James Franklin and the Penn State staff realize the changes that college football has gone through.
NIL and the transfer portal have changed many things in college athletics and that includes playing time for true freshmen.
In the past, unless he was a no doubt star and immediate contributor, college coaches would do everything possible to try and not play a true freshman in order to preserve their four seasons of eligibility.
That’s no longer the case.
If freshmen show in camp that they have the ability to help the team in some fashion, they’ll find themselves on the field.
What’s changed?
It’s pretty simple. The reality is that all coaches today realize that with the accessibility of the transfer portal, if a player is unhappy because they feel as though they should be playing, they could look to transfer. The other factor is that the chances are slim that for whatever reason, a player may look to transfer. So why not play anyone you could while you still have them?
The days of stockpiling first-year players and having them learn the system and wait their turn are long, long gone.
With that in mind, one of the many topics brought up to Franklin at his Monday season-opening press conference was which freshmen he sees playing in 2024.
While more players will no doubt hit the field at some point, Franklin was confident enough in saying that two players have been given the “green light” and will play this season: Cooper Cousins and Dejuan Lane.
Cousin, the much-talked-about 4-star offensive lineman from Erie, comes as no surprise to anyone. The 6’6″, 320-pound interior lineman has been listed in multiple media outlets freshman All-American teams. At this point, Cousin is believed to be the backup center to Nick Dawkins. He also has the ability to play either guard position.
Lane, the talented safety from Baltimore, Maryland, will see his early playing time on special teams because of the depth Terry Smith has at safety with KJ Winston, Jaylen Reed and Zakee Wheately. If anything were to happen to those players, Lane has the ability to slide right in.
While he mentioned just those two players, Franklin did admit that’s a “moving target” and things could change.
“And some of that is the position,” he said “There are other guys that if we needed to, we could green light them and go. But there’s more depth at their positions.”
“There’s going to be guys after game one who become green lights based on how they play or based on bumps and bruises and whatever it may be. We’re going to try to manage it and be as strategic as we can so that we can have flexibility as long as we can. So, this will change throughout the year. Right now, it’s those two guys. But it could be more.”
So, who else could get the green light?
At this point, players that possibly could get fast tracked include: tight end Luke Reynolds, running back Quinton Martin and wide receiver Tyseer Denmark.
