Andrew Rappleyea injury update: Penn State tight end to miss extended time due to injury
STATE COLLEGE — Penn State football will be without an emerging member of its offense for an extended period of time. Redshirt freshman tight end Andrew Rappleyea was listed on the Nittany Lions’ pregame availability report as out for Saturday’s win over Bowling Green. After the game, head coach James Franklin said that it was too soon to update the New York native’s status. However, he did provide an update on Tuesday night during his first and only news conference of the bye week.
“Yeah, that’s a long-term injury,” Franklin said. He did not disclose the nature of the injury.
Rappleyea’s injury is a new one. He was part of the travel roster last week at West Virginia. In the Nittany Lions’ 34-12 win over the Mountaineers, he played 24 snaps on offense but did not record any counting stats. With Khalil Dinkins sidelined for much of preseason camp in addition to the season opener, Rappleyea moved into the No. 2 tight end role in Andy Kotelnicki’s offense. Dinkins did return to game action on Saturday and moves back into that role in Rappleyea’s absence.
What does Andrew Rappleyea’s injury mean to Penn State?
The news is a blow to Andy Kotelnicki’s offense. A former four-star, Rappleyea came to Penn State with high hopes that he could contribute in his first season as a Nittany Lion. He ended up preserving a year of eligibility but did get his feet wet. However, he was set to break out in year two.
“I think you’ll see a ton of Rappleyea [on Saturday],” Franklin said before the West Virginia game. “I also think you’ll see a decent amount of Luke [Reynolds] as well in this first game. Rap, as you guys know, there’s been an excitement about him since last year. He just continues to develop and get better. I think Tyler [Warren’s] influence on all those guys has been really good. And Luke has come in exactly what you want and has pushed those guys, too. So he’s a mature guy, and he’ll have a role in this game one too.”
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With Rappleyea out, Penn State freshman Luke Reynolds is likely to burn his redshirt. If Dinkins and Rappeleya were healthy, that would probably not be the case. But, it seems like a certainty now.
“He’s going to be a really good player here,” Franklin said in earlier this month. “He’s very similar to Tyler Warren. They both played high school quarterback and transitioned to the position. He has gotten bigger. He put on a good amount of weight early on, and then he’s kind of plateaued off a little bit.”
