Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1538407
S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 5 2 9 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M posal is not the same as having depth. Penn State's 2025 line returns four starters and a fifth player who totaled starter-level snaps at tackle last season. In preseason camp, Trautwein has been experimenting with last year's standout right tackle, An- t h o n y D o n k o h . Coming off an injury that forced him to sit out Penn State's final five games, Donkoh is getting reps at guard, the position he played at the start of his col- lege career. That might seem like an unusual move. Tackle is widely regarded as one of the top three or four positions in football, and few teams can afford to take an effective tackle and try him at guard. When Traut- wein was asked recently to recall the last time he moved a tackle inside for depth purposes, he said, "Never, to be honest with you." That he can afford to do so now is a tes- tament to the team's recruiting success. Trautwein credited the recruiting staff and Franklin for helping land the kind of players who can handle multiple posi- tions, and for making sure they under- stand that nothing is set in stone when they get on campus. "You're just making sure that you get the right measurables," Trautwein said. "Then you get the guys and you watch them. Can they block the speed rushers? And then also, are they powerful enough to play inside? "Maybe some of the guys that are play- ing guard, or guys I'm moving in, are probably going to play tackle at the next level. But at the same time, they need to get on the field first. I haven't really had a [previous season] as a coach when I've been able to do that." Early Days Two of Penn State's top three tackles are out of eligibility after this year. Senior Drew Shelton and redshirt senior Nolan Rucci will be in NFL training camps a year from now. That's why Donkoh has been the focus of the conversation about posi- tional versatility. But Donkoh isn't the only player who's being moved around. Tratuwein said ev- eryone is playing multiple positions in camp, from sophomore Cooper Cousins to Texas A&M transfer TJ Shanahan. "They're all playing different posi- tions," Trautwein said. "Cooper is playing multiple positions. TJ is playing multiple positions. Nolan Rucci is playing both tackles. Drew Shelton is playing both tackles. I'm making sure that I'm devel- oping everywhere." At Penn State's football media day in early August, Donkoh discussed the chal- lenge of switching between two positions. "The biggest difference at guard is that everything is right in your face. At tackle, you have more time and space," the red- shirt sophomore said. "But as a guard, I need to be intentional with how I'm working — where I'm putting my hands, stuff like that, because if I mess that up, then the whole play is messed up." Exploratory Phase Donkoh started his career at left guard before moving to tackle for the Peach Bowl at the end of the 2023 season. Last year, he played tackle before his season ended prematurely. Now, Trautwein is putting him through his paces at both po- sitions to see what works best. "First practice, it was tackle. Second, it was guard. Today, it's going be both," Trautwein said Aug. 2, a few hours be- fore Penn State's third practice session of preseason camp. "Where does he need more reps? Who is playing well at tackle or guard that might [deter- mine if I] have to put him at guard or tackle?" What Trautwein was de- scribing is a swing lineman who can play multiple posi- tions in a starting five. In years past, that player was JB Nelson or Bryce Effner. Those were tal- ented players, but they may have lacked one or two traits that prevented them from becoming full-time starters. Make no mistake, the 6-foot-5, 326-pound Donkoh possesses NFL po- tential and has more in common with the first-round picks in Trautwein's ca- reer than the valu- able backups we just listed. For the first time in many years, Penn State fans are in a po- sition to see what life is like for the other half — the elite programs in college foot- ball. It took 11 years for that scar to heal, but at least for now, Penn State's offensive line is in a wildly better place than where Franklin and Trautwein found it. ■ "When I got here, people just brushed us over like no big deal. We had four offensive linemen — I think that was the number when I got here — in the entire program. I think now, [we're] at 22, 25." J A M E S F R A N K L I N Nolan Rucci filled in at right tackle after Anthony Donkoh's injury and earned a 74.5 run-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus, best on the team. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS