One of Penn State football’s more promising young defenders is out with a “long-term injury,” coach James Franklin confirmed with media Thursday afternoon.
Defensive line coach Deion Barnes already has a tough assignment in 2025 replacing Abdul Carter, who was the top defensive player selected in the 2025 NFL Draft.
The assignment got harder when Max Granville suffered a ‘long-term injury,’ Lions247 confirmed on Thursday morning.
The Sugar Land, Texas native reclassified from the 2025 recruiting class to the 2024 recruiting and was able to accrue experience on Penn State’s run to the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Orange Bowl last season.
Former defensive coordinator Tom Allen referred to Granville’s addition during the late season push as a “bonus” for Penn State.
Current defensive coordinator Jim Knowles raved about the maturity Granville has demonstrated.
“I saw a really hard-working guy for a young guy, a mature guy,” Knowles said. “And then when I’ve seen [him] on the field it’s just like he goes a mile a minute, and I think as a D-lineman, that’s huge. I mean, he plays hard every down. He comes off the ball hard every down. So [experience] and size and all the things that you get maybe later in your career, he’s making up for it right now just with aggression.”
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Granville was expected to contend for the starting defensive end position opposite of Dani Dennis Sutton, who PFF College rates as the No. 9 returning EDGE rusher with the second most pressures by any defender nationally with 75.
With Granville out long-term, Penn State will likely turn to Texas A&M transfer Enai White, sixth-year senior Zuriah Fisher, along the freshman duo of Jaylen Harvey and Mylachi Williams, who will vie for second starting position.
