Penn State continues to evaluate options for Maryland as injury situation lingers
Penn State coach James Franklin is not ready to share any information about who will and won’t be available for Saturday’s matchup with Maryland. And, he admitted that, even if he wanted to, most of the situations are still in a to-be-determined stage on Wednesday of game week.
That said, it was of course a topic of conversation during the ninth-year leader of the Lions’ news conference following practice.
Here’s the latest as Penn State continues to evaluate its options prior to a 3:30 p.m. kickoff on FOX.
Redshirting Drew Shelton may not be realistic
There has been a lot of talk surrounding freshman lineman Drew Shelton after he started at left tackle in last weekend’s 45-14 win over Indiana. Penn State would like to preserve a year of eligibility for the former four-star and Downingtown, Pa., native if it could. But, based on the injury situation surrounding starter Olu Fashanu, that might not be possible. That was the case on Tuesday. And, it continues to be so on Wednesday as the minutes continue to fly by until Saturday before kickoff, when a decision must be made on Fashanu’s status.
“He played really well for a true freshman,” Franklin said. “We’ve been excited about him for a while. I think he’s a multiple-position guy. I think he can play tackle, guard; he’s actually done some center [work] as well. He’s a smart guy, he’s a mature guy, and he’s picked it up fast. He played well.
“I mean, typically with offensive linemen, if you’re not talking about them, that’s a good thing. And, we’ve been very impressed with him. We’d still like to redshirt him if we could, but I don’t know if that will be feasible.”
Franklin later added that Fashanu’s return to the field will be determined by how both the Penn State doctors and trainers feel, in addition to how the first-year first-teamer does, of course. But, he shot down the notion that Fashanu’s soaring NFL Draft stock would play a role in when he might return.
As for Shelton, he has one game left to play before hitting the four-game threshold to redshirt. Playing in a fifth would then burn a year of eligibility.
Could Keon Wylie receive more snaps?
Freshman linebacker Keon Wylie has played in two games this fall. He tallied 10 snaps against Central Michigan back in September and then played against the Hoosiers. However, as the Lions also deal with potential issues at linebacker after Tyler Elsdon and Curtis Jacobs were banged up at Indiana, the Philadelphia native could be in line for additional opportunities coming down the stretch.
Franklin did not offer an update on either of the first two players’ statuses Wednesday. But, he did discuss Wylie’s development and added he’s been happy with the team’s linebacker depth.
“He played this past weekend, so yeah, he’s a guy that could factor in,” Franklin said. “We got a lot of confidence in him. He’s handled the whole process really well. He’s starting to put on some size and get bigger. Because, that was a little bit of an issue when he first showed up. But yeah, he’s a guy that could factor in for sure.”
We’ll see if that ends up being the case. But, Penn State looks likely to have to rely on its talented Class of 2022 more than expected moving forward.
