Penn State football fall camp standouts: A young tight end impressing, veteran safety a perfect fit

Penn State fall camp is underway for the 11th time with James Franklin as the program’s head coach and the expectations are high for the Nittany Lions after another 10-win season in 2023. Franklin doesn’t attack the transfer portal like some of the powerhouse programs with a massive NIL war chest, so when the expectations are College Football Playoff or bust, he needs the in-house talent that stayed in Happy Valley to develop into high-level contributors for his football team. 

Last season Penn State fans saw Jaylen Reed and Kevin Winston Jr. take huge steps forward for the defense and some mixed results from Drew Allar in his first year as the starting quarterback. Now, a week into fall camp with new coordinators on both sides of the ball, here are a few players who have been standouts and could have a breakout season in 2024. 

Last season, Rappleyea, a four-star tight end from Milton, Massachusetts, played the most snaps of any true freshman skill player on Penn State's offense at just 31 over three games. He didn’t receive a single target but could be in line for a significant workload with the departure of Theo Johnson for the NFL leaving a void at TE2.

Khalil Dinkins was considered the favorite to take snaps alongside Tyler Warren, the primary tight end and potential No. 1 target for Drew Allar this season. However, that may change with rave reports about Rappleyea coming out of fall camp. 

Beyond just pass-catching, Rappleyea has reportedly improved as a blocker, which could earn him even more snaps in Andy Kotelnicki’s offense this season. Beyond just Dinkins, Rappleyea has competition from five-star freshman Luke Reynolds, who has added 25 pounds to his 6-foot-4 frame since enrolling at Penn State in January. 

A starter in 2022, Wheatley was usurped by Kevin Winston Jr. and Jaylen Reed at the safety spots in 2023 as his snap count fell from 373 to 257. Wheatley struggled in a significant role as a redshirt freshman in 2021, but ever since spring practices, there has been talk about Wheatley’s improvement and ideal fit in Tom Allen’s defense. That hype has continued into fall camp.

Both Winston and Reed are back and are the strength of the Penn State defense, but Allen plans to play three safeties more often with the introduction of a “lion” position where Reed will likely be used. That leaves Wheatley to slide back into his familiar role as free safety where in 2022 he recorded 23 tackles and two interceptions.

The three-safety look will also take some of the stress off Penn State's cornerbacks, which were such a noticeable weakness in the Peach Bowl against Ole Miss that Franklin added two SEC corners from the transfer portal, AJ Harris and Jalen Kimber. Playing Wheatley with Reed and Winston is likely a better option than trotting out Harris, Kimber, and Cam Miller, who was a disaster as CB1 in Atlanta.