{"id":8832,"date":"2023-06-26T17:21:30","date_gmt":"2023-06-26T22:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=8832"},"modified":"2023-06-26T17:21:30","modified_gmt":"2023-06-26T22:21:30","slug":"penn-state-lineman-vega-ioane-who-will-be-an-nfl-guy-is-pushing-to-beat-out-a-starter-this-offseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/penn-state-lineman-vega-ioane-who-will-be-an-nfl-guy-is-pushing-to-beat-out-a-starter-this-offseason\/","title":{"rendered":"Penn State lineman Vega Ioane, who will \u2018be an NFL guy\u2019, is pushing to beat out a starter this offseason"},"content":{"rendered":"

The common perception is that the Penn State offensive line is set entering preseason camp. Olu Fashanu<\/a><\/strong> is set to anchor it at left tackle. Caedan Wallace<\/a><\/strong> appears poised to beat out Drew Shelton<\/a><\/strong> on the right side. And, on the interior, Hunter Nourzad<\/a><\/strong> is set to slide to center and be flanked by Landon Tengwall<\/a><\/strong> and Saleem Wormley<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n

One second-year Nittany Lion is aiming to disrupt what seems like the set plan, however: Vega Ioane<\/a><\/strong>. The 6-foot-4, 352-pound Washington native played in four games as a true freshman in 2022 and could have burned his redshirt if needed. Now, he hopes to parlay that game experience into a rotational spot at worst and starting spot at best in 2023. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll be an NFL guy for sure,\u201d Lions offensive line coach Phil Trautwein<\/a><\/strong> told BWI. \u201cHe\u2019s a guy who\u2019s knocking on the door to play a lot, maybe even beat out someone. That\u2019s just the kid\u2019s mindset. He can play anywhere inside. He can be a guy that plays center or both guards. He\u2019s powerful, he\u2019s a great kid, great person, smart; he\u2019s awesome. I love the kid, love who he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ioane drew quick rave reviews from teammates and coaches alike last year. His quick acclimation into the program and early success may have stemmed most from a bond formed with a classmate. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe and Drew Shelton are best friends, so it\u2019s great to see that because a kid that far away from home needs that family,\u201d Trautwein<\/a><\/strong> said. \u201cHe\u2019s got that here, which is key because that was something that I wanted to make sure he got right. That\u2019s usually when kids leave if they don\u2019t have some of that feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Penn State coach James Franklin is high on Ioane, too<\/h2>\n

Back during spring practice, Penn State head coach James Franklin raved about Ioane\u2019s potential. That was so even if he was out of position for much of spring practice. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the best looking 365 pounds I\u2019ve ever seen in my life,\u201d Franklin said. \u201cHe carries it extremely \u201cBecause some guys that have been limited or have some injuries he\u2019s had to play center a ton, which I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s necessarily his natural position. But I think there\u2019s value in the fact that he\u2019s been able to create some position flexibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a smart kid, he\u2019s a great kid, he\u2019s been awesome so we\u2019re really really happy we have him. I\u2019ll look forward to when we can get him more reps at guard because I think that\u2019s gonna be more of a natural position for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post Penn State lineman Vega Ioane, who will \u2018be an NFL guy\u2019, is pushing to beat out a starter this offseason<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The common perception is that the Penn State offensive line is set entering preseason camp….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8832\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}