All 105 is a Nittany Sports Now series profiling each Penn State football player. This edition will look at redshirt junior OL JB Nelson
Height: 6-foot-5
Weight: 332 pounds
Hometown: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Before Penn State
High School: Nelson lettered three years at Mt. Lebanon High School, starting all three seasons at offensive and defensive line. Nelson captained Mt. Lebanon in his junior and senior seasons and helped the Blue Devils to a WPIAL semifinal appearance in 2019. As a senior, Nelson finished with 45 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and four sacks, earning All-22 honors from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Lackawanna Community College: Nelson started his college football career at Lackawanna Community College, the same school current Penn State safety Ji’Ayir Brown and former Penn State safety and current Chicago Bear Jaquan Brisker attended.
Nelson started all 10 games in Lackawanna’s 2021 season, helping the team to a 7-3 record.
247Sports and Rivals each had him as a three-star recruit. 247’s composite ratings had him as a four-star, and 247 had him as the No. 4 JUCO player in the nation.
He committed to Penn State in July of 2021, choosing it over Maryland, NC State, Ole Miss and West Virginia, among other schools.
2022: Nelson appeared in four games last season along the offensive front. His best game coming against Indiana when the Nittany Lions rushed for 483 yards and four touchdowns behind him and his linemates.
Where he stands: Nelson might not get a lot of starts up front, but he is certainly a valued depth option for Penn State.
He’s gained some good weight since joining the program from Lackawanna Community College last fall and should be a very good option for the Nittany Lions off the bench this year.
Expect to see his usage grow over the season.
