When the transfer portal first became a viable option for roster construction, many head coaches dove in head first. James Franklin was not one of them. Franklin’s portal philosophy at Penn State has never been about getting the best players out of the portal, but about keeping his best players out of it.
After his first College Football Playoff appearance in 2024, Franklin has been on an impressive roster retention run to gear up for another shot at a national championship in 2025. Heading into his 12th season in Happy Valley, Franklin has an impressive list of draft-eligible underclassmen coming back to Penn State:
- Drew Allar, QB
- Nicholas Singleton, RB
- Kaytron Allen, RB
- Zane Durant, DL
- Dani Dennis-Sutton, DE
- Zakee Wheatley, S
- Nick Dawkins, C
- Smith Vilbert, DE
And on Wednesday, the final day for players to declare for the 2025 NFL Draft, Franklin added two more to that list, team captain and depth linebacker Dominic DeLuca, and backup interior offensive lineman JB Nelson.
Dominic DeLuca and JB Nelson return to Penn State for final year of eligibility
DeLuca was one of the heroes of Penn State’s first-round CFP win over SMU at Beaver Stadium, with two interceptions, one returned for a touchdown. The former walk-on and high school quarterback played 387 defensive snaps across 15 games this season, missing one game due to a hand injury. With starting linebacker Kobe King departing for the NFL, DeLuca will likely step into a starting role next to rising junior Tony Rojas, who also had a pick-six against SMU.
While he’s been a starter before, Nelson didn’t get any starts for the Nittany Lions in 2024, still playing 228 snaps, primarily at left guard. He played 417 snaps in 2023 while starting eight games at left guard. Nelson will be in the mix to replace NFL-bound right guard Sal Wormley. Rising sophomore Cooper Cousins and incoming transfer TJ Shanahan will also compete for those snaps.