James Franklin: Brenton Strange is playing as good as any tight end in the country

Penn State tight end Brenton Strange may not be quite as good as Brock Bowers, but his head coach thinks he’s been one of the best tight ends in the country to date. It’s not just pass catching and stat stuffing that James Franklin is happy about — he thinks Strange has brought a lot to the Penn State run game as a blocker.

Franklin sought to give his tight end some shine. In a day and age where players Franklin dubbed “big wideouts” are dominating the position and putting up gaudy receiving numbers for tight ends, the Penn State head coach lauded the throwback style of Strange.

“I think he’s playing his best football right now,” Franklin said. “He’s an older guy who has played a bunch of football for us already. So I don’t know if I necessarily would say a big change. This was expected for him and really that whole group. You guys have heard me talk about that whole group for a while. But I do think he’s playing really good football for us, which is, I think has been really impactful. We talk about the O-line all the time and the run game, but our tight ends are having a big impact for it, as well. I think Brenton is playing as good as any tight ends in the country.”

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In justifying his point, Franklin alluded to former Penn State punter Jordan Stout, who he thought was the best punter in the country last year but did not get that recognition. He thinks a similar dynamic is playing out for Strange.

“And what I mean by that, I see these awards going — like, I thought Stout was the best punter in the country last year. Why? Because the only stat that matters in punting is net punting. If you punt the ball 93 yards and they return it 75 yards because you out-kicked your coverage with no hang time, it doesn’t matter — it’s net punting. And I think Stout was No. 1 in that in the country last year. I think it’s similar with tight ends. If we’re just going to award tight ends individually, because of receiving yards and receptions, to me there’s so much more to being a tight end than that. And I think Brenton is playing really well-rounded tight end play, right now. And I think the real, true football people understand that.”

Regardless, Strange — who has nine catches for 169 yards and a touchdown this season — is a major asset for the Nittany Lions.

“I think that’s going to help us throughout this year offensively,” Franklin said. “I know it helps our defense have to go against him every single day in practice, and really that whole group. And I also know it’s going to help Brenton in terms of his future, whenever that opportunity comes at the next level. I think it’s going to help him. Because so many of these tight ends in high school, so many of these tight ends in college are not tight ends. They’re big wideouts.”