Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1505736
S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 3 3 7 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Penn State has had its share of high-achieving walk-on players over the decades. For nine years, the Nittany Lions' career receptions leader was a walk-on — Deon Butler with 179 catches from 2005-08. To this day, the program's career interceptions leader is Neal Smith, a walk-on who picked off 19 passes during a three-year varsity career that ended in 1969. Walk-ons are, of course, a crucial part of any major-college football program and proof that a handful of talented players are inevitably going to be overlooked by the nation's recruiting pundits or are going to be late bloomers who hit their stride when they reach the college level. Here's a look at the five most impactful walk-ons to have played for the Nittany Lions since James Franklin took over the program as head coach in 2014. 1. Carl Nassib | DE | 2011-15 For months, his teammates and coaches had been singing Nassib's praises to a skeptical media corps, with some predicting that he was due for a breakout year as a senior. But it's doubtful that even his most vocal admirers within the program anticipated the full extent of what was to come. Nassib, a lightly recruited two-way lineman from Malvern (Pa.) Prep who arrived during the final year of Joe Paterno's coaching reign, enjoyed one of the greatest individual seasons of any defensive player in school his- tory. Despite missing nearly two full games due to an injury, he amassed a school-record 15.5 sacks and forced 6 fumbles in 2015. Over the course of three months, he transformed himself from an unknown into a consen- sus All-American, a Lombardi and Hendricks Award winner, the Big Ten's Defensive Player of the Year, and a future third-round draft pick of the Cleveland Browns. 2. Jan Johnson | LB | 2015-19 Johnson came to Penn State as a wrestler after winning two Class AAA state titles at Governor Mifflin High in Shillington, Pa., and he competed at heavyweight in eight dual meets as a true freshman in 2015. But he had also been an all-state football player for the Mustangs, and it was in that other sport that he made his biggest impact at Penn State. Johnson made 26 starts during the 2018 and '19 seasons and was a team captain the latter year, as well as a semifinalist for the Burlsworth Trophy, which goes to the nation's top player who began his career as a walk-on. 3. Tyler Davis | PK | 2014-17 Davis hadn't played football at the high school or college levels before arriving at Penn State in 2014. He had been a soccer standout at St. Charles (Ill.) North High and later at Bradley University. Nevertheless, by the time he left PSU after the 2017 season, he was the sixth-leading scorer in Nittany Lion football history with 261 points. He was the team's starting placekicker for 32 games, during which he kicked 39 field goals to tie Matt Bahr (1976-78) and Robbie Gould (2001-04) for seventh place on the pro- gram's all-time list. 4. Ryan Keiser | S | 2010-14 A two-way standout at Selinsgrove (Pa.) High, Keiser won first-team Class AAA all-state honors from the Pa. Football News, both as a defensive back in 2008 and as a wide receiver the following year. His collegiate future was at the former position. After seeing action his first two years on special teams as a holder and kick-coverage specialist, he became a mainstay in the secondary during the second half of his career. He made five starts as a junior and six as a senior in 2014 before suffering a season-ending injury in practice prior to a Week 7 matchup against Ohio State. At the time of his injury, Keiser was third on the team with 25 tackles, including 17 solo stops. 5. Chris Stoll | LS |2017-22 Long snapping is a vital but thankless job, and that's just how Stoll liked it. "If you have a good snapper, you shouldn't know his name," the Wester- ville, Ohio, native once said. There were no snapping gaffes during Stoll's four seasons on the job, so fans didn't have reason to notice him. Still, it wasn't as if no one knew his name. Following his senior season, Stoll won the Patrick Mannelly Award, which goes to the nation's top long snapper. He signed a free-agent con- tract with the Seattle Seahawks in May and has been battling for a roster spot this summer. — Matt Herb Defensive Playmakers Rank Among Top Walk-Ons Of Franklin Era Following the 2015 regular season, Carl Nassib won the Lombardi Award (nation's top lineman or linebacker), Hendricks Award (top defensive end) and Lott IMPACT Trophy (defensive player who evokes the personal qualities of Hall of Fame safety Ronnie Lott). Nassib became the first Penn State player since running back Larry Johnson in 2002 to win three national awards in the same season. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL