Penn State spring progress report: What did we learn about the Lions’ offensive line?

Penn State did not have its full complement of offensive linemen available for spring practice. Drew Shelton, the heir apparent at left tackle, missed all of spring practice after having offseason surgery. Second-year Nittany Lion Anthony Donkoh, who is fighting for the first-team spot on the right side, missed the Blue-White game, at the very least, for undisclosed reasons. It was not all doom and gloom for position coach Phil Trautwein’s group, though.

“To be honest with you, you guys know Drew Shelton didn’t go this spring,” James Franklin said after the Blue-White game. “Well, that was like really valuable for (Nolan) Rucci and J’ven (Williams). They got 1000 reps this spring, which was great. So some of it is strategic and some of it’s just how things played out.”

Blue-White Illustrated continues its spring progress report today with a closer look at the offensive line.

What did we learn about the Penn State offensive line during spring practice?

Expected new starting left tackle Drew Shelton, who is a junior, missed all of spring practice following offseason surgery. It’s not the end of the world, considering how many first-team reps he’s received over the last two seasons. But, it goes without saying that Penn State would rather not have its heir apparent for future first-round NFL Draft pick Olu Fashanu on the shelf for the first four months of the year. The silver lining, though, is that, as Franklin noted, it got projected backup and redshirt freshman J’Ven Williams a lot of work should he be needed.

On the right side, redshirt freshman Anthony Donkoh continues to project as the starter, even if he missed the Blue-White game, which gave transfer and redshirt junior Nolan Rucci a lot of work. Those are the first four up at the tackle spots.

Inside, redshirt senior Nick Dawkins has seemingly fended off freshman Cooper Cousins for the starting center spot for now. At guard, redshirt senior+ Sal Wormley (who also missed the Blue-White game) and redshirt sophomore Vega Ioane are first up for now with redshirt senior JB Nelson, who can play inside and out, sidelined for some of spring. They will be pushed by the Cousins. But, all told, it was a good spring for the big men up front who have big shoes to fill.

What questions still face the Lions offensive line?

There are a few. The first, and most important one, is this: Will Shelton and Donkoh be ready for preseason camp, and if so, can they fend off Williams and Rucci, respectively, after both got a lot of work during spring practice?

From there, and it kind of goes hand in hand, but we wonder how many offensive linemen Phil Trautwein will play week in and week out. The multi-year Penn State assistant has no problem with rotations. Will he stick with a starting five. Or, could six or seven Lions see the field along the offensive line week in and week out? Preseason camp will be our first chance to start figuring out that answer.

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