Lingering Injury on Defense Thrusts Penn State True Freshman into Key Role

At one key defensive position, this will be displayed heavily Saturday, as head coach James Franklin announced on Wednesday night at his weekly after practice media availability.

Penn State redshirt senior defensive end Zuriah Fisher was widely expected to step in and start at defensive end in 2025, replacing star defensive end Abdul Carter, who was selected third overall in the 2025 NFL draft this April.

However, as James Franklin discussed at his weekly press conference on Monday, Fisher is still working his way back from an injury that cost him the entire 2024 season. With Fisher missing from practice during the media availability window on Wednesday, it is expected that he will wait to make his return from injury until at least week two.

How Penn State Football Will Replace Zuriah Fisher

After practice Wednesday night, Franklin discussed Penn State’s plan at defensive end regarding true freshman Chaz Coleman, who Franklin announced had earned “green light” status to burn his redshirt on Monday.

Franklin noted that Coleman will play “a lot” for the Nittany Lions in his first collegiate game Saturday. Franklin continued that it wouldn’t surprise him if Coleman played around 30 snaps Saturday.

Chaz Coleman was a four-star prospect in the Nittany Lions 2025 class that just arrived on campus this summer. The number nine prospect from Ohio has turned heads since arriving on campus, shooting up the depth chart to eventually work with the ones and twos in practice over the past two weeks.

Coleman is already impressing his teammates, before even taking the field in game action.

“He’s one of the guys that’s always in the meeting early, leaving late, asking coach questions and stuff like that,” Zane Durant recently told reporters. “The other day, I got a chance to hang with him. Humble as ever, knows he got the opportunity. He has worked for everything that he has, so he doesn’t take anything for granted.”

Jim Knowles’ Secret Weapon

Nicknamed the “Chazmainian Devil” by defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, Coleman may see the field much more than originally expected during his freshman year.

“He’s crazy athletic, explosive, and for a freshman, he plays really hard, like he plays to the echo, chases the ball all over the place,” Knowles recently told reporters. “I call him the Chazmanian Devil. He’s that guy. He’s very mature for his age. He wants to learn. He doesn’t like making mistakes. He’s smart. He’s the guy that can help us.”

After Max Granville’s injury this offseason and Zuriah Fisher still working back from injury, the Nittany Lions are in dire need of a player to step up opposite star defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton.

If Coleman can prove he can make the quick adjustment to the college game over the Nittany Lions’ three non-conference games, he could carve out quite a role for himself on the Nittany Lions’ defense that is trying to push Penn State back to the college football playoff for the second year in a row.

While James Franklin said Monday that the plan for the Nittany Lions was to get plenty of players involved depth-wise against Nevada, Coleman’s addition to the lineup is quite different than the typical attempt to get freshman involved.

Coleman should play early and often for the Nittany Lions Saturday as the coaching staff assesses how the true freshman will handle his first action in a Penn State uniform. How Coleman performs against the Wolf Pack will determine what his role will be moving forward for Deion Barnes and the Penn State defense.

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