Brenton Strange fulfilling once-elusive promise at Penn State

Brenton Strange entered the 2021 season determined to do it all. Pointing to Pro Bowl tight end George Kittle as his inspiration, the Nittany Lion wanted to provide toughness in every phase of the game, while hoping to expand his role as a pass-catcher in Penn State’s offense. 

“That was going to be my role all season with Pat. I was gonna be that guy like Bowers,” Strange said in the months leading up to Penn State’s 2021 season. “In the NFL, you see guys like Kittle. Those are the guys that get paid. That’s what I want to be a part of my game. 

“It’s just a toughness thing. I feel like I already have it. But, it’s really a mental thing because it’s what you want to go do.”

In Penn State’s first three games of the 2022 season, those original aims are coming into fruition for Strange.

With nine receptions for 169 yards and a touchdown, the redshirt junior is atop Penn State’s receptions chart. His 18.78 yards per catch is also the best of any Nittany Lion with more than one so far this season. 

Stacked against his numbers in 2021, the differences jump off the page. Then reeling in 20 catches for 225 yards and three touchdowns, Strange struggled to produce consistent performances from game to game. While finishing the year as one of Penn State’s best run-blockers, his passing-game credentials fluctuated significantly. 

Brenton Strange’s development

Now coming off his best game of the season, pulling in six catches on seven targets for 80 yards with 59 of them coming after the catch, Penn State head coach James Franklin has seen enough. Reiterating a point hammered home frequently, the attributes that have kept Strange at the front of the depth chart, and have been raved over for years, are very much coming to light concurrently.

“I think he’s playing his best football right now,” Franklin said Tuesday. “He’s an older guy who has played a bunch of football for us already. 

“This was expected for him and really that whole group. But I do think he’s playing really good football for us, which I think has been really impactful… I think Brenton is playing as good as any tight end in the country.”

According to PFF, at Auburn, Strange was. With an overall offensive grade of 93.9, and a receiving grade of 92.1, the effort finished second only to Georgia’s Brock Bowers, who posted 121 yards and two scores on five receptions in the Bulldogs’ win over South Carolina. 

Particularly impactful and noticeable as a run-blocker, Strange was also credited for his role in springing some of the Nittany Lions’ biggest carries in the game. 

“I love that. I enjoy that just as much as the touchdowns; I enjoy that so much,” Strange said afterward. “That’s why I like being a tight end. You get to do everything. You get to pass protect, you get to run block, and I think that’s why tight end is the best position in the game.”

Next steps

Ingrained as a steady and important component of Penn State’s offense this season, Sean Clifford is especially aware of what that means for the Nittany Lions as the season progresses. 

Crediting all of the work that went into Strange reaching this point, pointing back to winter workouts, spring practices, summer workouts and preseason camp, those efforts have led to this moment. “It’s cool to be able to see that coming full circle,” Clifford said. “We’re always trying to feed Brenton the ball.”

Distinguishing Strange’s play this season against that of his peers nationally, Franklin added that the “well-rounded” moniker is going to serve the tight end well this season and into the future. Already a boost to the Nittany Lion defense having to prepare against Strange each week, the dividends are showing themselves with contributions seen and unseen.

“It’s going to help Brenton in terms of his future,” Franklin said. “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 and so many of the tight ends in college are not tight ends. They’re big wideouts.”

Before that day comes, Strange is determined to continue doing the work that brought him to this point. 

Proud of where that is, but convinced of more to come, the mentality will guide Strange through the rest of the season, he said. 

“I do feel like I’m being a more consistent player,” Strange said. “But, how many weeks are in a football season? I think there are nine weeks left. So, I just gotta keep doing what I’m doing and keep being good in the process.”