Tag: Mehki Flowers

Penn State player availability report for Kent State updated

Penn State has posted its player availability report for today’s game against Kent State.

Penn State will be without one of its top defensive players on the roster this weekend when the Nittany Lions host Kent State for a mid-Saturday afternoon non-conference matchup. Head coach James Franklin announced this week that the team will be without safety, Kevin Winston Jr., for an extended period of time due to a long-term injury. This week’s player availability confirmed that for this week with Winston Jr. being among the players officially ruled out on the Penn State player availability report.

Big Ten teams are required to provide a player availability report prior to their respective games each week as part of a new conference policy put into place for the 2023 season.

The following players were listed as out for Penn State for the Kent State game.

  • [autotag]Kevin Winston Jr.[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Jaxon Smolik[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Kari Jackson[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Keon Wylie[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Zuriah Fisher[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Mason Robinson[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Mehki Flowers[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Peter Gonzalez[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Andrew Rappleyea[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Sam Siafa[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Liam Andrews[/autotag]
  • [autotag]De’Andre Cook[/autotag]
  • [autotag]T.A. Cunningham[/autotag]

Penn State hosts Kent State at 3:30 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network.

Follow Kevin McGuire on Threads, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Follow Nittany Lions Wire on X, Facebook, and Threads.

James Franklin praises wide receiver group for offseason improvement

James Franklin provided some optimism about the Penn State wide receivers ahead of the season opener.

After the 2023 season, Penn State made it a priority to work in the offseason to find ways to get more out of its wide receivers in 2024. Despite losing some players to the transfer portal, including the team’s leading receiver, Penn State hired a new offensive coordinator and added a key transfer as part of a plan to revamp the offense’s production this fall. And with the first game of the season now just days away, head coach [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] seems to be gaining confidence in his wide receiver group.

“I would say wide receiver. I would say quarterback. I would say offensive line, specifically obviously with the offensive lineman that we lost to the NFL last year. I would say those three positions,” Franklin said during his weekly press conference this week, also noting the improvement of the offensive line and quarterback groups. “I think everybody had pretty good idea who we were at tight end, who we were at running back, so I would say those three positions, and really the three positions we needed to, right?”

Penn State hired Andy Kotelnicki from Kansas to inject some new life into the offense, and the addition of veteran [autotag]Julian Fleming[/autotag] from Ohio State was believed to help solidify the group. And with Drew Allar gearing up for his second season as the starting quarterback, things look like they may be in good shape this fall, beginning this weekend on the road at West Virginia.

One player who has stood out to Franklin among the receivers is [autotag]Liam Clifford[/autotag], the younger brother of former Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford.

“He’s more confident, more comfortable,” Franklin said of Clifford, a player who could step up and become a bigger contributor this season. “He’s much more consistent, which is what it’s all about for all these guys at this level. But it would not surprise me at all, and we are anticipating him having a really good year for us.”

So how many receivers is Penn State looking to field this season?

“I think at wide receiver when you talk about being an 11 personnel set, you know, you’re talking about two deep at two of the positions and then a swing guy in some ways,” Franklin said. “I think we are close to that.”

The big story for the receivers will be figuring out just who is going to step up and demand the football more this fall. Fleming is the veteran option, but Franklin noted a couple of other names we should be watching for.

“I think if you look at kind of across the board, a guy like [autotag]Mehki Flowers[/autotag] has really stepped up for us. Tyler Johnson has really stepped up for us. I think [autotag]Anthony Ivey[/autotag] have really stepped up for us.

Follow Kevin McGuire on Threads, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Follow Nittany Lions Wire on X, Facebook, and Threads.

Chop Robinson OUT vs. Indiana

Penn State rules DE Chop Robinson out vs. Indiana in pregame player availability report.

It was likely anticipated that Penn State would be without the services of defensive end Chop Robinson on Saturday against Indiana. Those expectations were met with the release of Penn State’s player availability report leading up to kickoff against the Hoosiers from Beaver Stadium.

Robinson was officially ruled out of action for the Indiana game. Robinson, who left last week’s game at Ohio State after a blow to the head, was one of 12 players listed as out for the home game against the Hoosiers.

Here is a look at everyone ruled out by Penn State:

  • Tyler Johnson
  • Mehki Flowers
  • Elliot Washington II
  • Tyler Holzworth
  • Feyisayo Oluleye
  • Chop Robinson
  • Kaveion Keys
  • Ian Harvie
  • Liam Powers
  • Jim Fitzgerald
  • Andrew Rappleyea
  • Smith Vilbert

Penn State also listed four players as questionable for the game, including Amin Vanover. Here is who is listed as questionable for the Nittany Lions:

  • Amin Vanover
  • Mason Stahl
  • Carmelo Taylor
  • Mason Robinson

Follow Kevin McGuire on Threads, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

2023 Penn State football snapshot profile: No. 10 Mehki Flowers

Mehki Flowers will continue to develop in Penn State’s defensive plans in 2023 with big things on the horizon in 2024.

