Without having played a snap in a Penn State uniform, Julian Fleming, the newest weapon and prize signing by Penn State Football Head Coach James Franklin this offseason, will be the most dangerous wide receiver in Offensive Coordinator Andy Kotelnicki’s offense.
He has a long history with his new team.
Fleming was the top high school prospect in Pennsylvania and the top wide receiver in the country five years ago and was heavily recruited by Franklin back then.
But ultimately Fleming spurned his current team for the brighter lights of Columbus and the Ohio State Buckeyes.
But, Fleming’s four-year stint at Ohio State was anything but memorable.
Flemming struggled with the Buckeyes. He never lived up the hype that surrounded him in Columbus as injuries repeatedly sabotaged his college career. He has never been completely healthy in any one of his four years at Ohio State. And his unavailability dropped him to just a third receiver option as other wide-outs like Marvin Harrison Jr. rose to stardom.
Julian Fleming Ready to Make Major Impact for Penn State Football
Fleming stands a sturdy 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, and appears to be NFL-ready.
The NFL was on his mind when he was trying to decide whether or not he should enter the transfer portal last December. Fleming was torn. He could declare for the NFL Draft and hope to hear his name called or he could leave Ohio State and take his talents to another big-time football school with a chance to boost his NFL draft stock.
Fortunately for the Nits, Fleming chose the latter because ultimately he wanted a chance to prove himself to the fans, his peers and himself. For Fleming, Penn State was the final gateway before he takes his game to the next level.
Franklin did not hesitate to reach out to Fleming when he saw that his former 5-star recruit entered the transfer portal late last year, rekindling a long and positive relationship with his former prize recruit. Fleming says that there were no hard feelings after he committed to the Buckeyes, a sentiment that coach Franklin has always maintained.
“He’s been great, and the way that it ended the first time, I wasn’t necessarily sure how it would all play itself out,” Franklin told reporters. “Even during the portal recruiting process when we had our first conversations, I didn’t know how it was going to play itself out. The guys love him, he’s been awesome as a teammate, he’s been really coachable. I think he has been able to move on. There’s been no talk about the past.”
That’s good because Fleming can’t change his past but he certainly can put his stamp on his future in his short time he’ll have playing in Happy Valley. The new fifth year senior, who played his high school ball at Southern Columbia in Catawissa,
PA, spent his spring practices as the newest addition to a wide receiver corps that has been much maligned for their underwhelming 2023 season.
“They definitely have a chip on their shoulder. They’re definitely hungry, and I’m really excited to be working with them,” Fleming told reporters recently after a Spring practice. “I have one year left of college and I really wanted to maximize it,” Fleming said. “I felt like the opportunity here is great.”
Fleming has heard from more than a few Penn State alumni, including former
linebacker Micah Parsons, who sent a welcome home message to Fleming recently. The reception from the “welcoming committee” has been warming and tremendously positive, and of course, being closer to his family has been a big-time bonus for the Bloomsburg native.
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3 Fast Facts
- Fleming wore number No. 4 at Ohio State. He will wear No. 3 at Penn State.
- In addition to Penn State and Ohio State, Fleming also received scholarship offers from Michigan, Clemson, Alabama, and Georgia during the recruiting process. He also received death threats on social media from some fans of the schools he rejected.
- Coming out of high school some scouts compared Fleming to Julio Jones.
2 Bold Predictions
Julian Fleming Will Eclipse 10 Touchdowns This season
Nine Penn State wide receivers caught at least one pass last season. Collectively they scored 10 touchdowns. Fleming will eclipse 10 touchdowns next season by himself.
Fleming will lead the Big Ten in receiving yards with over 1,200.
Why? Because for the first time since his senior year in high school he is completely healthy.
Both shoulders are good to go and so is he.
At Ohio State his unavailability kept him down on the depth chart. It didn’t help that he played the same position as Marvin Harrison Jr., who was drafted with the 4th overall pick in the first round of the NFL draft by the Arizona Cardinals last April. Emeka Egbuka was number two on the depth chart in Columbus.
At Penn State, Fleming instantly is WR1 and with a new offensive scheme, he’s going to be the Nits’ version of the Dallas Cowboys’ Cee Dee Lamb, a guy who will seemingly be quarterback Drew Allar’s first, second, and third read.
In a conference that boasted only one 1,200-yard receiver last year (Harrison Jr.), Fleming is set for an eye-popping season.
MORE: Nick Singleton Bold Predictions for 2024 Season
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It was at PRISM where Staszak produced live games and began his career as an on-air reporter.
After a couple of brief stints with CBS-3, WB-17 and WGAL-8 in Lancaster, PA, Staszak began a 12 year stretch at FOX 29 where he became the lead sportscaster in 2007. It was there that Staszak found himself in the middle of Philadelphia Phillies World Series Championship coverage that earned him an Emmy nomination for best sports reporter in 2008.It was one of five Emmy nominations that Staszak earned over the course of his career.
All told Staszak covered three World Series, two Stanley Cup Finals, an NBA Finals and one Super Bowl during his television run.
Staszak left the TV business for 97.5 The Fanatic in 2013, where he enjoyed eight years bloviating his beliefs on how a professional football team should be run.In 2018 when he fortunate enough to be the first sports talk host in the city, along with cohort Zach Gelb, to provide post-game coverage of the first Super Bowl Championship for the city’s beloved Philadelphia Eagles.
Staszak was also a writer for 97.5 The Fanatic along with 4 Philly Sports and now covers Penn State athletics for NittanyCentral.com.
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