Which Penn State football players are participating in Senior Day Saturday?
Penn State football is set to honor a large number of either definitely or potentially outgoing players on Saturday when it holds its annual Senior Day ceremony at Beaver Stadium. This year’s event will start at 3:10 p.m. ET ahead of a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff with Maryland on Big Ten Network.
“Excited about the opportunity,” Lions coach James Franklin said this week. “It’s also Senior Day for our guys, so a lot that comes with that. That’s been a little bit challenging for everybody in college football right now with the COVID years and things like that. It’s made it a little bit whacky over the last couple years. You got sixth year guys, you got fifth year guys, you got fourth year guys; some programs have seventh and eighth year guys. That’s been different.
“But we look forward to having the opportunity to celebrate the seniors and what they’ve done for our program. Obviously we need to play well and be 1-0 to put us in the best position to be able to continue playing as a family as long as possible.”
As Franklin notes, the participant list used to be a guide for who was and was not coming back for another season. That is no longer the case. Some players will walk and return. Others will not do so and still move on.
Penn State Senior Day participant list
You can see it below. An asterisk notes that the player participated in last year’s and this year’s Senior Day festivities. In the case of Dvon J-Thomas, he also participated in the 2022 and 2023 ceremonies so will not walk today despite it being his final year.
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Penn State Senior Day participants who are out of eligibility:
WR Julian Fleming
WR Jake Spencer
TE Tyler Warren*
OL Addison Penn
DE Amin Vanover
DT Coziah Izzard
LB Tyler Elsdon
S Jaylen Reed
Nittany Lion Senior Day participants who are done unless they apply for and get a medical redshirt waiver approved to play another year
OL Sal Wormley
DE Smith Vilbert
Penn State Senior Day participants with eligibility remaining
LB Ben Chizmar
WR Liam Clifford
LB Dom DeLuca
LS Tyler Duzansky
P Mitchell Groh
CB Jon Kimber
LB Kobe King
S Tyrece Mills
ATH Will Patton
K Sander Sahaydak
WR Trey Wallace
S Zakee Wheatley*
Analyzing the list
We could see Vilbert trying to get a waiver to come back for another year. Wormley is less likely to do so. But, we should note that anything is possible in the NIL era.
As for the list of participants with eligibility remaining, it will be interesting to watch Clifford, DeLuca, Duzansky, King, Wallace, and Wheatley. Conversations will happen throughout December to make a final decision following the regular season.
