Penn State redshirt report: Will things change now with four games to go?
Penn State is coming down the home stretch of the 2024 season. It has just four games to go before the postseason. That, of course, means any Nittany Lion who has not yet played in a game this fall could play in every game the rest of the way and still preserve a year of eligibility. It makes the mind wonder whether head coach James Franklin and his staff will alter their approach at all when it comes to playing freshmen.
Our gut feeling at the moment in time is to not expect any major changes. Penn State will surely use safety Vaboue Toure and defensive end Max Granville two times or less over the final four weeks to preserve their redshirts. How things play out with running back Quinton Martin Jr., who is hurt, will depend largely on his health moving forward. He can play in one more game before a final decision on sending him over the five-game threshold would have to be made.
All told, though, Franklin’s answer Wednesday night to a question about how close freshman receiver Tyseer Demark is to contributing more said all that needed to be said.
“As you guys know, there was a lot of excitement about him early in camp, and I think there still is,” Franklin said. “I think we’ve got to a point during the season that we want to make sure, unless there’s health reasons, that at this point, this season, that we’re being strategic about redshirts and those types of things, so that we don’t burn a year this late. So we just got to be strategic and smart about it. But he’s a guy that I do think you’ll see this year.”
More: Everything else Franklin said Wednesday
Next week’s contest at Purdue seems like a good opportunity to get more young players time on the field. The Lions should be a 30-plus-point favorite. The Senior Day scrap with Maryland should be a chance to, as well. However, barring injuries, it’s hard to see any major adjustments being made in terms of snap counts for the Class of 2024 over the final month of the season.
Here’s a look at this week’s redshirt report.
Penn State redshirt report: Ohio State
Unsurprisingly, the three members of the true freshmen class who are already over the five-game threshold saw limited time, mostly relegated to special teams, in the Lions’ 20-13 loss to Ohio State. Penn State tight end Luke Reynolds saw the most snaps of the group, per PFF. He was in for eight on offense but recorded no counting stats in addition to 12 on special teams. Lineman Cooper Cousins had one snap on offense and seven on special teams. And, while safety Dejuan Lane had no defensive snaps, he did have three on special teams.
PSU redshirt tracker after Week 9
First, a reminder: Any member of the roster can play in up to four regular season games and still preserve a year of eligibility. Once you pay in a fifth, you can no longer redshirt. And, most importantly, postseason games do not count against the total. It is a regular season counter only.
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Eight games
TE Luke Reynolds
OL Cooper Cousins
S Dejuan Lane
Three games
RB Quinton Martin Jr.
Two games
S Vaboue Toure
DE Max Granville
One game
WR Tyseer Denmark
CB Kenny Woseley Jr.
LB Anthony Speca
DE Jaylen Harvey
DT Xavier Gilliam
OL Eagan Boyer
CB Jon Mitchell
CB Antoine Belgrave-Shorter
Zero games
RB Corey Smith
QB Ethan Grunkemeyer
DL Liam Andrews
OT Garrett Sexton
DE Mylachi Williams
OL Donovan Harbour
WR Josiah Brown
DL T.A. Cunningham
OL Caleb Brewer
LB Kari Jackson
WR Peter Gonzalez
DT DeAndre Cook
