Penn State football Class of 2022 redshirt plans clarify

With five games completed out of Penn State’s 2022 schedule, the Nittany Lions are enjoying an off-date this weekend. A moment to stop and evaluate what’s taken place so far, and the challenges that remain, head coach James Franklin said the notion was especially true of the program’s true freshman class.

A group that included numbered 25 signees, with a junior college transfer in JB Nelson and another who is no longer with the program in Ken Talley, Penn State’s Class of 2022 isn’t, however, at much of a crossroads. With the Nittany Lion coaching staff and players mapping out intentions for the final seven games, with a presumed eighth coming in a bowl, Franklin detailed this week a rule of thumb for the media regarding those plans.

Meeting Tuesday evening in his only availability this week, Franklin was asked to discuss whether or not two members of the class, offensive linemen Drew Shelton and Vega Ioane, would redshirt.

Franklin’s response provided further clarification of a flexible-but-standard framework from which Penn State is approaching the rest of the season for the class.

“I think for those two, as well as a number of guys, if you look at who’s played and who hasn’t up to this point, we’ve kind of made up our mind that if they haven’t played in four games up to this point, we’re going to try to be strategic about these last couple of games and redshirt them if we can,” Franklin said. “That doesn’t mean that we don’t feel like some of these guys could play if we needed them to play. And we will (play them) if the circumstances change.”

For Shelton and Ioane, specifically, that means redshirts are likely. The two players have so far appeared in one game apiece, Shelton earning 11 snaps in Penn State’s win over Ohio in Week Two, and Ioane showing the same rep count in the same game.

Penn State Class of 2022 roadmap

Digesting the rest of Penn State’s Class of 2022 and its status moving forward, then, is mostly straightforward. (To recap, Sean Fitz offered September assessments and insights on offense and defense coming out of the Auburn game.)

At the forefront, Penn State has seven true freshmen who have played in every game this season. Running backs Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton have been the most prominent pieces impacting Penn State’s offense. Allen’s 146 snaps lead the way over Singleton’s 128. Singleton currently leads the rushing chart with 463 yards and five scores on 63 carries. Allen isn’t far behind with 57 carries for 303 yards and three touchdowns.

At receiver, Omari Evans has two catches for 30 yards, including a touchdown, on 54 total reps. His role figures to increase depending on the injury status of KeAndre Lambert-Smith moving forward. 

And, of course, true freshman quarterback Drew Allar found playing opportunities in Penn State’s first four games this season. So far he’s completed 12 of 19 passes for 163 yards with two touchdowns. He saw no snaps against Northwestern last week but will burn his redshirt this season.

On the defensive side of the ball, linebacker Abdul Carter has been the most prolific of Penn State’s true freshman performers. He’s second on the team in tackles with 18 this season despite playing in just 134 of Penn State’s 379 total defensive snaps this season.

The Nittany Lions’ other true freshmen defenders who’ve played in every game are defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton (80 snaps) and tackle Zane Durant (77). Dennis-Sutton is second on the team in TFL and leads with 3.0 sacks. Durant has notched one tackle in his playing time.

And, though having only played in four games so far due to a preseason injury that prevented him from participating at Purdue, KJ Winston has made 5.0 tackles in his 41 total snaps over four games.

“At this stage, we kind of put guys into categories of you’re playing, or we’re going to try to be strategic with these last couple of games as much as we possibly can,” Franklin said. “Because, we just feel like the value at this point is if we stay healthy, would be to save them for another year.”

An outlier in the class?

Two middle-ground candidates are worth noting at this point this season. Their paths, Blue-White Illustrated has learned, are likely to diverge from each other, however.

On the offensive side of the ball, guard JB Nelson played against Ohio and then helped fill in for the injury to Hunter Nourzad against Central Michigan. Despite favorable reviews, however, the immediate future for Nelson is going to be an attempt to redshirt him. So, no change from Franklin’s initial rule of thumb.

Defensively, cornerback Cam Miller is trending in the other direction. Though he didn’t see action against Northwestern last week and didn’t play in the opener, Miller is a go for Penn State on defense and special teams the rest of the season, BWI has learned. In his 58 reps this season, he’s notched three tackles and has one of the highest grades on the defense, according to PFF, at 78.2 behind Winston and Amin Vanover.

Barring injuries or unexpected breakouts the rest of the way, that leaves Kaden Saunders, Shelton, Ioane, Beau Pribula, Anthony Ivey, Tyler Johnson, Jerry Cross, and Maleek McNeil headed for redshirts on Penn State’s offensive side of the Class of 2022. Linebacker Keon Wylie, Christian Driver, Mehki Flowers, Kaleb Artis, and punter Alex Bacchetta fall into the same category, likely preserving their redshirts.