Penn State tackle Drew Shelton is healthy and happy after tough 2023, slow start to 2024
Penn State junior Drew Shelton enters 2024 as a projected first-time starter who feels like anything but. The towering Downingtown, Pa., native is on track to replace Olu Fashanu at left tackle. He has started six of 19 career games as a Nittany Lion, meaning he is far more experienced than most blockers who sit atop the depth chart for the first time this late in their career. The 6-foot-5, 305-pound lineman has had an interesting journey to date. He was pressed into a first-team role for the final five games of his freshman season when Fashanu was hurt. Then, in 2023, he played in all 13 games but didn’t start until the Peach Bowl. That was not the only interesting part of his second season on campus. He also played most of it hurt.
Shelton would not reveal the nature of his injury during an interview at the Lions’ local media day last weekend. However, it was clearly significant.
“It was a struggle,” Shelton said. “It took a lot behind the scenes, a lot of work by our trainers, doctors, and Coach [Phil] Trautwein in practice every day just to get to Saturday.”
More: Between the lines: Digging into BTN Penn State practice nuggets
He made it to all of them. But, whatever ailed him led to a planned offseason surgery earlier this year that cost him all of spring practice. In a normal sense, that would not be ideal. But, that was especially the case with first-year coordinator Andy Kotelnicki installing his offense for the first time over those 15 practices. Shelton could only watch. But, that doesn’t mean his preparation was or is lacking beyond the obvious inability to perform what he was seeing himself.
“Spring was very mental, just standing behind watching, getting a lot of mental reps, and working on my body outside of the practice field and just doing what I could do to make myself better.”
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Shelton was officially cleared to do all football-related activities this summer, which he said was a huge weight lifted off of his shoulders. Following spring practice, he was able to return to player-led work and spent the summer making up for lost time on the field.
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“I think he had that experience that he had last year where he was rotating in a ton, and now, obviously, coming into this year, healthy, experienced, more mature, very, very football intelligent from a football IQ standpoint; I think he’s going to have a really good year for us,” head coach James Franklin earlier this summer. “I think there’s a lot of confidence and there’s a lot of faith.”
No one can replicate exactly the way a first-round pick like Fashanu played. Shelton knows that. And, he also knows he doesn’t have to for both himself and Penn State to go where they want to in 2024.
“I’m just taking the experience I’ve got from learning from Olu and Caeden [Wallace] and those guys and just really trying to make it my own,” Shelton said. “Obviously, I’m my own player. I can’t be Olu. I can’t be Caeden. But I’m going to learn from them, and use all the tips that they’ve given me, to make myself the best left tackle for Penn State football.”
