Following a last-minute loss to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Orange Bowl, James Franklin has done everything he can to bring back a national championship-caliber roster. That includes hoping for an extra year of eligibility for some of his veteran players.
Defensive end Smith Vilbert had his NCAA medical waiver approved for him to play his seventh season in Happy Valley next year, but on Tuesday, it was reported that instead of preparing for his sixth year with the Nittany Lions, defensive end Amin Vanover has begun preparing for the NFL Draft after his waiver was denied.
The specifics of Vanover’s waiver request have not been made available, but the program was reportedly “hopeful” that he would be approved to play the 2025 season.
The loss of Vanover will be a significant one for the Nittany Lions. He played the third most edge snaps behind Dani Dennis-Sutton and Abdul Carter in 2024 and with Carter heading for the first round of the draft, Vanover was slated to become a starter if the waiver was approved. Now, the Nittany Lions will turn to Vilbert, Texas A&M transfer Enai White, and rising redshirt freshman Max Granville, who reclassified to the 2024 recruiting class and arrived on campus last summer instead of playing his final year of high school football.
Franklin did an excellent job keeping the 2024 roster together, especially on the offensive side of the ball, only losing one starter along the offensive line and retaining Drew Allar, Nicholas Singleton, and Kaytron Allen. However, defensively there could be a few holes for new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to patch.
After Vanover’s departure, the Nittany Lions will be inexperienced along the defensive line and in the secondary where safeties Jaylen Reed and Kevin Winston Jr. and cornerback Jalen Kimber are also heading for the NFL.
The talent crop in the winter transfer portal cycle was underwhelming, likely because of the impending arrival of revenue sharing which gives every program resources to keep their best players on campus. So, instead of adding players to plug those holes, it appears that Franklin opted to spend the available resources on Knowles’s lucrative contract in hopes that he can develop the young talent in Happy Valley. Now, that theory will be put to the test on the defensive line.
In his stops before Ohio State, Knowles typically played with three-down linemen and utilized a hybrid linebacker as another potential rush end. The loss of Vanover may expedite the transition to that style of defense in Happy Valley with Dennis-Sutton and senior interior defensive lineman Zane Durant as the centerpieces.