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STATE COLLEGE – Penn State offensive line coach Phil Trautwein still contends that former Wyomissing blue-chipper J’ven Williams “has a long way to go.”
But the man who has the biggest say in how much Williams will play this season said Thursday that the Nittany Lions need to get him on the field.
“J’ven has played well enough in practice that he should get time,” Penn State coach James Franklin said unsolicited. “You’d like to be able to get him some legitimate reps as long as things sit the way they are now. J’ven has done well enough that we need to get him experience.”
The 6-5, 304-pound Williams received the most practice repetitions at left tackle during spring practice because former Downingtown West star Drew Shelton was out after undergoing surgery for an upper-body injury.
Trautwein has said multiple times since Williams arrived on campus that he had to work on his pass protection because he had little experience in the ground-oriented Wing-T offense that Wyomissing runs.
“He took a load of reps in the spring, probably 500 or 600,” Trautwein said. “Probably 350 of them were pass pro. He went against some really good D-ends, like Dani Dennis-Sutton and Abdul Carter, maybe some of the best in the Big Ten.
“He got better with all those reps. That really got him to take the next step. I would say he has a long way to go to be where he wants to be.”
Williams was rated a five-star prospect by On3 and 247Sports and one of the top 25 prospects in the country overall. He played in three games last season behind All-American Olu Fashanu, who’s now in the NFL with the New York Jets, and retained four seasons of eligibility.
Shelton split time between the two tackle positions before starting at left tackle against Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl loss in place of Fashanu, who opted out. Franklin…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/j-ven-williams-needs-field-034600074.html
Author : Reading Eagle, Pa.
Publish date : 2024-06-14 03:46:00
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