Which Penn State player's NFL Draft stock is rising according to one top analyst?

There is not a lot of good news surrounding the Penn State football program at the moment. The Nittany Lions are a surprising 3-2. They fell out of The Associated Press top 25 rankings for the first time since 2022 after losing to UCLA last Saturday. That setback torpedoed the team’s College Football Playoff chances. And, all of those things have happened mostly because the program’s stars, many of whom are veterans who spurned the chance to leave for the pros last year to suit up for one final season in State College, are struggling. However, in the mind of one top NFL Draft analyst, at least one Nittany Lion is doing his part so far.

Dane Brugler of The Athletic picked a handful of players who he thinks will be in the conversation to make his top 50 NFL Draft big board after not doing so previously. Penn State guard Vega Ioane is one of them. While the Lions’ offensive line has not been consistently good this year, the redshirt junior has been more often than not. He owns PFF’s sixth-best run blocking grade through six weeks of play and his tape is impressing pro evaluators.

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“The Penn State offensive line has been up and down this season, but Ioane (Yo-wahn-ay; he also goes by “Vega”) has been the one constant, both as a run blocker and in pass protection, Brugler writes. “A fourth-year junior, Ioane had a third-round grade over the summer, and that projection has only improved a month into the season. He was stout and alert in pass protection against Oregon, and he put reps on tape that show him mauling in the run game and pulling near the goal line. Ioane projects as an NFL starter and has put himself in the mix to be the first guard drafted.”

Ioane is very likely going to hear his name called on Day 2 next April. As for whether or not any Penn State player will go in the first round, that is up for debate. It is very unlikely that quarterback Drew Allar will. Defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton might. But, the best candidate to do so is cornerback AJ Harris, who made a new mock draft from CBS Sports this week.

“A.J. Harris is a physical cornerback who excels in both off and press coverage, consistently staying in phase on vertical routes,” Ryan Wilson writes in projecting Harris to go No. 17 overall to Seattle. “He’s aggressive vs. the run and will come downhill like an old-school linebacker or strong safety, running through blocks and throwing his body around to make a tackle. Harris combines coverage savvy with downhill aggression, making him a disruptive force both in the secondary and near the line of scrimmage.”