Nittany Sports Now can confirm that a veteran OL is no longer on the Penn State football roster.
Nate Bauer of Blue-White Illustrated first reported in the middle of the night Thursday that JB Nelson was no longer with the program.
Nelson, a graduate of Mt. Lebanon High School in the Pittsburgh area, was entering his fourth season with Penn State and had been a starter before.
He started his career at Lackawanna Community College, where he played from 2020-21 before transferring to Penn State. At Penn State, Nelson became a regular contributor in 2023, taking over the starting left guard position after projected starter Landon Tengwall medically retired from the game.
Eventually, Vega Ioane took over that position but Nelson still received playing time, appearing in all 16 games this past season. This spring, Ioane told reporters that Nelson was playing at left guard and Ioane was on the right side.
But realistically, it would have been hard to picture Nelson being in the starting lineup come Week 1 against Nevada Aug. 30.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Penn State is returning 80 percent of its starting offensive line, with the only departure being RG Sal Wormley.
Wormley is thought to have an obvious replacement in rising sophomore Cooper Cousins, who many feel could be Penn State’s next great OL.
The only realistic chance for Nelson to be a starter— barring injuries or other unforeseen circumstances— would have been for Cousins not to be, and a talent like his isn’t usually on the bench for long.
JB Nelson’s departure is unfortunate considering he likely won’t be finishing his DI career where it started, if he is indeed hitting the transfer portal.
It also shows the depth Penn State and OL coach Phil Trautwein have built over the past several years.
