A rising Penn State star who was in competition for a starting role will be sidelined for the foreseeable future. Defensive end Max Granville, who burst onto the scene as a true freshman last season after forgoing his senior year of high school, has sustained a “long-term” injury, James Franklin told reporters on Thursday in the Lasch Building.
Granville backed up Adbul Carter during the College Football Playoff, and was poised to inherit a prominent role in the first year under new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles.
“Obviously not an ideal situation, and my heartbreaks for the kid and the family,” Franklin said. “And, obviously, not what we wanted or needed, either. A guy that played last year, we were depending on taking that next step this year.”
Dani Dennis-Sutton, a projected first-round NFL draft pick, is set to return to the starting lineup and lead a defensive line that lost a handful of pieces this offseason. The Nittany Lions lost Carter and Amin Vanover to the NFL, and veteran weapon Smith Vilbert transferred to North Carolina instead of returning to State College for his seventh year of eligibility.
“He definitely was trending up,” defensive line coach Deion Barnes said of Granville. “Doing a great job in the spring, held his rhythm.”
With Granville out, Zuriah Fisher is the most likely candidate to replace Carter and suit up alongside Dennis-Sutton as a starter. Fisher missed last season’s entirety with a significant injury of his own, and will be asked to make a quick and productive return to the gridiron this fall.
“I think internally within our program, I think there’s a lot of confidence that Fish has got a chance to have a big year,” Franklin said. “He’s one of those guys that I don’t think anybody’s talking about right now, outside of the program, based on just not seeing him recently. But there’s a lot of excitement, internally, with our players, with our staff.”
The depth behind Dennis-Sutton and Fisher, however, is notably thin.
Jaylen Harvey, a redshirt freshman who played in five games last season, has impressed both Franklin and Barnes. Enai White transferred in from Texas A&M this offseason and could play a significant role early on. Then there’s Mason Robinson and Mylachi Williams, as well as a handful of freshmen who have yet to experience game action.
White is arguably the most intriguing of the bunch, given his three years of experience with the Aggies. A native of Philadelphia, like Barnes, White was acquainted with the Penn State coaching staff as a top-50 recruit out of high school. Injuries, though, have held White back from reaching his full potential at the collegiate level.
“You can see the traits. While he was one of those guys coming out of high school, it’s just more about the whole development here: weight room, football, all the stuff,” Barnes said. “So, he’s gonna keep catching on. And you can see the traits. In the summertime, in the season, time will tell. But this training camp is going to be huge for him.”
Granville made his mark in just one year with the program. And others, like Yvan Kemajou, who Barnes said “looks really good,” will be asked to do the same. There appears to be an excitement surrounding fellow freshman Dayshaun Burnett. And three others — Cortez Harris, Chaz Coleman and Daniel Jennings — could battle for early playing time, as well.
“There’ll be competition in that room,” Franklin said. “(Granville) was a young player, but by losing him, we just got a little bit younger too, right? It is what it is at this point. In some ways, the earlier you find out, the better. So you get going on trying to speed up the maturation process of the other guys.”
