James Franklin says Penn State football starter ‘fully cleared’ going into summer

Team chemistry can only grow if everyone is healthy and active in workouts, practice, and meetings. For the Penn State football team, there was a question mark surrounding junior offensive tackle Drew Shelton. However, during his media availability on Thursday, Nittany Lion head coach James Franklin made it clear that Shelton has been “fully cleared” heading into summer workouts.

Drew Shelton was a four-star prospect in the 2022 recruiting class. A Keystone State native, Shelton is from Dowingtown, PA. Entering the 2024 season, Shelton is now a projected starter along the Nittany Lion offensive line. On March 12, James Franklin spoke to the media and let everyone know that Shelton underwent surgery at the end of the 2023 season. He ended up missing the Blue-White Game as he continued to recover from his surgery.

On Thursday Franklin shared a much more positive update on Shelton.

“I think he’s just at the point [where he’s] super mature,” Franklin said. “I think he handled his time out physically the right way. Been a really good coach and mentor to some of the younger players. I think we talked about it this morning, he’s fully cleared now. He was pretty much doing everything [this spring]. But, he had a few limitations like in the weight room. But, he is fully cleared now. And he’s really in a good position.

“He probably needs to put on a few pounds like we’ve talked about, but besides that, he’s a super mature kid, very conscientious, very intelligent. And obviously, he’s played well when he’s been in there, all the way back to as a true freshman. So we’re expecting him to have a good year. But, this summer is going to be important for him, and training camp will be important for him because he missed all of spring.”

Does James Franklin view Drew Shelton as a starter?

It’s difficult to pencil in projected starters this far away from fall camp. But, there’s a certain level of trust and respect given to players that have made multiple starts during their careers. For Penn State football offensive tackle Drew Shelton, he exceeds those expectations according to James Franklin.

“I think any guy in the program that’s started multiple games, we look at like a starter,” Franklin explained. “Obviously, that means they got in and played well enough to win with. It’s not like somebody gets hurt, and you go in and you didn’t play well and you’re the starter that way.

“I’m talking about a guy that played well enough at this level to win Big Ten games. And he did that as a true freshman, which is difficult to do on the offensive line.”

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