Freshman edge to factor in for Penn State this fall, says James Franklin

Max Granville has been turning heads since he arrived in Happy Valley an entire year early last fall. Now, the redshirt freshman edge rusher is ready to become part of the defensive end rotation for Penn State football in year two.

“He was a guy that flashed as a true freshman,” James Franklin said last week. “We went back and forth on whether we were going to burn his [red]shirt or not.

“He’s gotten bigger and stronger. He’s put on really good weight. It’s really important to him. He works extremely hard at it. When he first got here in the fall, he flashed mainly as a pass rusher. Now he’s got the size to be physical in the run game as well. So he’s going to be a guy that we think is going to factor in for us this year, and be part of that competition.”

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Granville was a consensus four-star prospect in the 2025 recruiting cycle when he committed to the Nittany Lions last June. A month later, the Fort Bend Christian Academy (TX) standout reclassified and joined the program for the 2024 season. He appeared in seven games as a true freshman, recording one tackle and a quarterback hurry.

“I really have high expectations for Max, and I feel like he’s a guy that has really, really good twitch,” then-defensive coordinator Tom Allen said last August. “[He has] great first-step quickness. There’s a lot of things naturally that we’ve seen in practice for a couple of days.”

Penn State football looking to veterans to replace Abdul Carter

Penn State football defensive end Abdul Carter. © Chris Eutsler / Basic Blues Nation, 2024.

Penn State is losing the potential top overall pick in this week’s NFL Draft in standout edge Abdul Carter. But the Nittany Lions have plenty of talent at defensive end to try and replace his production.

The room will now be led by veterans Dani Dennis-Sutton and Zuriah Fisher. Dennis-Sutton, a former five-star recruit, is looking to cement his own legacy in his final year in State College. Fisher is bouncing back after missing all of 2024 with an injury. The Nittany Lions also brought in former top 50 recruit Enai White from Texas A&M this winter.

Behind them, Penn State will turn to several young, unproven talents, including redshirt sophomore Mason Robinson, who has yet to appear for the Nittany Lions, and redshirt freshman Jaylen Harvey, who made two tackles in five games as a true freshman.

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