Penn State Football Offensive Line Sets High Expectations

Penn State football’s offense is full of veterans. The quarterback position has Drew Allar and Beau Pribula. The running backs have Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen. Tyler Warren is back as a starting tight end. Even the wide receivers have Trey Wallace and Julian Fleming.

But what about the offensive line?

Redshirt senior Nick Dawkins and presumptive starting center said during Penn State’s media day on Saturday that his expectation for the offensive line is the Joe Moore Award – the award for the best offensive line in college football.

But having to replace three NFL draft picks in Olu Fashanu, Hunter Nourzad, and Caedan Wallace, will be a challenge of its own.

The returning players with the most experience are junior tackle Drew Shelton, redshirt seniors Sal Wormley and JB Nelson, and redshirt sophomore Olaivavega Ioane. Only Wormley started each game last season. Ioane started five games and Shelton only started the Peach Bowl.

During media day, offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki highlighted Wormley, Dawkins, Shelton, redshirt junior Nolan Rucci, and redshirt freshmen Anthony Donkoh and J’ven Williams as the players that have taken the most starting reps this offseason.

However, there are three key factors great offensive lines have: depth, experience, and talent, and Kotelnicki certainly likes his offensive line’s depth.

“I think when you look at football, at most levels, it’s really hard to feel like you’ve got 15 offensive linemen that are ready to play,” Kotelnicki said.

However, he isn’t satisfied with just the quantity of depth. Kotelnicki said he and offensive line coach Phil Trautwein have been cross-training the linemen to strengthen that depth.

“[Shelton] is mastering left tackle, [Williams] is mastering left tackle, but they are getting enough reps at the other side that as the season unfolds and the pieces start to have to move, for whatever reason, it’s not like we’re starting over brand new,” Kotelnicki said.

As for experience, Shelton, Ioane, Wormley, and Nelson have 45 combined starts for the Nittany Lions. Although they don’t have the same in-game experience, Dawkins and the Wisconsin transfer, Rucci, have a combined seven years of college football under their belts as well.

To help adjust the younger players and the veterans to the new offense, Wormley said they’re trying to keep things simple up front by keeping the terminology the same and making some “little changes.”

“It’s a bit more versatile. We have more movement,” Williams said. “There’s a lot more stretch movement and a lot more conventional stuff. We talk about the option and a whole bunch of different stuff that [Kotelnicki] adds to the playbook.”

Last year’s offensive line allowed just 15 sacks and paved the way for the 29th-best rushing offense in the country. Shelton, Ioane, Nelson, and Wormley played a significant part.

This year, there are two former high school five-star recruits in Rucci and Williams, a former four-star in Donkoh, and Dawkins, who has three years of experience as a special teamer.

Williams appeared in three games as a true freshman last season and Donkoh appeared in four, including the Peach Bowl against Ole Miss, but Rucci didn’t get many opportunities with the Badgers, as he only appeared in six games in three years. However, he said the transition to Penn State was better than he expected.

“I think the opportunity to come in and have spring ball to really learn the offense and get around the coaches and players is pretty invaluable,” Rucci said. “Just having that experience with coach [Kotelnicki] this spring and getting into the meeting rooms and getting to pick his mind about his philosophy on offense and what we’re doing with the scheme is really cool.”

However, one player Kotelnicki spoke very highly of was Dawkins.

“I will say this about Nick Dawkins: He is one of a kind,” Kotelnicki said. “His maturity, his authenticity, it just screams when you interact with him and I just tell our staff, ‘You can never take for granted the kind of leader and the person he is because he is rare.'”

Time will tell if this group has a chance to be the best offensive line in the country and they get their first shot at the end of August when they head to Morgantown to take on West Virginia. For now, though, the group is just focused on improving every day.

“I think the biggest thing with us is understanding who you are and what your role is. I think that’s huge on the offensive line,” Dawkins said. “You’re good at some things, you’re not good at some other things, but don’t try to hide those things. Turn your weaknesses into strengths.”