Blue White Illustrated

Before this year, it had been more than two decades since Nittany Lion running backs had been drafted in back-to-back classes. Ki-Jana Carter was selected No. 1 overall in the 1995 draft, followed in 1996 by two selections: Stephen Pitts (sixth round, 198th overall) and Mike Archie (seventh, 218th). With Sanders' pick, Penn State has now sent 62 running backs into the NFL in its history. JUMPING EARLY Five Penn State play- ers opted to forgo their final season of eligibility to enter this year's draft, and those players had mixed success. The first three Nittany Lions who were drafted – Sanders, McGovern and Miller – were all early entrants. However, Bates and Givens both went undrafted, making Penn State one of only three Power Five schools to have more than one of its early entrants get passed over. The others were Texas A&M and North Carolina. Of the 144 players nationwide who left early to enter the draft, 49 were not se- lected. FOURTEEN AND COUNTING With their six selections this year, the Nittany Lions have now had at least one player selected in the past 14 drafts. The last time they failed to produce any draftees was in 2005. Before that shutout, at least one Penn State player had been drafted every year since 1952. SEVENTEEN FOR FRANKLIN This year's six-player draft contingent lifted James Franklin's total at Penn State to 17 draftees. The first of his Nittany Lion players to reach the NFL was offensive lineman Donovan Smith, who went to Tampa Bay in the second round of the 2015 draft. Franklin's other draftees (not including this year's group) are Adrian Amos, Jesse James, Austin Johnson, Christian Hackenberg, Carl Nassib, An- thony Zettel, Jordan Lucas, Chris God- win, Saquon Barkley and Mike Gesicki. The position group that has fared the best during Franklin's tenure has been the defensive line. That unit has seen Johnson, Nassib, Zettel and Miller all chosen – with more defensive linemen likely to follow in 2020. ■ The news cycle spins ever faster these days, so while the players who were taken in the 2019 NFL Draft have barely had time to get their new uniforms fitted, a lot of people are al- ready starting to think about the 2020 draft. Here's a look at Penn State's next batch of potential draftees: CAM BROWN Brown has played in 38 games over the past three seasons and was a 12-game starter in 2018. He's got a rangy physique and he's been steadily gaining weight. He re- cently said he expects to be at about 230 pounds in his final college sea- son. Brown should be one of Penn State's top tacklers in 2019 after fin- ishing fifth on the team last year with 63 stops. BLAKE GILLIKIN Most teams prefer to find their specialists via the free agency talent pool rather than through the draft. Of the 254 players chosen in this year's draft, only two were pun- ters. But Gillikin, who is about to be- come a four-year starter and holds the school record with a 43.3-yard career average, could be one of those rare punters who hears his name called in one of the later rounds. STEVEN GONZALEZ Gonzalez has been a starter since the end of his red- shirt freshman season. He thought about leaving early last winter but opted to play one more college season in hope of improving his stock. YETUR GROSS-MATOS If there's a potential first-rounder in next year's Penn State draft class, it's Gross- Matos. His first season as a starter was a revelation, as the 6-5, 265- pounder finished with eight sacks and 20 tackles for loss. With another season like that one, he'll be consid- ered a very likely early entrant. In fact, he already is. Gross-Matos was hailed recently by The Sporting News as one of the top 50 prospects in the 2020 draft class. JAN JOHNSON Johnson began his career as a walk-on and moonlighted for a while with the wrestling team, so his resume is atypical, to say the least. But he's in line to start at mid- dle linebacker for the second consec- utive season, and as one of the leaders of a defense that should be pretty good this fall, he's likely to get an audition in 2020. JOHN REID Reid got off to a slow start last year after coming back from a knee injury that forced him to sit out the 2017 season. But he's got one more season in which to prove himself as a draft-worthy prospect. The Nittany Lions have had cornerbacks taken in each of the past two drafts, and Reid could make it three years in a row. GARRETT TAYLOR Penn State has had some luck lately sending late- blooming safeties into the league. Malik Golden landed with the Steelers as a free agent before injuries derailed his career, Troy Apke was a fourth- round pick by the Redskins in 2018, and Nick Scott went in the seventh round of this year's draft to the Los Angeles Rams. Taylor didn't make his first career start until last year, but he enjoyed a fine junior season, inter- cepting three passes and finishing third on the team with 72 tackles. ROBERT WINDSOR Nose tackles don't often post big numbers, but Windsor had 11 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks as a junior, earning honor- able mention All-Big Ten honors. At 6-4, 298 pounds, he looks to have a realistic shot at the NFL if he contin- ues his upswing. OTHER POTENTIAL DRAFTEES Tariq Castro-Fields (CB), K.J. Hamler (WR), Michal Menet (C ). Castro- Fields and Menet are juniors this year, while Hamler is a redshirt sophomore. –MATT HERB 2020 draft class could be a big one

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