All 105 is a Nittany Sports Now series profiling each Penn State football player. This edition will look at true freshman offensive lineman Maleek McNeil.
Height: 6-foot-7
Weight: 370 pounds
Hometown: New York, New York
Before Penn State: McNeil played offensive line, defensive line and punted for Walter Panas High School and made Lower Hudson’s Super 11 team.
247Sports, On3, Rivals and ESPN all had McNeil as a three-star recruit. He committed to Penn State on the first day of May in 2021, choosing coach James Franklin’s program over Auburn, among others.
Where he stands: With young players such as Landon Tengwall and Olu Fashanu expected to step up in 2022 and other talented true freshmen such as Drew Shelton in the picture, Penn State is deep at offensive line.
Although it doesn’t seem likely that McNeil will get a lot of playing time in Year 1– and could well redshirt his first college football season— McNeil’s size and upside could make him a key player for Penn State down the road.
A quote about McNeil: “Big,” was the first word offensive line coach Phil Trautwein used to describe McNeil at Penn State’s media day earlier this month. “Monster. Just learning how to work. But is growing and has a smile on his face.”
