James Franklin evaluates how Julian Fleming has transitioned to Penn State's offense

If Penn State hopes to take a significant step forward this fall and perhaps beat rivals Michigan and Ohio State, the Nittany Lions will need a more functional passing game than they had a year ago. Enter Julian Fleming, a weapon acquired from the Buckeyes in the transfer portal this offseason.

Fleming should help provide an additional option in the passing game. And so far he’s had an encouraging start to fall camp.

“I would say solid. He’s been solid,” coach James Franklin said. “He’s been, I think they’ve all been good at times. It’s still obviously a small number of practices and number of plays to truly evaluate.”

Julian Fleming brings a lot of experience to the table, having suited up for Ohio State for the past four years.

His best individual season came in 2022, when he caught 34 passes for 533 yards and six touchdowns. He had a quieter 2023 season, catching 26 passes for 270 yards.

But you have to remember the Buckeyes have been absolutely loaded with first-round talent at receiver. There was a lot of competition.

What Franklin has seen so far out of Julian Fleming — and the rest of the receiver group — has been quite encouraging.

“I thought our entire staff as well as team felt like the wide receivers took a big jump in Day 2 compared to Day 1,” Franklin said. “And I know a lot of the coaches and players, (Jaylen) Reed actually spoke to the team after practice about it. So I thought that was a real positive.”

That said, there’s a long way to go still. Fall camp will wear players down and how well players like Julian Fleming are able to push through the fatigue will be key.

Franklin was quick to temper expectations based on the amount of work done so far.

“It’s just kind of a small pool right now to really base that off of,” Franklin said. “I’ll have a better idea a week from now. But so far solid and obviously there’s still some steps that need to be taken there for that entire room. Obviously that’s been a big question mark for the media and some of the fans. I think the coaching staff and I think the players have, I would say, a good amount of confidence in what that room has the ability to do and the amount of work that they’ve put in with Beau (Pribula) and Drew (Allar) all summer.”