Fall camp is in full session now, and plenty of players are standing out for Penn State.
But we’re not here to talk about the stars (Drew Allar, Nicholas Singleton, Dani Dennis-Sutton etc.)
We know what those guys can do.
We’re here to talk about the guys who haven’t proven themselves on fall Saturday’s yet.
Nittany Sports Now has received intel from sources about players who have been turning some heads this August.
KOBY HOWARD
Photo by Matt Lynch, Nittany Sports Now
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.
CHAZ COLEMAN
Graphic by Penn State Athletics: Chaz Coleman
Penn State hasn’t had a quality receiving corps in what feels like years.
Defensive end has been a different story.
Chop Robinson went in the first-round of the 2024 Draft.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Abdul Carter went third overall this past spring, and Dennis-Sutton is a good bet to keep the first-round streak going in 2026.
With that said, the depth behind projected starters Dennis-Sutton and Zuriah Fisher isn’t polished.
Along with losing Carter to the NFL, Amin Vanover and Smith Vilbert are also gone, and Max Granville will miss, at best, most of this season with a “long-term injury.”
That creates an opportunity for Coleman, and he’s making the most of it thus far.
If Coleman’s high school coach, Matt Richardson, is to be believed, Coleman is an athletic freak.
“He can do it all on the field,” Richardson told 247Sports last November, soon after Coleman committed. “If he had been training as a quarterback since the 6th grade like others, he would be getting recruited as a quarterback. A lot of schools see him as an athletic tight end who can do different things as well as a wildcat quarterback. I see him as an EDGE. I think he’s an EDGE. That’s my opinion and people who make more money than me like him as a tight end, but athletically, he can do anything.”
DARYUS DIXSON
Photo by Matt Lynch, Nittany Sports Now
Possibly the least surprising name NSN has heard.
Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles has coached a lot of players over his lengthy career.
Knowles said earlier this summer that Dixson is as advanced for his age as anybody he’s coached, and could see game action as a true freshman.
“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.”
Penn State opens its season against Nevada Aug. 30 at Beaver Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 on CBS.
