Nittany Lion trio nabs preseason watch list honors

Only a few minutes passed before Penn State head coach James Franklin weighed in on Monday evening. A new post on the Nittany Lions’ social media feeds recognized redshirt senior Tyler Duzansky for being named to the Mannelly Award Watch List, presented annually to college football’s best long snapper.

Highlighting the news, Franklin shared a message that Penn State fans have come to understand well during his 11 years leading the program. “We take Special Teams very serious around here & this guy leads them,” Franklin posted to X.

That’s been the case for the past two seasons, as Duzansky has held the primary long snapping duties for the Nittany Lions. After spending the 2021 and 2022 seasons behind Chris Stoll – the program’s last Patrick Mannelly Award winner in 2022 and now a member of the Seattle Seahawks – Duzansky won the job in 2023.

He hasn’t relinquished it since, playing in all 13 games during his first year as a starter while earning Academic All-Big Ten honors. He also led the nation in tackles made by a long snapper that season.

Last year, he followed that effort with a third-team All-Big Ten selection by the media and an honorable mention from the conference’s coaches. He started all 16 games during the Nittany Lions’ run to the Big Ten Championship Game and the College Football Playoff semifinal.

In the process, Duzansky earned the affection of Franklin, who praised the long snapper on his weekly radio show last season.

“Long snappers are a little bit like offensive linemen – no one talks about them until they do something wrong. And Tyler has been phenomenal,” Franklin said. “I think Chris Stoll, who snapped for us for a couple of years and is now the starting snapper in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks – Duzansky has come in after Chris left and has just done a phenomenal job.

“Not only can he snap for both field goals and punts, but he can also cover. Very, very athletic. Takes tremendous pride in it and has been phenomenal. So we’ve got one guy starting in the NFL as a snapper right now – I think Duzansky will be one in the future, too.”

Duzansky wasn’t the only Nittany Lion named to a preseason watch list on Monday. Earlier in the day, quarterback Drew Allar and running back Nick Singleton were selected to the Walter Camp Award Watch List, which honors the top player in college football each year.

The senior quarterback and running back were among 46 players nationally recognized.

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