Overreactions to Player Measurements on Penn State’s Updated Roster

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Like The Masters, lying about your inability to be impartial when selected for jury duty, and co-workers guilting you into buying six boxes of Thin Mints and four boxes of Tag-A-Longs, PSU message board meatballs (of which we are  proud card-carrying members) drawing unfounded conclusions from player height and weight fluctuations is truly a tradition unlike any other.

Last week, Penn State dropped some scraps in the content-starved media’s slop bucket with the release of an updated 2023 roster. Here’s what stood out to us:

Nick & The Fatman

Not to be mistaken for the late 1980s CBS crime drama of a similar name, the tough-to-tackle backfield duo of Nick & The Fatman – that’s Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron “Fatman” Allen – should be tougher to tackle this season as both runners are bigger…and presumably stronger.

Singleton has added nine pounds to his frame through winter workouts, currently weighing in at 228 pounds. For those wondering, that’s 10 pounds heavier than former All-World Oklahoma RB Adrian Peterson – a popular player comp for Singleton – was during his sophomore and junior seasons. Playing at 219 pounds as a true freshman, Singleton averaged 4.58 yards after contact – the second-most of any PSU RB with at least 100 carries in the James Franklin era (2019 Journey Brown, 4.79).

Allen’s off-season transformation, however, might be more noteworthy. Recruiting services listed Allen at 220 pounds during his senior season at IMG Academy. Then, after enrolling early at Penn State, Allen weighed 201 pounds when the official 2022 roster was released last August. Now, Allen is back up to 218 pounds. We’re assuming he shed “bad weight” last year and added “good weight” this year…which should scare the crap out of opposing defenses considering Allen’s proven ability to break tackles, move piles, and turn chicken sh*t into chicken salad using strength and power at a lesser weight.

Vega Ioane

How big is too big? Well, assuming redshirt freshman Vega Ioane vultures a decent number of 2-deep reps at either left guard or right guard this season, we’re about to find out. Big (but fairly proportional) coming out of high school, Ioane elevated from 336 pounds in 2022 to 352 pounds in 2023 – making him the heaviest Penn State offensive lineman since 2018 part-time starting right tackle Chasz Wright tipped the scales at 353 pounds. Oh, Wright was also three inches taller than Ioane.

The reassuring thing about Ioane’s weight gain is that a couple extra lbs. probably won’t dilute too much his freakish pliability, movement skills, quick feet and overall explosivity – traits that popped off the laptop over and over again on his high school tape when he was a “slim” 330 pounds. As weird as it reads, 18-year-old Ioane wore that weight well compared to many of his 3- and 4-star contemporaries back then. So what’s another 15-20 pounds, right?

Every Penn State Defensive Tackle

As the sweet, savory, but haunting scent of two-quarters-old Smuckers and Skippy wafted through the musty air of the Michigan Stadium tunnel – a.k.a. college football’s Action Park – Penn State coach James Franklin took a macro approach when asked to explain the bug-meet-windshield tenor of the afternoon.

“We gotta develop, we gotta recruit, we gotta get bigger,” Franklin told PennLive’s Bob Flounders shortly after the Nittany Lions were trampled to the tune of 418 yards on the ground. “We’re undersized in some spots. Everybody thinks they’re Aaron Donald now, and they’re not. Like, everybody sees Aaron Donald playing undersized and everybody thinks they’re that guy. And there’s been one of those guys in the last 100 years of football.”

If Penn State’s lack of heft along the defensive line was a serious problem back in mid-October, then the steps made in the weight room/nutrition bar/Gumby’s Pizza to correct it – if we’re taking Franklin at his word and it needs to be corrected — have been ineffective thus far. In fact, as it stands right now, 2023 will be Penn State’s lightest collection of defensive tackles since 2014, Franklin’s first season as coach.

Senior DT Dvon Ellies once again crossed the 300-pound mark, adding seven pounds since last fall. Zane Durant, Coziah Izzard, and Kaleb Artis essentially stayed the same weight. Blog favorite Jordan van den Berg actually shed nine pounds, dropping down to 286 while yo-yo specialist Hakeem Beamon – a returning starter – inexplicably now weighs 256 pounds. For context, five Penn State defensive ends weigh more than Beamon.

But did Franklin – and now us (we?) – make too big of a deal regarding the lack of sand in the pants of Penn State’s defensive front?

Statistics say yes. In 2022, Penn State’s defense allowed 3.32 yards per rush – good for 14^th best in the FBS. The previous year, Brent Pry’s slightly heavier unit gave up 3.81 yards per rush. What about the slender 2014 squad, you ask? Well, they surrendered 2.95 yards per rush, good for second-best of the Franklin Era behind the loaded 2019 squad (2.55 yards/rush).

Abdul Carter

Move over Stix City. Make room for Stix County.

Not surprisingly, Penn State’s freshman All-American linebacker beefed up to 249 pounds this winter. We say “not surprisingly” because unlike fellow freshmen stars Singleton and Allen, Carter was not an early enrollee last year, meaning this offseason is his first in the program’s weight and nutrition program.

At 249 pounds, the latest No. 11 is already bigger than Stix City forefathers Brandon Bell (233), NaVorro Bowman (232) and Micah Parsons (245). Assuming Carter’s #gainz are more muscle than mayo, well, expect the sophomore from Philly to be an unequalled disruptive force  defending the run in 2023. If you’ll allow us one small critique, during his inaugural season in blue and white, Carter was occasionally hesitant to trigger downhill and voided gaps by trying to sidestep/duck under blocks (Parsons did this a lot, too) instead of leaning on his strength to stack and shed (see below). The extra mass should provide Carter the confidence to take on blockers instead of always trying to out-athlete them.

Tony Rojas

The ultra-talented, twitchy, but undersized 4-star true freshman linebacker from Virginia has already ballooned up 19 pounds, from 195 to 214, in (checks the calendar) eight weeks on campus. At this rate, Rojas will be 868 pounds by the time he graduates.

In all seriousness, Rojas’ rapid weight gain gives him a shot to see spot duty later this season as a situational, 3^rd and long blitzer in Manny Diaz’s diabolical pressure packages – the role Rojas was born to play. At 195 pounds as high school senior playing defensive end, Rojas was a relentless pass rusher able to bend and turn corners and close distance between he and the QB/ballcarrier quicker than a hiccup. Suited with a frame capable of carrying more mass without losing his signature explosiveness and overall athleticism, if Rojas can get to 225-230 by August watch out.