James Franklin breaks down what Cooper Cousins brings to Penn State offensive line

One of Penn State‘s top signees during the early signing period was offensive lineman Cooper Cousins, an intriguing prospect up front in the trenches.

Penn State coach James Franklin raved about the addition, in part because of how unique Cousins is.

“Coop’s kind of an unusual guy, right?” Franklin said. “I think, first of all, I think he can play all five positions. You don’t usually see a 6-foot-6, 320-pound guy play center. I think that’s unusual.”

There was something else unusual about Cousins’ recruitment. Despite being 6 foot 6, Cousins was classified as an interior linemen on the major recruiting services.

“In some ways I think it hurt him in the rankings because I think when they ranked him as an offensive lineman they ranked him as an interior guy, and they always rank the interior guys lower than the tackles,” Franklin said. “From having him in camp, I think he can play all five spots and there’s tremendous value in guys like that.”

But Cooper Cousins, an Erie, Pa., native, also had an interesting way of proving that value to the Penn State coaching staff.

“He came to every camp. That was unique,” Franklin said. “We played him at tackle and he showed he could do it. He’s got a nasty streak, and to your point he doesn’t look like a high school kid. He’s a lean 6 foot 6, 320 pounds, which is unusual.”

With his size, Cousins could have a chance to get on the field early for the Nittany Lions. He’s been dedicated as a recruit from Day No. 1.

In fact, Cooper Cousins’ steadfastness in the recruiting process was one of the things that made him a leader in the Penn State recruiting class for 2024.

“He also was, really what I could say about a lot of these guys, he was a high production, highly rated guy who was low maintenance,” Franklin said of Cousins. “I mean literally we offered him, they all looked at us, the whole family, you walked around the corner… I think we did this, I want to say it was maybe during COVID or somewhere around that time, because I think we were meeting outside. I’m trying to remember. And he walked away and came back like four minutes later and said, ‘We’re coming.’ And that was the end of it.

“High-profile guy that knew this is where he wanted to be. The family was comfortable and they never wavered. They never wavered, they were awesome the whole time. He became a leader within the class and helping us get other guys. He’s coming in early and is going to have a chance to compete, so I love him. I do.”