Penn State football season is officially here with fall camp beginning Wednesday. The Nittany Lions are in search of their first College Football Playoff berth and first postseason chance at a national title under head coach James Franklin.
They’ll chase that berth with three new coordinators — including offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, who will be tasked with making the offense playoff-caliber.
Fortunately for the Nittany Lions, they’ll have their best shot yet at the playoff now that it has expanded to 12 teams. Not every question will be answered this preseason, but here are three that we think will be much clearer by the time the team takes the field on Aug. 31 against West Virginia — along with our answers on how they could play out.
Who starts at cornerback?
This has flown under the radar with some of the concerns on offense, but the team is replacing its top three cornerbacks — Kalen King, Johnny Dixon and Daequan Hardy — from last season and is doing so with a mix of young players and transfers.
The incoming transfers are Jalen Kimber and A.J. Harris. Both come from SEC schools (Florida and Georgia, respectively) but have varying levels of experience. The former is heading into his fifth season of college football, while the latter is heading into his second after being a five-star recruit out of high school.
The returning inexperienced players are Zion Tracy, Cam Miller, Elliot Washington II and Audavion Collins. Miller is the outlier when it comes to experience, because his relative lack of it is in regard to starting. He rotated in frequently last season and got enough reps to put himself in position to be a potential starter this season.
Tracy and Washington had much smaller roles last season, but were put to the test against Ole Miss, where each had their fair share of struggles. Collins is somewhat of an outlier — he did transfer to Penn State, but did so prior to the 2023 season and has a year with the program under his belt. It helps, too, that he was the recipient of plenty of praise from coaches and teammates alike during the spring.
The interesting change that could impact the rotation is that Hardy will likely be replaced with a safety in new defensive coordinator Tom Allen’s defense, leaving only two corners on the field — and two starting spots to fight for — this season.
The best guess right now is that Miller starts at one spot and Harris takes the other by the end of camp, with Collins and Kimber as the third and fourth options and Tracy and Washington rotating in.
Does a No. 1 option emerge in the passing game?
This was the question heading into the 2023 season and the answer was a resounding no. The two best options were KeAndre Lambert-Smith and Harrison Wallace III, but neither stepped up to true No. 1 status. Lambert-Smith struggled with consistency while Wallace couldn’t stay on the field due to injury. Now the former is at Auburn, but the latter remains a Nittany Lion and a viable option to be the top target this season.
He is one of three options that could become the team’s primary offensive target this year alongside fellow receiver Julian Fleming and tight end Tyler Warren.
Wallace arguably has the most upside of the group. He was primed to be the team’s top option last year until his injury issues surfaced, but now returns with a chance to be healthy and utilize the athleticism and ball skills that gave the team reason for hope last preseason.
Fleming is the newcomer from Ohio State, and joins the program with — like Wallace — the hope of staying healthy. He suffered multiple shoulder injuries with the Buckeyes and never fully realized the potential he had as a five-star recruit out of Pennsylvania, but was still a high-level contributor. He has the higher floor between he and Wallace.
Warren was the team’s leading receiver among its returning players from last year’s roster and is poised for a massive breakout campaign. He’s one of the best tight ends in the country and could be one of the first off the board at the position in the 2025 NFL Draft. Not to mention, Kotelnicki’s creativity and use of two tight end sets could open the door for him to have an elite season and lead the team as its best receiving weapon.
There are others who could contend if things break right, like Kaden Saunders if he breaks out or Omari Evans if he continues to round out his game beyond being an elite deep threat. Any other player breaking out would be a significant boon for the offense and could change the shape of what the team looks like this year.
That being said, Wallace is still the choice here to bring things together and approach 1,000 receiving yards as long as he can stay healthy.
Who wins the right tackle job?
The Penn State offensive line should once again be a strong point this season, but it remains to be seen who will be its second starting tackle. Drew Shelton didn’t participate in spring ball due to an injury, but he’s back and should settle in as the team’s starting left tackle. That’s not to say he’ll play every snap, but he should distance himself from the No. 2 spot on the depth chart.
The questions are on the right side where the two primary competitors are Anthony Donkoh and Nolan Rucci — two players with very different resumes entering the season.
Donkoh wasn’t in this conversation until he put on a high-level display at the Peach Bowl against Ole Miss. That’s when he began taking reps on the outside at tackle and he shined in the team’s final game. It stands to reason that the redshirt freshman should only continue improving after already playing well despite limited practice reps.
Rucci, like Fleming, is returning to Pennsylvania after leaving the state as a five-star recruit out of high school. He started for Wisconsin in its bowl game against LSU and played well, but still came to Penn State needing to get stronger. He’s a redshirt junior who will have a say in the competition thanks to his upside and experience, but could be making up ground after Donkoh had last year with the Nittany Lions to gain an edge.
The other young tackle options like Chimdy Onoh and J’ven Williams could rotate in and be factors, as could redshirt senior JB Nelson. But the odds-on favorites are Rucci and Donkoh, with both likely taking up the majority of snaps at right tackle regardless of who starts.
Right now, the edge goes to Donkoh, who has a chance to be a stalwart. on the outside for the Nittany Lions for at least two years and potentially more.
