Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1490816
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 3 31 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M derwent surgery and is expected to fully participate in spring practice. Ibrahim Traore | G | R-Jr. Has not seen any game action in his three seasons at Penn State. Caedan Wallace | T | R-Sr. Has three seasons of extensive ac- tion under his belt and will be back for a fourth in 2023. An injury sidelined Wal- lace for the final five games of the 2022 regular season, but he was back on the field in the Rose Bowl, albeit in a limited backup role. Sal Wormley | G | R-Sr. Bounced back from an injury that kept him out of action in 2021, starting all 13 games at right guard and finishing sec- ond on the offense in game reps behind Scruggs. NEWCOMERS Alex Birchmeier | T | Fr. Listed as the nation's No. 3 interior offensive line prospect in the On3 Con- sensus but is expected to begin his career at tackle this spring after enrolling early at Penn State. Anthony Donkoh | G | Fr. Is expected to begin his collegiate ca- reer at guard after enrolling at Penn State in January. J'ven Williams | T | Fr. Will be on hand this spring along with his two fellow offensive line re- cruits. Williams is the No. 1 interior of- fensive lineman in the On3 Consensus rankings for the 2023 cycle, but like Birchmeier, he is expected to start out at tackle. Asked before the 2022 season to assess his offensive line, James Franklin said he wanted to wait before making any declarative statements about any improvements that the unit had made. Now that the season is over, it's fair to say that the coach saw the strides he wanted to see from this group. Looking ahead to 2023, the Nittany Lions are poised for another sea change up front. They return six linemen with starting experience, and that changes the equation moving forward. What's more, the Lions return quantity and quality. Olumuyiwa Fashanu in particular will merit national attention. He was a likely first-round draft choice at one of the most im- portant positions in the game if he had come out this year, but now he'll be back for his junior year, giving the Lions a potential All-American at left tackle. Franklin is hoping that the manpower PSU has assembled will give it the ability to impose its will on opponents in the fall. "Being able to run the ball at times when everybody in the stadium knows you're going to run — that's when you know you have a chance to be pretty good on the offensive side of the ball," he said. The Lions' improvement up front last fall was most evident in the red zone. They leaped from 96th in the FBS in red zone scoring with a success rate of 78.6 percent during the 2021 season to 17th place at 90.2 percent in 2022. With only two scholarship players departing from the unit that made those strides, Penn State moves forward with clear objectives on the offensive line. Position coach Phil Trautwein is determined to begin blending an infu- sion of freshman talent with a group of veteran starters and a projected first-rounder at left tackle. If the staff is able to accomplish that goal, the Nittany Lions could have the type of offensive line that dictates the way games will be played in the trenches. "I think we've got great leadership," redshirt sophomore guard Landon Tengwall said in December. "We just bond so well as a group. We're all so close and excited to go to work with each other every day. All of that bond- ing has made us so close, and you see that product on the field." — Nate Bauer 2023 Outlook Interior lineman Hunter Nourzad battled injuries in his first season at Penn State after transferring from Cornell but still earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors. PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE 2023 LOOK AHEAD