Penn State tight end Brenton Strange learns first NFL home
Another Penn State player is off the board during the 2023 NFL Draft. Former Lions tight end Brenton Strange was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the No. 61 overall pick in Round 2 of this year’s pro selection process.
The Parkersburg, W.Va., native is the second one-time member of head coach James Franklin’s roster to hear his name called so far. The draft continues through Saturday.
Strange left eligibility on the table at Penn State by leaving school when he did begin training for the next level. In full, he spent four seasons in State College. The tight end totaled 70 catches for 755 yards and 11 touchdowns. His best season came in 2022, when he reached career highs in receptions (32), yards (362), and touchdowns (five).
“Over the last couple of months, I’ve had a lot of Zoom interviews,” Strange told reporters at Pro Day in March. “Basically, every single team, they just love how I’m a versatile piece and that’s kind of what I was for Penn State, too. Not every week you’re going to see me get the ball, like, 5-10 times a game. But some weeks you are.
“So, I do a lot more things that are kind of unseen in the game and they realize that and they know I’m a moveable piece. I could play ‘Y’, I could play ‘H’, I could play fullback. Whatever it is, that’s what I told them I want to do to help a team be successful, even play on special teams, too.”
How does Penn State move on from Brenton Strange?
Strange was a key piece in a deep Penn State tight end rotation in 2022. It will continue without him in 2023.
Health is the first order of business. Both Theo Johnson and Tyler Warren, who played behind Strange last season, missed spring practice. They should be ready to go for preseason camp, however. One big key beyond that, though, will be ensuring one of Khalil Dinkins, Jerry Cross, January enrollees Joey Schlaffer and Mega Barnwell, or summer arrival Andrew Rappleyea is ready to fill the third tight end role.
“One of the things I do really like about this group is we got a chance to have more depth where last year if we had an injury or two at tight end we had to really get away from some of our packages,” Franklin said in March. “I think these guys are going to allow us to have the depth that we’re not really worried about losing a package based on not having enough proven versatile tight ends.”
Penn State will need to work on making sure its depth is game ready, though, by September now that Strange has moved on.
