Penn State will green light four freshmen out of the gate this season heading into Week 1, according to coach James Franklin.
The quartet of Tony Rojas, King Mack, Zion Tracy and Elliot Washington are are slated for significant action in multiple phases of the game. The green, yellow and red light system has long been Franklin’s way of verbalizing which true freshmen will see action or how likely they are to take a redshirt year. Franklin opted not to discuss yellow- or red-lighted players.
“I would say, these guys have shown that they’re the closest not just to play on defense but also have significant roles on special teams,” Franklin said on Tuesday during his weekly press conference. “I think that’s one of the big things out there for recruits and players, whether it’s in college or even in the NFL. There’s so much value in that in terms of, OK, here’s a guy that’s in the two deep on special teams, and here’s a guy in the three deep on offense or defense. He’s going to play enough that it makes sense to green light him and go from game one. He’s going to get enough reps between the combination of his offensive responsibility and his special teams responsibility or his defensive responsibility, that everybody is comfortable with it. The coaches are comfortable with it. The players are comfortable with it. It makes sense.”
For the most part the news was not particularly surprising. Rojas, Washington and Tracy were all January enrollees, which generally allows for a faster onboarding process for new Nittany Lions and puts them a bit ahead of their fellow freshman in the summer. Rojas has generated a ton of buzz around his name at linebacker while the do-it-all safety in Mack has not been far behind. For his part, Washington has filled out his frame nicely at corner and seems poised to make an impact on special teams as well as defense. Tracy might be the lone surprise, but a lack of Rojas- or Mack-level hype doesn’t mean the New York product can’t make an impact at corner or in the kicking/return game.
“That’s where those guys have been able to get the green light, is being in what I would consider the three deep on defense and being within the two deep on enough special teams units that it makes sense,” Franklin added.
For this group, they will hope to follow in the footsteps of plenty of former Nittany Lions who began their playing careers right out of the gate at Penn State and ended up being stalwart members of the program. Like all great college athletes, there’s always their first snap, and on Saturday these four freshmen will take theirs. Per NCAA rule changes in 2018, true freshmen can play in up to four games without losing a year of eligibility.
