VOTING: Best Player Of James Franklin Era (Abdul Region, R1)
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We’re halfway through out first round of voting, and here’s what we had for our Tyler Warren Region yesterday:
#1 Tyler Warren (99%) over #16 Blake Gillikin (1%)
#9 Miles Sanders (71%) over #8 Adisa Isaac (29%)
#4 Pat Freiermuth (82%) over #13 Brandon Bell (18%)
#5 Kaytron Allen (96%) over #12 Garrett Sickels (4%)
#6 Chop Robinson (80%) over #11 Donovan Smith (20%)
#3 Vega Ioane (73%) over #14 PJ Mustipher (27%)
#10 Drew Allar (67%) over #7 Juice Scruggs (33%)
#2 Yetur Gross-Matos (86%) over #15 Curtis Jacobs (14%)
Here’s our bracket as of now:
Today, we hit the Abdul Carter region.
1/16: Abdul Carter vs. Tyler Davis
1. Abdul Carter
I would say Abdul Carter was a stud from his first game at Penn State, but he got ejected on the first play of his debut against which meant we had to wait a wee bit longer to see the absurdity that was Abdul Carter. I mean, what an absolute joy to experience his progression. From a promising freshman linebacker to a devastating junior defensive end, Abdul left no doubts he was a savage. Him playing against Notre Dame with one freaking functioning arm was the stuff of legends.
16. Tyler Davis
Tyler Davis never missed a kick that actually led to a loss so his senior year struggles are kind of forgotten about. But when you consider he started his career 30-of-32 — that’s just under 94%! — it kind of makes sense why he would miss a few gimmes. That’s just a natural regression to the mean when you are putting up Steph Curry from the free throw line percentages on field goals.
8/9: Connor McGovern vs. Parker Washington
Connor McGovern was a three-year starter for Penn State who won a ton of football games and was pivotal part in getting the offensive line to be at least adequate from their sanction days. Still, I realize that probably won’t mean anything because I paired him with Parker Washington for this first round matchup. I expect 80/20 for PW3 after seeing the voting for some of these OLs the last two days.
Parker Washington was a very good football player, and when it comes to the “Remember him game”, he has a lot going for him. One, he was productive for multiple years. Two, Penn State struggled mightily at his position the second he left. Three, our lasting memory of PW3 was his 11-reception, 179-yard performance against Ohio State. And lastly, he’s really performed well in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars, as he’s coming off a 58/847/5 breakout season.
4/13: Jaquan Brisker vs. Hunter Nourzad
You’d be hard-pressed to find a more complete safety at Penn State than Jaquan Brisker, who earned second-team All-American honors in 2021. The dude just had no weaknesses in his game. He could play the deep parts of the field as a centerfielder, but yet
13. Hunter Nourzad
A transfer from Cornell, Hunter Nourzad was only at Penn State for two seasons but he made the most of his time in Happy Valley. He started eight games in 2022, most notably down the stretch as Penn State’s rushing attack hit another gear en route to a Rose Bowl victory. Nourzad then moved to center in 2023, earning second-team All-B1G honors in the process.
5/12: Mike Gesicki vs. Jesse James
5. Mike Gesicki
Who would have thought during the dropsies season of 2015 that we’d be here with Mike Gesicki? Look at us now! Gesicki’s mental strength to get over his drop struggles as a sophomore led him to two banner seasons with the Nittany Lions, earning second-team and first-team honors in 2016 and 2017.
12. Jesse James
Is it fair to call Jesse James the forefather of Penn State as Tight End U? I feel like the tight end run started under Bill O’Brien and James played a big part in that. As you can see above, he really took a step in being a focal part of the offense under James Franklin in 2014. James parlayed his success in Happy Valley into a nearly 10-year NFL career.
6/11: Marcus Allen vs. Rasheed Walker
6. Marcus Allen
Is Marcus Allen the coolest player of the Penn State era? Maybe, but even if not, he was one hell of a football player. He only had one interception which probably outlines his deficiencies as a defensive back, but the 17 TFLs and 5 forced fumbles display a powerful force on the backend of the defense. Plus, I’m not sure there were many other players who loved Penn State as much as Marcus Allen he did. He was originally a Bill O’Brien recruit who stayed loyal when James Franklin took over, and then came back for his senior season when — let’s be honest — I don’t think his draft stock was going to improve much.
11. Rasheed Walker
The parallels to Donovan Smith are pretty funny here. Both big-time recruits out of Maryland. Both redshirted before starting for three seasons at left tackle. Both had stretches of dominant play. And both — maybe more than anything — are remembered for how frustrating they could be.
3/11: Trace McSorley vs. Will Fries
I’m trying my best in these blurbs to not let my ~personal~ opinion impact the voting, which means I need to stay quiet about Trace because THIS IS MY GUY. But, I mean, Trace was just freaking awesome, man. I can’t wait until he’s head coach here and Patrick Koerbler Jr. is the staring QB under him <3
11. Will Fries
This is a tough one for me as well because Will Fries is also one of my guys. The 4th-and-5 call against Ohio State when Chase Young blew up the play was not his fault. I feel vindicated he got a $88 million deal with the Vikings. Suck it, haters, he was a very good offensive lineman here.
7/10: Nick Singleton vs. KJ Winston
One of the more fascinating careers at Penn State. Freshman and junior year, wow, this guy is awesome. Sophomore and senior season, huh, this guy kinda sucks. The bigger picture answer, in my opinion, to Nick Singleton: he was a fantastic football player who gave us some great memories and ran hard every time…even if it was right into a hole that wasn’t there.
10. KJ Winston
If KJ Winston doesn’t get hurt in 2024, he was *much* higher on this list. Like I think he’s in the 3-6 seed area with the other great safeties like Jaquan Brisker, Ji’Ayir Brown, and Marcus Allen. But, alas, his Penn State career was shortened due to an early season injury during his junior season. Still, just a very strong, dependable safety.
2/15: Carl Nassib vs. Kevin Givens
2. Carl Nassib
I mentioned that Tyler Warren’s junior-to-senior jump was unforeseen, but Carl Nassib takes the cake for most ridiculous improvement between seasons maybe ever? I mean, he was a walk-on that didn’t really play that much and then his final season he’s breaking Penn State’s sacks in a season record in what was really 10 games because he got hurt against Northwestern. As poster ckmneon pointed out, had he stayed healthy and played a normal allotment of snaps the last 3 games, he was on pace to have a 20 sack, 26 TFL, and 8 forced fumble season. WHAT?!
15. Kevin Givens
If there’s a Mt. Rushmore for underrated Penn State players, Kevin Givens might be on it. He was an extremely important member of the defensive line for three seasons, playing mostly defensive tackle but also pitching in as an end against run-heavy Big Ten foes. Dude was just solid as hell, and really started coming along as a redshirt junior. Still disappointed he didn’t return in 2019.
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