What Penn State Football can expect from heralded early enrollees

Penn State Football offensive tackle – JB Nelson

JB Nelson is a transfer from Lackawanna Community College, so this will not be his first time in a college football program, but the Big Ten is still much different than the JUCO level.

Nelson is listed as an offensive tackle, which the Nittany Lions could certainly use. At 6-foot-6 and 310 pounds, he possesses some of the size and especially length that Penn State Football has lacked at the tackle position in recent memory. The staff would probably like for him to put on some mass, which he has the opportunity to do over the course of the next few months.

His 247 Sports evaluation mentions that he “plays with a nasty streak”, which is good news for Penn State fans who say that the offensive line doesn’t seem to play with a toughness and fortitude to impose their will on defenses.

Phil Trautwein, who had a lot of success developing offensive line talent at Boston College, is beginning to get more and more into the pool of linemen that he has recruited and brought to State College, as opposed to ones brought into the program by his predecessors. So now there are no more excuses for him, he needs to capitalize on the talent that he brings in, and JB Nelson is included in that.

If Nelson can take some strides in the right direction under Trautwein’s direction over the course of the winter and spring, he could compete to potentially start in 2022, but certainly to crack the two-deep and provide some much-needed depth to the unit.

Rasheed Walker was one of the starting tackles last season, and he is off to the NFL. The other is Caedan Wallace, who is back this season, but is much more fit to play guard if the staff can find someone else to play right tackle.

Olu Fashanu, who showed promise in the Outback Bowl, will likely be one of the starting tackles, but the other one is somewhat up in the air. Redshirt freshman Landon Tengwall could probably do a good job at the other tackle spot, but he is also much more suited to play guard. So, if someone like Nelson can take his game to the next level by September so that he could potentially start at tackle, the entire unit would be better suited moving Tengwall to the interior of the offensive line.

Even if Nelson is not quite ready to be in the starting lineup by the time the 2022 season kicks off, he would certainly provide some much-needed depth and competition to the unit that has held Penn State Football back for the better part of the past decade.