Penn State has some work to do on the offensive line this season.
The program has to replace arguably Americaโs top left tackle in Olu Fashanu, who went to the Jets in the first round of this yearโs draft.
Penn State also has to account for the loss of starting center and veteran leader Hunter Nourzad, whoโs now part of the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
Perhaps the least-heralded loss of those three is a guy who started at 40 games at right tackle for Penn State over four seasons: Caedan Wallace.
Wallace received criticism early in his college career and, even when he played well, seemed to go under the radar. But next to Fashanu and fellow first-round pick Chop Robinson (Dolphins), ย Wallace was Penn Stateโs highest draft pick this spring, going in the third-round to the Patriots.
Replacing Wallace wonโt be easy, but through a combination of high school recruiting and the transfer portal, Penn State looks to be in good shape.
Speaking to media after practice Thursday, Franklin said there are two players competing for the starting role at right tackle: Wisconsin transfer Nolan Rucci and Anthony Donkoh, whoโs back for his second season at PSU.
โDonkoh and Rucci are in a battle,โ Franklin said.
In describing Rucci, who played at Wisconsin for three seasons, he used an expression heโs used to describe multiple players, including QB Drew Allar.
โRucci is another guyโ I donโt want to use the same expression twiceโ but โsteady Eddie,โ and a lot of times with o-linemen, if you donโt notice them, itโs a good thing. Heโs just kind of doing his job and getting better. I think heโs gotten comfortable with the weight that heโs put on as well, and then finding that sweet spot of what the right weight is for him to do play, so that he has a chance to block Abdul (Carter), and also Dani (Dennis-Sutton), which are two very different types of players. But heโs doing really well.
Franklin then pointed out what Donkoh did last season.
Donkoh only played in four games last season, thus keeping his redshirt, but had an increased role for the Peach Bowl against Ole Miss.
Donkoh played 46 snapsโ he played 49 total in his first three gamesโ and had an offensive grade of 78.7 per Pro Football Focus. That was the highest grade among Penn Stateโs offensive linemen and the second overall among PSUโs offensive players.
โWhat Donkoh was able to do as a true freshman was pretty impressive,โ Franklin said. โSo, thatโs been good.โ
Franklin also mentioned JB Nelson, who is in his own battle with Vega Ioane for the left guard spot, as someone who โcan and will play right tackle,โ describing the Mt. Lebanon product as a โswiss-army knifeโ who can play each tackle or guard position.
It seems that Rucciโs the favorite due to him having two years of experience on Donkoh but Penn State likes to rotate linemen, so Donkoh should see his share of time regardless.
