As Penn State gets through the summer months heading into preseason before things get truly underway in the fall, there are some questions about how these offensive and defensive units will look.
On the offensive line, they will have to replace three NFL draftees.
Defensively, two of their edge rushers were drafted, prompting [autotag]Abdul Carter[/autotag] to move down from his linebacker spot. As roles shift, there are opportunities for others who have been waiting their turn to step up and carve out a job for themselves.
It seemed like [autotag]Zuriah Fisher[/autotag] was poised to be that player on the defensive line.
Entering this season as a fourth-year player, the veteran was coming off a 17 tackle, 3.5 sack performance in 2023 across 13 games where he also had a fumble recovery. He seemed like someone who could emerge as a real contributor for this unit.
Unfortunately, it was reported by Nate Bauer of On3 that Fisher is going to be out for an indefinite time with a “significant injury setback” that was suffered during spring practice sessions in April.
That’s all the information that was released, but it seems like he could miss extensive time this season that might even include the entire year.
This would be the second injury that has caused him to miss a significant portion of the season. In 2022, he was limited to only the final two games of the year.
Fisher was reportedly a player who was standing out during the offseason as [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] talked about the lineman’s continued ability to improve in his new position after beginning his career as a linebacker. Penn State’s strength coordinator Chuck Losey said he was impressed with how the veteran embraced the competition and was “really happy with the way he’s responded.”
Where the Nittany Lions go from here will be seen, but this is a major loss for a team who is looking to get into their first-ever College Football Playoff.