UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State football coach James Franklin provided positive injury updates on a trio of wounded Lions.
Penn State fans received a negative injury update earlier in the day when Lions247 first reported that promising second-year defensive end Max Granville was out with a “long-term injury.”
The news surrounding right tackle Anthony Donkoh, tight end Andrew Rappleyea and linebacker Tony Rojas was much more positive.
Franklin expects all three to be “a full-go” by the start of fall camp and even before that.
Rappleyea, similar to Granville at his position, was a promising second-year tight end before an injury suffered between Week 1 and Week 2 ended his season.
Donkoh, who was the team’s starting right tackle, got injured Nov. 23 at Minnesota and missed the team’s College Football Playoff run.
Rojas played all season but was hurt by the end of it, and that injury led him to be inactive for the team’s spring season along with the other two.
But Franklin is confident they’ll be back soon.
WHAT JAMES SAID
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.“We expect all three to be fully cleared, not just for (fall) camp but, really, for the majority of the summer as well. I don’t think all three of them right now are totally clear. They would have some limitations right now, but I would say if you guys would watch them in a workout, you wouldn’t know, if that makes sense. But there’s some modifications, either in the weight room or restrictions on the field. But all of them we anticipate being a full go by day one of training camp.
WHAT THIS MEANS
So what does it mean for Penn State to have these three back in the fold?
Well, Rojas would be a sure bet to start at linebacker and might just be Penn State’s best player at the position.
Donkoh was arguably Penn State’s best offensive lineman at the time he got hurt. Unfortunately, the guy who filled in at right tackle for the Playoff, Nolan Rucci, was arguably Penn State’s best offensive lineman by the end of the season.
The good news is the 6-foot-5, 334-pound Donkoh is versatile enough to play right guard as well, and that position is vacant due to Sal Wormley’s graduation.
Rappleyea will have to work hard to get much playing time, thanks to the talents of Luke Reynolds and Khalil Dinkins, but he was a blue-chip recruit for a reason.
Penn State’s start of fall camp hasn’t been announced yet but likely will begin Aug. 2 based on history (the first Saturday of August).
