Blue White Illustrated

F O O T B A L L Five Nittany Lion draftees begin prepping for NFL With any luck, there will never be an- other NFL Draft like the 2020 edition. The league's first ever "fully virtual" draft was put together out of necessity, with prospective draftees, league execu- tives, coaches and general managers all sequestered in remote locations due to the coronavirus outbreak. The jerry- rigged nature of the proceedings, in- cluding 180 remote video feeds set up by ESPN, made for some surprisingly en- tertaining TV. There were any number of raucous in-home celebrations, a glimpse at the innards of Jerry Jones' yacht and a show-stealing appearance by Bill Be- lichick's dog. But when it's time to do this all over again in April 2021, the hope is that team executives will be able to show up at their respective war rooms and players will be able to celebrate wherever they please. Which is not to say that this year's event wasn't a celebratory experience. For the 255 players who were selected, it was the thrill of a lifetime, and that group just happened to include five Penn State alumni. The Nittany Lion players who had been expected to hear their names called all were picked in the first six rounds. Defensive end Yetur Gross- Matos went first, going to Carolina early in the second round, followed just eight picks later by receiver K.J. Hamler, who went to Denver. Cornerback John Reid (Houston), linebacker Cam Brown (New York Giants) and defensive tackle Robert Windsor (Indianapolis) followed in sub- sequent rounds. Here's a look at the Penn State players who were chosen: YETUR GROSS-MATOS DE | 6-5 | 266 TEAM Carolina Panthers ROUND/PICK 2nd/38th TEAM SAYS Head coach Matt Ruhle: "We've done a lot of work to get to know him over the last couple of weeks. I just think for him the sky is the limit. He's such a young guy that he's going to really blossom and develop here over the next couple of years." JAMES FRANKLIN SAYS "We couldn't be more proud of Yetur. He is a young | Since 2018, Penn State has had at least ;ve players taken in every dra>. That trend is likely to continue in 2021 and may even accelerate depending on how many juniors opt to skip their ;nal sea- sons. Below is a list of players who could give next year's dra> a very blue-and-white contin- gent, players such as P.J. Mustipher, Jayson Oweh and Rasheed Walker. But for now, we're not including them on our list. JAQUAN BRISKER A transfer from Lackawanna College, Brisker backed up Lamont Wade at free safety last year but was listed at the opposite spot in Penn State's recently released spring depth chart, ahead of Jonathan Suther- land. He saw plenty of action in 2019, even as a backup, ;nishing 13th on the team in tackles with 32 and tying for the team lead with two interceptions. He's probably not on a lot of radar screens for now, but could he play his way into the 2021 dra> with a strong senior season? JOURNEY BROWN Brown's two prede- cessors le> early, and it worked out nicely for both of them; Saquon Barkley is headed for superstardom in New York, while Miles Sanders is coming o= an excellent rookie campaign in Philadelphia. The Nittany Lions' pre- sumed starter at running back next season, Brown er a strong start last season, Castro-Fields su=ered some injury problems and struggled a bit later in the year, as did Penn State's secondary as a whole. Assuming he stays healthy, the 6-foot-0, 190-pound senior will have a chance to become the fourth PSU cornerback to be dra>ed since 2018, joining Christian Campbell, Amani Oruwariye and John Reid. PAT FREIERMUTH The All-Big Ten tight end could have come out following his true sophomore year but elected to return. If there's a 2020 season (or spring 2021 season), Freiermuth will Penn State's next draft contingent could be biggest of Franklin era PARSONS

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