On Wednesday, Penn State announced six commits for the 2025 season, the most recent of which is a crucial offensive depth addition.
On X/Twitter, swing offensive lineman JB Nelson declared his intention to make a comeback the following season. After transferring from Lackawanna Community collegiate, this will be his fourth season at Penn State and sixth overall in collegiate football.
Nelson has always been considered a starter at guard and tackle on both sides by James Franklin and the coaching staff. Despite playing in 11 games during the 2023 season, Nelson started eight of them before suffering an injury that cost him the position to Vega Ioane. In 2024, he played in all 16 games but did not start.
Nelson was one of the major offensive lineman who announced their return to Penn State in 2025, along with leading center Nick Dawkins. They will add Texas A&M transfer TJ Shannahan to a strong bunch that only lost one starter, right guard Sal Wormley.
Following the rise of right tackle Nolan Rucci and gifted freshman Cooper Cousins, there will be competition for all five starting positions. The return of standout running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, who both found their rhythm towards the end of the season and had the Penn State run game blazing, goes hand in hand with that.
Along with linebacker Dom DeLuca, special teams coordinator Justin Lustig said that all four of his leading specialists would return to Penn State. Among them were kicker Ryan Barker, kickoff specialist Gabriel Nwosu, punter Riley Thompson, and long snapper Tyler Duzansky.
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Max Ralph