UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Something pretty darn amazing happened late last season for Penn State, and it didn't get anywhere near the attention it deserved.
To be clear, Drew Shelton didn't get anywhere near the attention he deserved.
OK, so the Nittany Lions had the best left tackle in all of college football, right? Olu Fashanu did a tremendous job there and likely would have been a top 10 NFL draft pick had he turned pro. There's already been some talk that he could be the No. 1 overall pick in next year's draft.
But Fashanu only played in eight games last season, starting all eight before suffering what turned out to be a season-ending injury against Ohio State.
After that, Shelton, a true freshman, stepped in and started the final five games, including the Rose Bowl against Utah. And the amazing thing is that, with all due respect to Fashanu and his enormous talent, there really wasn't a big dropoff from him to the true freshman Shelton.
Sure, any advanced metrics would show that Fashanu was better. He didn't give up a single sack in 281 snaps while healthy. While I haven't been able to locate any advanced stats on Shelton, the eye test at least showed that he handled anything and everything thrown his way -- both run blocking and pass blocking -- during his five starts.
“It’s remarkable for a kid who’s only been here for five or six months to be able to play as a true freshman,” offensive line coach Phil Trautwein told the Reading Eagle during Rose Bowl media day. "To do that at offensive tackle in the Big Ten? It’s pretty crazy. It’s pretty awesome. ... He’s done a hell of a job.”
The reward for Shelton this year for doing such an awesome job? He'll likely go back to the bench and have to wait for another opportunity to come his way.
Fashanu is back at left tackle and figures to be a force. The starting right tackle spot probably will go to Caedan Wallace, a redshirt senior who has lots of potential, although he struggled a good bit last season and played only eight games because of injury.
Shelton, a 6-foot-5, 308-pounder from Downington West High School, has a very bright future. But for now, he'll likely be an insurance policy on the offensive line in case something happens to Fashanu or Wallace.
I caught up with Shelton earlier this offseason and discussed everything he learned last year about how to make a big impact so early in his college career.
"It just shows that I was willing and able to get better every day, put in the work, put in the time needed to end up where I was," he said.
'You've got to be consistent," he noted, "like in practice, in our meetings, habits and all that stuff. Because what you do day to day is really who you are."
That line -- about what you do day to day being who you really are -- stood out during the conversation with Shelton, a poised and introspective young man who eloquently explained what high school kids have to do once they get to the next level to become a college football player.
"I just think I've grown up a little bit since I got here," he said. "Being able to, like the maturity level, it's a lot different from being in high school and being in college. And even being a college athlete, it's a lot different. A lot of time management, a lot of responsibility that you gotta have. You've gotta make sure you do everything, you've got to be accountable, and I would say just growing up a little bit."
From a football standpoint, the learning process is a major difference from high school.
Shelton talked about "sitting in meetings, just having everything go over my head."
"I was kind of like, alright, I've got to step up a little bit," he added.
That's where learning how to lean on a veteran teammate made a big difference.
When he arrived at Penn State last year, Shelton said he was told by James Franklin to focus on veteran lineman Juice Scruggs and to try to mimic his habits. Shelton would sit behind Scruggs in meetings and ask him questions any time he didn't quite understand what was going on.
"I've got to shout to to Juice," Shelton said. "He took us all in as soon as we got here."
"When Coach Traut's talking in meetings and we didn't understand what he was saying, we knew we could ask Juice."
Scruggs is now gone, so Shelton will have to find a new mentor. Fashanu would be a great choice for that role, and Shelton no doubt will try to learn as much as he can from the All-America candidate.
In a lot of ways, Shelton is in a good place entering his sophomore season. He's already proven he can play at a high level, and yet he's still in a situation where he can sit and learn as much as possible without necessarily being thrown into the fire again.
He'll probably play a good bit this season, and then next year, all indications point to Shelton taking over for Fashanu at left tackle. Although there should be strong competition from the likes of heralded freshmen Alex Birchmeier and/or J'ven Williams.
For his part, Shelton said he's not worried about outside expectations entering this season.
"Going day in and day out, I'm worried about getting better," he said. "Bettering myself on and off the field, learning defenses, stuff like that. Just becoming a better football player, more so for me and this team, rather than what the expectations are.
"It's more of a self-driven thing that I want to get better, not really feeling like I have to live up to that expectation because of any outside noise."
