Five players to look out for during the 2022 Blue-White game

Story posted April 22, 2022 in CommRadio, Sports by Alex Rocco

The Blue-White game is fast approaching for Penn State football, and there are many storylines heading into Saturday’s game.

The Nittany Lions have several players returning from injury, three transfers and nine early enrollees in a recruiting class that ranks No. 7 in the nation.

Despite losing stars such as Jahan Dotson, Arnold Ebiketie and Jaquan Brisker, there is a lot of buzz about the upcoming season in Happy Valley.

Here are some players to look out for in Saturday’s Blue-White game.

Beau Pribula, quarterback

With sixth-year senior Sean Clifford's time at Penn State slowly coming to a close, coach James Franklin recruited two signal-callers that will be big pieces of the future.

While five-star Drew Allar has caught almost all of the attention of the fans and media, Beau Pribula is a player that should be on many people’s radars.

Pribula was rated a three-star and the No. 30 quarterback coming out of high school.

He may not have the size of a prototypical quarterback standing at just 6-foot-2, but his accuracy and agility will make up for the lack of size.

Having all the eyes on Allar will only help the York, Pennsylvania, native to just relax and play his game.

Kaytron Allen, running back

The blue and white struggled mightily running the football last season not having a single back go over 100 yards in a game.

Running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider brought in two of the top halfbacks in the country to Happy Valley in Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen.

Similar to the quarterback position, Singleton is drawing most of the attention and deservedly so as he captured the Gatorade National Player of the Year.

However, Allen is extremely talented being rated No. 154 in the nation and the No. 12 running back in the 2022 class.

With Singleton possessing great speed, Allen brings the power standing at 5-foot-11 220 pounds.

The Bradenton, Florida, native is a well-rounded back that put up elite numbers at the powerhouse IMG Academy before enrolling early.

Malick Meiga, wide receiver

After superstar receiver Jahan Dotson declared for the NFL Draft, the Nittany Lions have a major hole to fill.

The blue and white brought in transfer Mitchell Tinsley from Western Kentucky, but more players are going to need to step up to replace the production lost by Dotson.

One of those players could be sophomore Malick Meiga.

Meiga did not get any playing time in his true freshman season in 2020, but he tallied six games played last season recording three catches for 78 yards.

67 of those yards came on his lone score of the year when he and fellow Candian quarterback Christian Veilleux connected a deep bomb in the 28-0 victory over Rutgers.

Meiga has great size at the position coming in at 6-foot-4 and 203 pounds.

If he can put all the tools together, Meiga can be a great weapon for the Nittany Lions' offensive attack.

Zane Durant, defensive line

Despite only being on campus for a few months, Zane Durant has gotten off to a hot start to begin his Penn State career.

While he won’t make an immediate impact when next season rolls around with P.J. Mustipher coming back from injury, Durant has made a great impression on his teammates and coaches.

Durant lacks the size of most defensive linemen standing at 6-foot-1 251 pounds, but his smaller size allows him to play with great speed.

The Orlando, Florida, native has even been compared to Kebin Givens by another defensive lineman Nick Tarburton.

Zakee Wheatley, safety

Every year there is always one player that catches everyone's eye in the spring and this campaign its freshman Zakee Wheatley.

According to Franklin, Wheatley has a nose for the football, and assistant coach Terry Smith mentioned he leads the blue and white in interceptions.

The feat becomes even more impressive when you factor in fellow safety Ji'Ayir Brown was tied for the NCAA lead in interceptions a season ago.

While Wheatley is listed behind Brown on the depth chart, the standout safety will get a lot of reps on Saturday.

If Wheatley can show fans what his coaches and teammates have seen all spring the buzz around him will only continue to grow.

Alex Rocco is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email afr5646@psu.edu