5 takeaways from a busy first week of the offseason for Penn State football

Penn State had a busy start to the offseason before the 2022 season.

The first week of January is always chaotic, in both good ways and bad. Some players leave for the NFL. Others decide to stay. Coaches come and go, and occasionally there is a member of the roster who chooses to end his career altogether.

Over the last five days, head coach James Franklin’s program has experienced all of those things. Here are our takeaways from the week that was.

The biggest news for Penn State was….

There are a couple of ways to go here. For this writer, there was only one choice.

Penn State and its fans are probably not surprised that P.J. Mustipher decided to return for the 2022 season. After all, the veteran defensive tackle from Maryland suffered an injury at Iowa that cost him the second half of the year.

However, with at least one draft analyst suggesting Mustipher could have been an early Day 3 NFL Draft pick according to scouts, he certainly had options. While it’s unclear when Mustipher will be cleared for contact, he should be a force in the middle of Manny Diaz’s defense in 2022 whenever he’s ready. That’s a big plus for the Lions.

What was the biggest surprise for the Lions?

This is an easy one.

Franklin typically takes six to 10 days between either firing or losing a staff member and hiring a replacement. However, it took him only about 24 hours to bring Stacy Collins aboard as the new special teams coordinator/outside linebackers and nickles coach to fill the on-field staff spot vacated by Joe Lorig.

Collins, who comes from Boise State, has never coached on the east coast. But, he has produced numerous strong special teams units overall and individual returners and specialists during a career that began alongside Lorig at Western Oregon in the late 1990s.

Lorig’s tenure ended on a sour note with the failed fakes in 2021, but he had a pretty good few years here. Expect Collins to build on it.

One aside: Dwight Galt’s retirement was a very close second.

One decision we’ll wonder about is..

Rasheed Walker came back to Penn State in 2021 with hopes of improving his draft stock. Now, the multi-year starter at left tackle and All-Big Ten pick is not found on many if any draft boards.

The Maryland native missed the Outback Bowl due to injury. Some thought that setback could bring him back for another year in blue and white. Instead, we’re left to assume if whatever caused him to miss the game may have occurred so that his recovery process could start sooner before the path to the NFL Draft begins in earnest.

Many Lions fans believe Walker should have stayed another year. This space isn’t so sure of that. But, it’s safe to say that many are divided on the topic. Either way, it’s something we’ll wonder about until we see what happens down the road.

The Penn State player who will be missed more than expected is..

One of the players who announced his decision to turn pro following the Outback Bowl is specialist Jordan Stout.

Stout was a superb punter and kickoff man for the Lions in 2021. You can’t tell the story of the Lions’ defense without recognizing all the advantageous situations he helped put it in.

Collins has his work cut out for him to fill Stout’s shoes. Jake Pinegar and Sander Sahaydak are the scholarship options at kicker, while Class of 2022 signee Alex Bacchetta will be the only punter on scholarship. There are some walk-ons with game experience at that spot, however, but there’s much to figure out here over the next eight months.

Good luck to Aeneas Hawkins

Reserve defensive tackle Aeneas Hawkins announced the end of his playing days last week. He will graduate this summer with a broadcast journalism degree.

The former four-star dealt with injuries during his time in blue and white. That led to little game action. But, he has a tremendous personality and should have no problem finding a role in the media world. We look forward to finding out what it is.