Penn State Football: 4 Young Players Who MUST See Playing Time vs. Nevada
The long offseason is finally coming to a close. Penn State Football will be taking the field to kick off the 2025 season in less than a week.
While Penn State fans will see the 2025 team take the field for the first time this week, just how long fans will see Penn State’s starting players remains to be seen.
The Nittany Lions are heavy 44.5-point favorites against Nevada in the season opener, presenting an enticing situation to develop backups on Penn State’s roster. A favorable early-season schedule presents the ideal developmental opportunity for head coach James Franklin and staff.
4 Young Players Penn State Football Must Play vs. Nevada
Quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer
After Beau Pribula’s late-season transfer last season, Penn State was put into a precarious situation with two inexperienced backup quarterbacks for the Nittany Lions’ playoff run.
Luckily for the Nittany Lions, starting quarterback Drew Allar remained healthy throughout the 2024 College Football Playoff, and Penn State was not put into a situation to need to turn to either Ethan Grunkemeyer or Jaxson Smolik last season. Heading into 2025, Allar returns to lead the Nittany Lions for a third consecutive season under center, but Penn State still must sort out the backup role for this season.
Reading the tea leaves from Penn State’s latest practices, it seems that redshirt freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer has a leg up on the backup quarterback job.
Provided that is the case, Penn State must get Grunkemeyer live game reps against Nevada, as the redshirt freshman has thrown only two collegiate passes (against SMU in the College Football Playoff).
The Nittany Lions have extremely high expectations for the 2025 season. If something happens to Drew Allar later this season, the Nittany Lions will want to have some game experience for Ethan Grunkemeyer to lean on as he could potentially step in to lead a team with college football playoff and national championship aspirations.
Defensive End Chaz Coleman
Yes, Chaz Coleman just stepped onto Penn State’s campus this summer and was not able to participate in spring practices.
However, after arriving on campus, Coleman has created quite a buzz around himself ahead of his true freshman season, putting him in expected “green light” territory to burn his redshirt for the 2025 season.
After seeing Abdul Carter drafted third overall this spring and two other veteran defensive ends move on, Penn State is in need of depth at the position to step up. This need is furthered by rising star defensive end Max Granville’s injury this offseason.
Penn State could use a few younger defensive ends to step up this season to supplement the older veterans Dani Dennis-Sutton and Zuriah Fisher this season. Coleman could use early playing time in Penn State’s non-conference slate to get up to speed in the college game and potentially push for a rotational role at defensive end this season.
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Wide Receiver Tyseer Denmark
Penn State’s problems at wide receiver last season were widely documented, highlighted by Penn State’s wide receivers failing to catch a single pass against Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl in January.
This offseason, Penn State head coach James Franklin made sure to address Penn State’s issues at wide receiver, reaching into the transfer portal and bringing in three accomplished players to compete at the position this season.
Behind the three transfers, however, Penn State could still use a few wide receivers to develop into rotational pieces this season.
One of the most intriguing younger wide receivers who could develop into a rotational piece is redshirt freshman Tyseer Denmark. Denmark flashed potential last season in limited playing time, catching two passes for 28 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown as time expired against Maryland.
Penn State should get Denmark involved a ton in the weak non-conference slate to start the season to build his confidence and experience before Big Ten play begins in late September.
Defensive End Yvan Kemajou
Like Coleman, Yvan Kemajou has a great opportunity in front of him to push for a role on Deion Barnes defensive line this season.
Unlike Coleman, Kemajou benefited from enrolling early and participating in spring practice.
Kemajou was a top-200 recruit in Penn State’s 2025 class and has turned heads since arriving on campus this offseason. While Kemajou’s spring buzz was overshadowed a bit by Coleman’s attention this fall camp, Kemajou still could be a potential impact freshman for the Nittany Lions this fall.
If all goes according to plan for the Nittany Lions Saturday, James Franklin and company should have the ability to play plenty of young players against Nevada. If handled well by the coaching staff, Penn State could greatly benefit from the development against Nevada at key positions later this season.
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