BWI Live: Penn State Football Players with the Most Upside for 2024
The Penn State Nittany Lions will need several players on offense and defense to take critical steps in development this year if the team wants to compete for postseason relevance. We’re counting down the ten players on either side of the ball who have the talent and experience to make those steps on today’s BWI Live Show. Join us as we look at the offensive and defensive players who can improve the team’s performance. Here’s the criteria for the players on today’s list.
- Physical skills necessary to be a standout player or difference maker in their position
- They have to be able to reach that ceiling realistically or close to it this upcoming season.
- Must be on a path to contribute in 2024
- Players who have reached some version of their ceiling, such as K.J. Winston or Kobe King, won’t be included.
If you want to check out the series of articles that this show is based on, subscribe to Blue White Illustrated.
Penn State transfer portal recap
Before getting to today’s list, we discuss last week’s final round of spring transfer portal departures. We’ll discuss their impact on Penn State from a short—and long-term perspective, focusing on safety King Mack and wide receiver Malik McClain. From a football perspective, Mack’s decision doesn’t make much sense and we discuss why.
Players with the most upside: Offense
Here’s an excerpt from the top five article today’s show is based upon.
It’s been hard to separate Ioane and JB Nelson at guard for almost a year. So, when ranking their composite skills on a “ceiling” list, we will push and keep them tied at five.
He hasn’t shown it much, but Nelson is an equally rare athlete. He’s one of the team’s strongest offensive linemen, and his performance numbers as a prospect align with those of the team’s tackles. After all, there’s a reason that he’s the team’s swing tackle.
Players with the most upside: Defense
We’ll conclude today’s show by looking at the defensive side of the football. While there are fewer players on the defense who can reasonably achieve upside than on the offense, the defense features some very promising players.
Whether he starts for Penn State or not, transfer A.J. Harris leaps to the top of our list as a player with incredible potential. He’s got the size, at 6-1, 188, but more importantly, he uses it. He hounded wide receivers during the Blue-White Game and played with a physicality that stood out to everyone.
