Penn State redshirt report: Which Lions are closing in on burning a year of eligibility?
Fifteen Penn State freshmen played in at least one of the team’s first two games during the 2023 season. However, in Week 3, the number who saw playing time reduced as expected with conference play underway. The Nittany Lions traveled 10 first-year players for Saturday’s 30-13 win over Illinois. But, only four of them saw the field.
“That was a pretty Big Ten win on the road,” head coach James Franklin said. “You gotta appreciate winning. It’s hard to do. You watch college football, each week there’s games that there are upsets and things you gotta grind it out. That was a big time win for us on the road. It was beautiful to me, especially when you kind of take all the factors that we look at into it.”
How many snaps did each Penn State freshman play against Delaware?
Penn State “green-lit” four players at the start of the season. So, unsurprisingly, it was only those four who saw game action on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
Pro Football Focus does not track special teams snaps. So, these are all defensive numbers. And, almost if not all of them came during the fourth quarter of the victory. Linebacker Tony Rojas led the way. He played 20 snaps and netted two tackles. Cornerback Zion Tracy and safety King Mack played 18 snaps a piece. The former had a tackle and the latter none. Finally, cornerback Elliot Washington II played eight snaps and had two tackles.
All four of those players play both special teams and defense, which is what allows them to play in three games so far as freshmen.
“These guys have shown that they’re the closest, not just to play on defense, but also have significant roles on special teams,” Franklin said. “And, I think that’s one of the big things out there for recruits and players, and whether it’s in college or even in the NFL, there’s so much value in that in terms of ‘Ok, here’s a guy that’s in the two deep on special teams, and here’s a guy that’s in the three deep on offense or defense, who’s going to play enough that it makes sense to green light them and go from game one, [because] he’s going to get enough reps between the combination of his offensive responsibility, and special teams responsibility, or his defensive responsibility and his special teams responsibility, that everybody’s comfortable with it. The coaches are comfortable with it. The players are comfortable with it, and it makes sense.
“So, that’s where those guys have been able to get the green light, is being in what I would consider the three deep on defense, and being within the two deep on enough special teams units that it makes sense.”
Nittany Lions 2023 redshirt tracker
Thanks to an NCAA rule change, players can now suit up in four regular season games and an unlimited number of postseason games while still preserving a year of eligibility. So, Penn State would need to use a freshman in five of 12 regular season games to burn his redshirt this fall.
Here’s where the Penn State tracker stands after Week 3:
Three games
LB Tony Rojas
CB Elliot Washington II
CB Zion Tracy
S King Mack
Two games
One game
QB Jaxon Smolik
TE Andrew Rappleyea
OT J’ven Williams
OL Chimdy Onoh
OT Anthony Donkoh
DT Tyriq Blanding
LB Ta’Mere Robinson
LB Kaveion Keys
CB Lamont Payne
S DaKaari Nelson
Zero games
RB London Montgomery
RB Cam Wallace
WR Carmelo Taylor
TE Joey Schlaffer
OL Alex Birchmeier
DE Joseph Mupoyi
DE Mason Robinson
