Which Penn State freshmen are inching closer to earning green-light status for the 2025 season?

STATE COLLEGE — Penn State is nearly at the halfway mark of its 12th preseason camp in the James Franklin era. The Nittany Lions put their 11th day of drills in the books on Tuesday night. No member of the Class of 2025 has earned green-light status ye. That’s the phrase the program uses to say which newcomers are most likely use a year of eligibility during their first on campus, of course. But, three freshmen are inching closer to doing so 18 days before the Lions take on Nevada.

“I think the guys that probably jump out the most right now are [defensive end Yvan] Kemajou, [cornerback] Daryus Dixson, and then the third one is [defensive end] Chaz [Coleman],” head coach James Franklin said on Tuesday night. “Those are probably the three guys right now that we’re talking about the most. But, we’ll see. It hasn’t been decided yet for those guys, and then some other guys. But those guys, I think there’s been a lot of discussions about, a lot of positive buzz about them. So we’ll see.”

Dixson, who is 6-foot, 191 pounds, flashed during spring ball and especially in the Blue-White game. His positive play has carried over to preseason camp. Kemajou, then, is a 6-3, 250-pound former four-star. And Coleman may be the freakiest player in the signing class. However, it was unclear how quickly he could develop into someone who could produce game-ready reps, given his background as a quarterback in high school before transitioning to defensive end. However, the 6-foot-4 defender who is listed at 240 but up to 250, per Franklin, is producing a lot of those in camp. So much so that even Franklin and his staff are caught off guard by it.

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“Yeah, I think we’re all surprised,” Franklin said. I mean, we knew he was a talent, right? Tall, long, athletic, high-level basketball player, quarterback. His senior year, he moves to defensive end, blows up, gets some offers. We offer. He commits. Everybody else still comes after him. Got a great family, and they held true. And you know, we still didn’t know what we were going to get. Because, you only play one year of defensive end, it’s a long way from the quarterback position. But his physicality and his explosiveness and his motor have been impressive. Everybody’s talking about him, you know? It’s early. But, he’s flashed, and there’s a lot of excitement about his ability.

“I went around and asked all the freshmen, which I do every year, how they see themselves as red, yellows, or greens, in terms of red shirting or playing right away. And he said he was yellow, and everybody in the room is kind of looking at him like, ‘Dude, you ain’t yellow.’ But that’s just the type of guy he is. Been raised well, and he’s got really good genetics. So, he’s an exciting one.”