Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1514597
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 4 11 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M He's already listed at 300 pounds, but at 6-foot-8, he looks lanky on film. On defense, the Lions replenished a cornerback corps that has lost NFL- bound starters Kalen King and Johnny Dixon, as well as nickel back Daequan Hardy. Sophomore A.J. Harris comes to Penn State from Georgia, while redshirt senior Jalen Kimber attended Florida the past two seasons after starting out his career with coach Kirby Smart's Bulldogs. Kimber made 11 starts for the Gators in 2023, totaling 23 tackles and ranking second on the team with 5 pass break- ups. Harris appeared in seven of Geor- gia's 14 games, finishing with 8 stops. He was listed as the top available cor- nerback in the On3 Industry Ranking for transfers. The Lions also welcomed another Pennsylvanian back to his home state with the addition of former Wisconsin defensive end Jordan Mayer. The 6-4, 230-pound Mayer had been a three-star prospect coming out of Thomas Jef- ferson High near Pittsburgh, although he did not receive an offer from PSU. Mayer signed with Wisconsin and red- shirted last fall. He will have freshman eligibility this coming season. For the second consecutive year, PSU brought in a transfer kicker. Junior Chase Meyer entered the portal after hitting 30 of 31 point-after tries and 17 of 20 field goal attempts for Tulsa in 2023, with a season-long kick of 47 yards. At Penn State, he'll be joining redshirt junior Sander Sahaydak and redshirt freshman walk-on Ryan Barker in battle to replace Alex Felkins. On the other side of the balance sheet, the Lions didn't suffer a big exodus via the portal this year. Cephas was the only one of their six departing players to start a game at Penn State. He arrived at PSU from Kent State last summer and made six starts in his lone season in State Col- lege, finishing with 22 catches for 246 yards and 2 touchdowns. On Jan. 3, Cephas announced that he would be moving on. ■ Penn State will have three new coordinators in 2024. Stacy Collins, who took over the Nittany Lions' kicking game in 2022, be- came the third PSU coordinator to leave since the end of the regular sea- son, opting to return to Boise State in January. Collins had been a member of the Broncos' staff in 2021 before coming to Penn State. A native of Sutherlin, Ore., Collins has spent nearly his entire coaching career on the West Coast. It was not a surprise that he chose to join Spen- cer Danielson's staff as special teams coordinator, linebackers coach and assistant head coach. Collins led an impressive turnaround at Penn State in 2023. According to ESPN's SP+ metric, the Nittany Lions finished 67th in the country in that department in 2022. Last year, with transfers Alex Felkins and Riley Thomp- son leading the way at kicker and punter, respectively, the Lions finished 28th. Pro Football Focus rated the Penn State special teams even higher, listing them eighth in the country, up from 14th the previous year. "We've improved dramatically on special teams," coach James Franklin said in November. "Our specialists have been more consistent." Penn State had already replaced his offensive and defensive coordinators when Collins' departure was announced. Andy Kotelnicki, formerly of Kan- sas, has taken over for the fired Mike Yurcich on offense, while former In- diana head coach Tom Allen was hired to replace Manny Diaz as defensive coordinator. Diaz left in December to become head coach at Duke. — Greg Pickel PENN STATE'S OFFSEASON PERSONNEL SHUFFLE Coming* Name Pos. Elig. Ht. Wt. Status Julian Fleming WR Sr. 6-2 210 Transferred from Ohio State A.J. Harris CB So. 6-1 190 Transferred from Georgia Jalen Kimber CB R-Sr. 6-0 185 Transferred from Florida Jordan Mayer DE R-Fr. 6-4 230 Transferred from Wisconsin Chase Meyer K Jr. 5-9 175 Transferred from Tulsa Nolan Rucci OL R-Jr. 6-8 300 Transferred from Wisconsin Going Alex Bacchetta P R-Fr. 6-2 220 Transferred to Rice Dante Cephas WR R-Sr. 6-0 193 Entered transfer portal Johnny Dixon CB Sr. 6-0 196 Declared for NFL Draft Cristian Driver WR R-Fr. 5-11 188 Transferred to Minnesota Olumuyiwa Fashanu OT Sr. 6-6 317 Declared for NFL Draft Alex Felkins K Sr. 6-3 200 Declared for NFL Draft Daequan Hardy CB R-Sr. 5-9 178 Declared for NFL Draft Adisa Isaac DE R-Sr. 6-4 249 Declared for NFL Draft Curtis Jacobs LB Jr. 6-1 235 Declared for NFL Draft Theo Johnson TE Jr. 6-6 260 Declared for NFL Draft Kalen King CB Jr. 5-11 190 Declared for NFL Draft Trey Potts RB R-Sr. 5-9 215 Declared for NFL Draft Chop Robinson DE Jr. 6-3 254 Declared for NFL Draft Ibrahim Traore OT R-Jr. 6-5 323 Entered transfer portal Jace Tutty CB R-So. 5-11 188 Transferred to Youngstown State Caedan Wallace OT R-Sr. 6-5 341 Declared for the NFL Draft Jake Wilson DE R-Jr. 6-3 247 Entered transfer portal Returning* Hakeem Beamon DT R-Sr.+ 6-3 290 Chose to forgo 2024 NFL Draft Dvon Ellies DT R-Sr.+ 6-1 298 Close to forgo 2024 NFL Draft KeAndre Lambert-Smith WR Sr. 6-1 185 Chose to forgo 2024 NFL Draft Riley Thompson P Jr. 6-1 209 Granted eligibility extension by NCAA Tyler Warren TE Sr. 6-6 257 Chose to forgo 2024 NFL Draft Sal Wormley G R-Sr.+ 6-3 324 Chose to forgo 2024 NFL Draft * Eligibility listed is for the 2024 season. Stacy Collins Leaves After Two Years In Charge Of Special Teams