At the conclusion of the 2023 season, many Penn State football fans knew that something needed to change in the wide receiver room. Some thought there was not enough talent, while others thought that competition was needed to improve the room in general. Penn State was given a gift when former Ohio State wide receiver Julian Fleming decided that he would be coming home to play for the Nittany Lions. Now, James Franklin has provided some insight into why Fleming was a good fit in the transfer portal.
James Franklin reveals why he added Julian Fleming to his roster
Julian Fleming made his commitment official from the transfer portal to the Penn State football team on January 3rd. Suddenly the dark spot for the Nittany Lions’ roster became much brighter. Fleming will be an instant contributor for the Nittany Lions this fall and brings a variety of skills to the table. At Ohio State, he collected 79 catches for 963 yards and 1 touchdown in four seasons.
Now, he is competing with the Penn State wide receivers while bringing his leadership and wisdom to the table during Spring ball. James Franklin was recently asked about the competition in the wide receiver room and it didn’t take long for Franklin to mention Fleming and why Penn State added him from the transfer portal.
Franklin said, “…Then on top of that I think Julian Fleming, another local guy that we’ve been able to bring back home, he’s brought an element of experience, of maturity that I think has been really good and has approached things really the right way since he stepped on campus.
I didn’t really feel like we needed to go out and do a whole lot in the transfer portal, but we needed to make sure we had enough competition at every single position to bring out the best and not only those guys individually, but also us as a team. I think Julian has helped with that as well as the younger players already in our program taking the next step. When I say younger players, that’s really all of them, including some of the veteran guys that now have played a decent amount of football that we anticipate and fully expect them to take the next step.”
Fleming puts defenders on skates
It has only been a few days since the Nittany Lions have started the Spring practice sessions. But it didn’t take long for Julian Fleming to show off his agility. The Penn State football social media team shared a clip of Fleming making a defender miss in the open field with this juke move. The former Ohio State product continues to show why he could solve some problems at wide receiver for Penn State this fall
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