Going into the 2023 football season, Nittany Lions Wire will be looking at each scholarship player listed on the Penn State roster. Over the preseason, each profile will cover where the player is from, how recruiting websites rated them coming out of high school, and what role they will play for James Franklin this season.

Next up in our series is a look at redshirt freshman safety [autotag]Mehki Flowers[/autotag], one of the many highly-rated players to commit to the Penn State program in the Class of 2022. Flowers remains one of the players to be keeping on the radar in 2023, although it may be another year before his full potential truly contributes to the success of the defense.

2022 Penn State football: Nittany Lions’ safety preview

Ji’Ayir Brown’s return highlights the safety position overview for Penn State in 2022. Position overview…

Penn State is prepping for a season in which the program hopes to redeem itself on the national stage. After back-to-back seasons of mediocre results, Penn State is aiming to bounce back and prove themselves worthy of being in the Big Ten championship hunt, if not a little bit more.

Penn State kicks off the 2022 season with a Thursday night primetime matchup at Purdue on September 1. And for the second straight year, the depth and quality of the defensive secondary appears to be a strength for Penn State. The safety position loses a big-time player in Jaquan Brisker but the return of Ji’Ayir Brown coming off his breakout season is a big plus for the defense this fall.

Here is a look at the safeties on the roster for Penn State coming into the 2022 season.

Video highlights of each member of Penn State football’s Class of 2022

WATCH: Video highlights of each Penn State Class of 2022 player

Penn State locked in its Class of 2022 at the start of the NCAA’s early signing period, and with it comes a bunch of buzz for the future of the Nittany Lions under the leadership of head coach James Franklin. But chances are most of you are unfamiliar with what any of these new faces will bring to the table for Penn State. So it’s a good thing Penn State served up some highlight packages to give fans a quick glimpse of the kind of talent that is joining the program.

Enjoy this collection of video highlights of Penn State’s newest additions in the Class of 2022.

Big board: Penn State’s 2022 football recruiting class by position

Breaking down Penn State football’s Class of 2022 position by position.

Penn State’s Class of 2022 has long been recognized as one of the top classes in the nation. The latest (and greatest) recruiting class to be signed by James Franklin looks to add some tremendous quality and depth to various positions across the roster and has some players to really look forward to watching grow almost immediately.

For a long stretch in this recruiting cycle, Penn State had the nation’s top-ranked class, and it continued to be ranked highest among Big Ten schools up until shortly before the early signing period. But there is no disputing the ranking of Penn State’s Class of 2022 is proof Penn State has been hitting it hard on the recruiting trail this cycle.

Here is a breakdown of Penn State’s Class of 2022 broken down by position.

Penn State adds Philly linebacker to Class of 2022

Penn State added a commitment to the Class of 2022 from Philadelphia over the July 4th weekend

[mm-video type=video id=01f906aedf2xcrh8bppv playlist_id=01ey902ehrs6e9bvhw player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01f906aedf2xcrh8bppv/01f906aedf2xcrh8bppv-a8deac3542401f5052ff619a38103267.jpg]

Philadelphia is the birthplace of our nation’s independence, so it is only fitting that Penn State set off a few recruiting fireworks with the commitment of a player from the City of Brotherly Love this weekend of July 4th.

Keon Wylie, a linebacker from Imhotep Institute in Philadelphia, committed to Penn State during a live announcement airing on CBS Sports HQ on Saturday, unveiling a Penn State polo shirt underneath his jacket as he did so with his family applauding the decision around him.

Wylie chose Penn State over offers from Pitt and Kentucky, the other two schools announce din his top three at the end of June. Wylie announced his top three not long after he made a visit to Penn State. The trip to Penn State came after a visit to Pitt and a week before a trip to Kentucky.

Wylie is rated as a three-star recruit according to the composite ranking from 247 Sports. The 6’2″, 210-pound linebacker says he was recruited to play a similar position and style as Micah Parsons, who went on to be the No. 12 overall draft pick of the Dallas Cowboys in the 2021 NFL draft. 247 Sports’s composite ranking has Wylie as the nation’s No. 68 linebacker and the 17th-top recruit in the state of Pennsylvania.

Penn State is making good progress in the state of Pennsylvania so far in the Class of 2022. Penn State has commitments from the No. 4 (WR Mehki Flowers), No. 6 (WR Anthony Ivey), No. 7 (edge Ken Talley), and No. 12 (QB Beau Pribula) players in the state and the 247 Sports crystal ball predictions are leaning toward Penn State for the No. 2 (RB Nicholas Singleton) and No. 3 (CB Keenan Nelson Jr.) players.

It’s also worth noting Wylie is teammates with the state’s top-rated recruit, edge rusher Enai White. Penn State has trended pretty well in Philadelphia in this current recruiting cycle, but White didn’t even make a visit to Penn State in June (he did make a pair of unofficial visits in 2019), so it appears Penn State is not even in the running at this time.

Penn State’s Class of 2022 is currently ranked No. 7 on the 247 Sports composite team rankings as of now.

Follow Nittany Lions Wire on Twitter and like us on Facebook for continuing Penn State coverage and discussion.