Penn State coach James Franklin “could not be more impressed” with freshman offensive lineman Cooper Cousins
Expectations typically aren’t high for true freshman offensive linemen in college football. James Franklin didn’t help that cause with one of his own in first-year standout Cooper Cousins when he met with the local media at practice on Thursday evening.
“I don’t like to talk in ways that’s going to create crazy expectations,” Franklin began. “But I could not be more impressed with him, really from the beginning.”
Cousins, the first member of the Nittany Lions’ Class of 2024 and one that never wavered despite rocketing up the rankings over time, has picked up a bit of a reputation since enrolling at Penn State back in January. While not penciled in as a starter, folks in the program have him pegged for big things.
“Coop, that’s a freshman coming in is playing really good football,” said expected starting center Nick Dawkins. “I mean, he’s going to be great here. He’s a young guy, but he gets it. Sometimes we have to have conversations where we say, hey, maybe invest this here instead of there, but he’s a hard worker. It’s simple. You can control that. It’s impressive that he came in with that mentality.”
The decision ahead for the Penn State staff doesn’t seem to be about redshirting or not. It’s more about how much he’ll play and where. Cousins has been repping more at guard in camp — a move that would get him on the field sooner and on a more regular basis than stepping in at center — and the plan is to get him onto the field for as much as he can handle.
“Coop is battling, playing center and guard, so he has to mentally be ready,” Penn State offensive line coach Phil Trautwein said last week. “Physically, he’s probably there. He just has to work on some technique things. But there’s always competition.”
Cousins arrived in January with intentions to play, and so far the Penn State staff has taken notice.
“He shows up on campus, he is competitive. A lot of guys say that they want to play as true freshmen, but they’re not willing to do necessarily what it takes. The guy is either in class or in the building,” said Franklin. “And he’s asking a ton of questions. He’s super aggressive. He’s not intimidated or afraid of anybody.
“Then every night, I’ll come from watching film, go to the bathroom at like 9:45 and I walk to my office and he’s out there on the field, every night, at like 9:45 with like headsets on doing pass sets. It’s kinda weird, to be honest with you, but he is as driven and as committed as a young player that I’ve ever been around. Specifically on the O-Line, because it’s hard to play those grown man positions [on the] O-Line and D-Line as true freshmen.
“But he’s going to be hard to keep off the field.”
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