen, think he's top five. Then you have ESPN's Todd McShay, who slotted Hackenberg as the No. 1 overall pick in May, a few days after the 2015 draft.

The critics howled at McShay's prediction, citing Hackenberg's numbers last season - 56 percent passing, 12 touchdowns, 15 interceptions, six lost fumbles, 44 sacks, and a 98th-place finish in pass efficiency - and saying that he did not merit such lofty status. Yes, the ultra-competitive Hackenberg tried too hard at times to make the impossible play, but he also had to deal with inexperience on the offensive line and at wide receiver.

"I think people don't really understand how hard what he's doing was," said Gerry DiNardo, a Big Ten Network analyst who noted he wouldn't be surprised either way if the player stays or goes. "I think [former coach] Bill O'Brien was a big reason he went there. Bill was a hands-on quarterbacks coach. Then there's a change and last spring he had to deal with a new offense.

"He was a young kid, 19 years old [last season]. People have been critical of him, which is fine. It's part of the deal. But I think what he was trying to do was more difficult than with most quarterbacks in college football."

Under O'Brien, Hackenberg was Big Ten freshman of the year in 2013, passing for 20 touchdowns against 10 interceptions and finishing 52d in pass efficiency. Amid his 2014 struggles, he went out on a high note, completing 34 of 50 passes for 371 yards and four touchdowns in the Lions' 31-30 overtime win over Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium.

"Physically, he's the total package," said DiNardo, a former college head coach. "I don't see anything he lacks physically. Nothing."

As far as the scrutiny he receives, and will continue to receive this season, Hackenberg simply said, "It's just part of the deal.

"I focus on what I've got control over, and that's just continuing to be what I need to be to the team, prepare the way I need to prepare to win games and play the way I need to play. That's how I just really focus on it, all the variables that I can control. If I do that, then everything else will take care of itself.

"You're always going to have critics. You're always going to have people who are not fans. To them, football defines you. To me, it doesn't. It's just something that I love to do, something that I'm extremely passionate about. I'm really just trying to work on focus on what I need to control."

James Franklin saw the frustration last season. Asked Friday at Big Ten football media day in Chicago if he wanted to see Hackenberg more calm, he called the issue "a fine line."

"I definitely want him to be calm, cool, and collected as much as he possibly can be," the Nittany Lions' second-year coach said. "But I also think there's times that he needs to show emotion. I think Christian was in a unique situation last year. You're talking about a true sophomore, basically the entire offense was on his shoulders.

"I want Christian to have fun. I want him to enjoy himself and to be true to who he is. If he feels like the thing that's going to help him and our team be most successful is be calm, cool, and collected, I want him to be that. If there's a time where he needs to get emotional and get after people, I'm fine with that as well."

Franklin called the talk about Hackenberg and the NFL draft "a great conversation and a legitimate conversation to have - after the season." He said his quarterback has asked for his assistance in not addressing the topic.

"Christian has asked me specifically, 'Any interviews I do, I do not want to talk about this,' " he said. "He and his family have said, 'We don't want to answer this question anymore. Every interview we do, that's what it's about.' So I'm sensitive to that for him. It's something I believe in strongly for our program."

The appreciation of Hackenberg at Penn State goes back to February 2012, when he made his oral commitment to O'Brien during his junior season at Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy. He stuck with the Lions after the NCAA imposed harsh sanctions that tore the team apart.

"I knew the circumstances weren't going to be great at times and we were going to have to work through that," he said. "But I felt that that was one of those things that you could face. I felt like it wasn't going to be a huge deal. It was a great opportunity and a real special place. Even though it may not have made sense to other people, it made sense to me."

Hackenberg's loyalty to Penn State continued after O'Brien's departure for the Houston Texans after the 2013 season. He knew Franklin in high school through recruiting channels and stuck around, eventually having moments of difficulty as he and his teammates on offense labored to be on the same page.

Now he's taking life "one day at a time." That covers Wednesday's start of training camp, the Sept. 5 regular-season opener against Temple at Lincoln Financial Field, a favorable non-conference schedule and Big Ten games at defending national champion Ohio State and at Michigan State. That's followed by a likely bowl game, figuring that the Nittany Lions will gain the required six wins.

Throughout, there will be scrutiny and critics and the quarterback's typical fate of life in the proverbial fishbowl. But Franklin will not allow any distractions, and all-Big Ten defensive tackle Anthony Zettel, a close friend, knows Hackenberg will be all business.

"He'll do what he feels he needs to do at the end of the season," Zettel said. "But right now, I know he doesn't care about that. We don't let it really get to us because he doesn't let it get to us. He really is super-focused on making this team better."

Hackenberg is still leading a young team, but one that should be better with more depth and experience.

"Last year, everything happened so fast and expectations were so high that it was hard to be super-successful in that situation," he said. "I think this year, just being able to have those relationships, having gone through what we went through, has been huge for us."

Maybe Hackenberg will have the kind of bounce-back season that will generate constant conversation about the NFL. Just don't ask him about it.

Christian Hackenberg's numbers dipped significantly in his second season at Penn State, his first under coach James Franklin.

                           Att. per   Yds. per   

Year   Games   Cmp.   Att.   Pct.   Yards   TD   Int.   Rating   game   attempt

2013   12   231   392   0.589   2,955   20   10   133.98   32.7   7.5

2014   13   270   484   0.558   2,977   12   15   109.44   37.2   6.2

Totals   25   501   876   0.572   5,932   32   25   120.42   35.0   6.8   

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