There are two freshmen who Penn State coach James Franklin and company have given the “green light” to contribute right away and at least two more who are close.
Franklin told reporters at his first weekly press conference of the season that defensive end Chaz Coleman and cornerback Daryus Dixson are the two freshmen whom the coaching staff won’t worry about burning their redshirts.
This shouldn’t surprise anybody.
‘THE CHAZMANIAN DEVIL’
Graphic by Penn State Athletics: Chaz Coleman
First-year defensive coordinator Jim Knowles nicknamed Coleman ‘The Chazmanian Devil,‘ and there’s a reason for that.
The 6-foot-4, 240-pounder who was a quarterback once upon a time has become a force at defensive end.
In fact, Franklin saying that veteran Zuriah Fisher is still battling back from injury might mean that Coleman could be starting or close to it right away.
Franklin is also impressed by how Coleman is away from the field.
“I went around and asked all the freshmen, which I do every year, if they see themselves as red, yellows or greens, in terms of redshirting or playing right away,” Franklin said earlier this month. “And he said he was a yellow, when everybody in the room is kind of looking at him like, ‘Dude, you ain’t a yellow.‘ But that’s just the type of guy he is. He’s been raised well, and he’s got really good genetics, so he’s an exciting one.”
THE D-TRAIN
Photo by Matt Lynch, Nittany Sports Now
While Coleman arrived in the summer, Dixson came to Penn State over the winter.
Immediately, he started turning heads.
Disxon had a strong performance in the Blue-White Game and two months later received high praise from his defensive coordinator.
“I was as impressed with Daryus as I’ve been with any freshman in my career who’s still supposed to be in high school,” Knowles said. “For guys to come in at that mid-year, he has an incredible maturity and consistency. He doesn’t get too high. He doesn’t get too low. You know, that maturity you see, you don’t expect from a high school senior. So, yes, the talent. They’re all talented, or else they wouldn’t be at Penn State. But he has the maturity to play right away.”
Overall, Franklin described Coleman and Dixson as “two guys that have been very, very consistent– physically, mentally and emotionally.”
THE GUYS ON THE BUBBLE
Coleman might not be the only true freshman defensive end who plays a big role for Penn State in 2025.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Yvan Kemajou has been impressing the staff since the winter, and Franklin said Monday that he “most likely will play these first couple games as if he’s going to play all year long.”
Moving over to offense, receiver Koby Howard is another player who’s close.
Ideally, Penn State won’t need Howard much this year.
The team added a trio of veteran receivers over the offseason, so if that goes according to plan, the true freshman Howard won’t see much action in 2025.
But that doesn’t mean he isn’t somebody to keep an eye on.
The four-star recruit made himself known this spring, and apparently is keeping that up into fall practices.
Franklin said the thing holding Howard back from getting the green light is that the staff wanting to see more out of him on special teams.
He also included Howard in the receiver two-deep.
“So far, he has shown up,” receivers coach Marques Hagans said earlier this month. “He works hard. Koby loves football. He’s like that category I’ve talked about… if you roll the football out in the parking lot and play tackle, he’ll play. He just loves to play, and he loves to compete.”
Franklin said there are “a number of guys I think could still end up being green-lighted by Game 4 of Game 5.”
It’s worth noting that Game 4 is against No. 7 Oregon under White Out conditions in Beaver Stadium. That will be Penn State’s first true test.
In the meantime, Penn State has to play Nevada, FIU and Villanova.
The Nevada game is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Saturday in Beaver Stadium. The game will be televised on CBS.
