Penn State football: Roster movement clarifies standing for 2022 season

James Franklin made clear on signing day what Penn State’s roster objectives might be moving forward.

Whether it was through the second signing day in February or the transfer portal, he said, Penn State would have needs to fill on the offensive line, receiver, defensive end, defensive tackle, and linebacker.

“Linebacker, D-line on the defensive side of the ball, and then on offense, offensive line, and then possibly wide receiver,” Franklin said. “We’ll see how that plays out, whether it’s the second signing day or whether it’s the transfer portal. There are a lot of things going on, a lot of moving parts right now.”

Monday afternoon, those needs took another step toward clarity.

In an unannounced update to the program’s roster, with Penn State players returning to campus for the start of the spring academic semester last week and workouts now ramping up, a variety of moves took place.

In total, the Nittany Lions saw 16 players come off the roster from what appeared ahead of the bowl game. Some already announced as returning, and many others already having announced transfers out, four unresolved statuses finally found clarity.

Penn State senior moves

Fifth-years all, center Mike Miranda, guard Anthony Whigan, receiver Cameron Sullivan-Brown, and defensive tackle Fred Hansard have at last found resolution.

Coming out of a December/January phase that saw a wave of announcements for Penn State football, those including returns for quarterback Sean Clifford, safety Tig Brown, safety Jonathan Sutherland, and defensive tackle P.J. Mustipher, the aforementioned group remained an unknown.

No longer.

Though plenty of indications were available that those players would not return for the 2022 season – Miranda, Whigan, Sullivan-Brown, and Hansard all participating in the program’s senior day ceremonies, and in photos being carried off the field – so too did Clifford, Mustipher, and Sutherland.

Not among the fifth-years with COVID-year eligibility situations to resolve, the absences of receiver Daniel George and transfer corner A.J. Lytton stand as two more departures from the updated roster release.

That none of Penn State’s departing players were among the program’s most outstanding performers doesn’t mean an impact won’t be felt.

Most notably, Miranda finishes a prolific career as a Nittany Lion. In all, the former three-star from Ohio saw action in 47 total games in four years of participation. His only missed game among a stretch of 21 straight starts between his junior and senior seasons came in the Rutgers “flu game” last November.

Starting the Wisconsin game at left guard, Whigan’s role was quickly cut short due to struggles against the Badgers. Still, he appeared in spot duty and provided key support as a fill-in starter at right guard against Rutgers. The effort was one of 102 offensive snaps in Whigan’s third and final year in the program after a transfer from Lackawanna College.

For Sullivan-Brown, the departure ends a Penn State career simultaneously marked by promise and disappointment due to frequent injury. Expected to step into a larger role as a redshirt junior in 2020, the optimism never materialized. Instead ceding snaps to then-freshmen Parker Washington and KeAndre Lambert-Smith, CSB’s ascent failed to take place. Expected to take on a larger role in ’21, Sullivan-Brown finished playing 190 snaps with four receptions for 44 yards.

Hansard, meanwhile, shared a similar sideways trajectory. A productive redshirt sophomore campaign in 2019 ended with a limited role in ’21. Said by James Franklin to be a “model citizen and a model student-athlete” during his Penn State career, Hansard finished with 23 total tackles and 6.0 TFL.

Impact on 2022 roster management

Franklin likely wasn’t only considering super seniors who hadn’t made public announcements or decisions when he highlighted the program’s needs.

(The decisions of Mustipher, Jesse Luketa, Brandon Smith, Ellis Brooks, and Rasheed Walker would have come into play, however.)

Still, two receivers, a defensive tackle, and offensive linemen all happen to align. Helping to remedy a need at receiver with the addition of transfer Mitchell Tinsley from Western Kentucky, others remain.

With the departures of six from the projected scholarship roster, the Nittany Lions stand at 84 as winter workouts commence. Seventy are on campus now with nine early enrollees and another 14 still to come from the Class of 2022.

Penn State has 11 scholarships divvied among its receivers, with just one senior in Tinsley. With the departures of Whigan and Miranda, Penn State has an allotment of 13 scholarships on the offensive line. In Hansard’s absence, the Nittany Lions have nine scholarships devoted to defensive tackle. And, sans Lytton, Penn State has eight scholarships at corner ahead of the 2022 season.