The Rise and Fall (and Rise?) of Penn State’s Offensive Line

James Franklin and Phil Trautwein have been working furiously this offseason trying to stop a PSU OL drought that is almost offensive.

They’ve secured 10 offensive linemen – present and future – since December’s Signing Day, counting verbal commitments.

That includes five signees in the Class of ’22, with transfers from Lackawanna College and Cornell, and a second Signing Day addition from the state of Washington. They already have four O-line verbal commitments for the Class of ’23 and even one for the Class of ’24.

They have the quantity. Now they need quality.

The lack thereof at Penn State is not just a Franklin problem – he’s had only four O-linemen drafted by the NFL in his eight seasons at Penn State, due in part to the NCAA sanctions — but it is his problem to fix. To wit:

Penn State has had just one first team All-American offensive lineman in the past 26 seasons (Stefen Wisniewski, 2010).

Only three other Nittany Lion O-lineman have been accorded any sort of All-American status in that time: Levi Brown was second team All-American in both 2005 and ’06, while Dennis Landolt (2009) and John Urschel (2012 and ’13) have been third-team A-A’s.

Urschel was the last Penn State offensive lineman to be named first-team All-Big Ten — in 2013, eight seasons ago.

Only 10 Penn State offensive linemen have been drafted by the NFL in the past 21 years, including two in 2021 (Michel Menet, Will Fries).

Penn State O-lineman have won just one Rimington Trophy (A.Q. Shipley, 2008); have only once had the top Big Ten offensive lineman (Shipley); and have had only one Lombardi finalist (Sean Farrell, 1981). Urschel won the James E. Sullivan Award, as the nation’s top amateur athlete, in 2013. But that recognition was for his brains and brawn.

Postseason honors for your offensive linemen don’t automatically translate into success. The 2016-17 Nittany Lions proved that. They went 21-5, even though just one offensive lineman on those teams had any sort of postseason recognition. That was Ryan Bates, who was third-team All-Big Ten in 2017-18.

The most successful Nittany Lion O-lineman over the past decade, Donovan Smith, never got an All-American mention or a Big Ten nibble, beyond a few B10 honorable mention votes.

But Smith was selected in the second round of the 2015 Draft by Tampa Bay. And in the seven seasons since both he and the Buccaneers have hit the jackpot.

Smith has been Tampa Bay’s starting left tackle since Day One, and from 2015-2020, he played the third-most snaps of any offensive player in the NFL (6,684). He’s started all 111 games he played in, and during the Bucs’ four-game Super Bowl title run last postseason, he didn’t allow a sack or commit a penalty while protecting quarterback Tom Brady’s blind side.

Such success comes with a price. In seven seasons in the NFL, Smith has made $44.6 million, and is guaranteed another $30 million for the 2022-23 seasons. Smith is at the height of his profession, while Bates – who went undrafted – emerged as a starter for Buffalo Bills this season. He’s now a free agent.

It’s money when you find an O-lineman like Big Don.

Other Nittany Lion O-linemen in the NFL in 2021 were Fries (Indianapolis) and Connor McGovern (Dallas). Menet spent a bit of time on Arizona’s practice squad in ’21 and recently signed with Green Bay. Wisniewski retired last summer after 10 NFL seasons and two Super Bowl rings. Three-year starter Rasheed Walker is invited to next month’s NFL Combine.

THE LINE TO SUCCESS

Penn State’s O-line woes came to a head in 2021, when the Nittany Lions’ running game averaged only 107.8 yards per game – 118th out of 130 major college teams – and 3.21 yards per carry.

Those numbers are symptoms of a malady that is not easily, or quickly, corrected.

College offensive linemen traditionally take the longest time to mature and the longest to gel as a unit. The 2016-17 Nittany Lions – with oodles of NFL-caliber skill players and an offensive scheme that got Moorhead out of them — aside, the best Penn State teams for the past several decades have had the best offensive linemen.

It’s that simple. And that difficult.

This chart shows that in detail and reveals what an anomaly 2016-17 was. To explain: The All-American and Big Ten columns are for total of first-, second- and third-team selections. Draft is for years immediately succeeding the seasons noted. Over the years, the number of Draft rounds has shrunk from 17 (1967) to 12 (1977) to 7 (1994). So, today’s free agents may have been yesteryear’s 10th-round pick.

HAPPY VALLEY DAYS OF YORE

Franklin and Trautwein are tasked with bringing what had been a Penn State strength back to the future. There have been a few golden eras of Nittany Lion offensive line play:

1978-1982: In addition to winning 50 games, these Nittany Lions had three teams that were ranked No. 1 at some point in their season, and the 1982 squad won Penn State’s first national championship.

A total of 11 offensive linemen from those squads were drafted by the NFL – two as late as the 10^th round – and three were selected in the first round. Keith Dorney was the 10th overall pick in the 1979 draft, while three Nittany Lions went in the first 37 picks of the 1982 Draft – Mike Munchak (8th overall, Houston), Sean Farrell (17th overall, Tampa Bay) and Jim Romano (37th overall, 2nd round, Oakland).

Munchak went on to have a Pro Football Hall of Fame career. He was All-Pro twice and named to the Pro Bowl nine times – as was offensive lineman Steve Wisniewski, a two-time first-team All-American (1987-88) – and Stefen’s uncle.

Dorney was elected to the College Football of Fame, one of three Nittany Lion offensive lineman in the HOF. Steve Suhey and Glenn Ressler are the other two.

Dorney, Bill Dugan and Farrell (twice) were first-team All-Americans; Munchak and Irv Pankey were second-team selections.

1994-1995: The 1994 team was undefeated and averaged what was a then-NCAA record 44.4 points per regular season game. Three Nittany Lion playmakers went early in the first round of the 1995 Draft: Ki-Jana Carter (first overall), Kerry Collins (fifth) and Kyle Brady (ninth). But a stalwart O-line had a lot to do with their success.

Guard Jeff Hartings was a two-time first-team All-American and a three-time first-team All-Big Ten. Four of his O-line teammates were second-team All-Big Ten: Bucky Greeley, Marco Rivera, Keith Conlin and Andre Johnson. Both Hartings and Johnson were first-round picks in the 1996 Draft.

2008-2009: Penn State was 22-4 with a Big Ten title and two top-10 finishes. Landolt was first team All-Big Ten and a third-team All-American in 2009. In 2008, Penn State had a somewhat-amazing three offensive linemen on the Big Ten’s first team – Shipley, Rich Ornberger and Gerald Cadogan – while Stefen Wisniewski made second team.

Levi Brown: This offensive tackle deserves his own category. He was second-team All-American in 2005-06, first-team All-Big Ten in 2005 and second-team in 2006. He was drafted in the first round – and fifth overall – by Arizona in the 2007 NFL Draft. It’s the highest a Nittany Lion offensive lineman has ever been drafted.

Speaking of the NFL Draft, a total of 67 Nittany Lion offensive linemen have been selected in the draft since 1960. In that same time, 66 Penn State linebackers have been picked in the Draft.

Nearly the same, but very different.