Former Penn State Football players set for 2023 NFL season

Cut day has come and gone for NFL franchises and the NFL season is finally upon us.

With that being said, there are currently several former Penn State Football players on active rosters. So let's take a look at all of them.

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One of the most consistent quarterbacks in Penn State history, Clifford was picked up in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft and was in the midst of battle all camp long against former seventh round picks Danny Etling and Alex McGough, who recently won the 2023 USFL MVP Award.

Clifford beat out both of those guys and earned the backup job, joining starter Jordan Love as the only other quarterback on the Packers roster. There's been a lot of hype about Clifford this camp and if Love struggles, there's a good chance Clifford could see some time.

After some very interesting offseason contract negotiations, the Giants were able to retain Barkley on the team's franchise tag for at least one more season.

Now this past year with the Giants was arguably the best ever since he was drafted in 2018, Barkley finished the year with 1,312 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on 295 total attempts. If he can reciprocate those numbers again this season, he should have no problem getting a contract extension this go around.

The former Nittany Lion is on the move for the first time in his five year NFL career as he signed with Carolina Panthers this offseason and is projected to be the lead back for the franchise.

Now Sanders is coming off a big 2022 season where he rushed for over 1,200 yards and 11 touchdowns for the Eagles, this year he is looking to do all that and more. Stay tuned as Sanders is projected one of the better RBs in the league entering 2023.

One of the lone remaining fullbacks in the NFL, Cabinda has been a mainstay in the league since he was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2018. Expect him to be used in a variety of ways once again as Lions OC Ben Johnson has been pretty creative to get the offense going for the team.

The former third round pick and Super Bowl LV Champ, Godwin has a new quarterback this offseason since Tom Brady decided to hang up the cleats. This year he will once again be part of the best WR duos in the league as both he and Mike Evans should be able to make Baker Mayfield looks competent at the very least.

Robinson is on the move for the fourth time in his NFL career as he returned to the state of Pennsylvania after being traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason.

As of now, Robinson is expected to be the starting slot receiver for the Steelers to enter the 2023 season.

After a hot start to the 2022 season where Dotson hauled in four touchdowns in the first four games, he ended up suffering an injury that would cause him to miss the next five games before making his return.

Now it took him some time shake off the rust, but he did manage to haul in another three touchdowns over the next eight games. With a new OC in town in Eric Bieniemy, look for Dotson to potentially have a very big 2023 season.

Despite some rumors that the Jaguars were entertaining trade offers for the 2023 sixth-round pick, Washington remained with the team. Now he might be a little bit lower on the depth chart to start the year, but he is listed as KR2 and PR2, so he could see some snaps in year one.

The Penn State grad transfer had a solid lone season for the Nittany Lions in 2022 and was picked up rather quickly following the 2023 NFL Draft. Tinsley fought tooth and nail this training camp, beating out several others as he earned one of the last WR spots on the active roster for the Commanders.

Tinsley is only scratching the surface of his potential and could be a serious weapon for the team down the line.

After a very good rookie year in 2021, Freiermuth continued to emerge into one of the top tight ends in the NFL finishing with 700+ receiving yards and two touchdowns.

Now this year, with an improved offensive line giving QB Kenny Pickett more time to throw this could cause Muth to have quite the year three.

Another former Nittany Lion on the move this offseason, Gesicki signed with the Patriots on a one year deal back in March.

Now Gesicki had a quiet 2022 season, as his numbers dipped from 780 receiving yards to just 362 yards over the past two seasons and he only managed to start one game for the Dolphins. This year he still is the projected backup behind Hunter Henry, but since the Pats tend to use a lot of two tight-end sets this season could be the bounce back he needs.

One of the first tight ends off the board in the 2023 NFL Draft, Strange might be a little bit lower on the depth chart with Evan Engram leading the way there.

The good news here is that HC Doug Pederson has shown in the past that he likes to use two tight end sets quite a bit, however in 2022 the team didn't have many options beyond Engram to deploy those two tight end sets. Hence why they went high on tight end in the draft and why Strange could see a pretty big role in 2023.

The eight year NFL veteran has switched team this offseason, as he will no longer be on the Buccaneers for the first time in his career, as he signed with the Chiefs this offseason.

Despite Walker playing left tackle for the team all preseason, he is listed as the team's backup right tackle on the depth chart. Now it seems like Walker could play either tackle spot, however according to several team writers it sounds like if necessary RT Zach Tom would slide over to LT and Walker would step up at RT.

The Buffalo Bills starting right guard Ryan Bates just recently restructured his contract to create some more cap space for the team. After starting 15 games last season, Bates has solidified himself as one of the better offensive linemen on the Bills as he continues to get better and better with each year.

After appearing in three games as a rookie in 2022, he made nine starts for the Colts in 2022 and now enters the 2023 season as the starting right guard for the team.

This offseason the Bills made a free agency move to bring in another former Nittany Lion to join their offensive line room, as Connor McGovern signed a three year deal following three years with the Cowboys.

Now McGovern is expected to be the starting left guard for the Bills this season as the Penn State duo at guard will be in charge of protecting one of the top quarterbacks in the league in Josh Allen.

After starting center Scott Quessenberry, Scruggs looked as though he would OC1 for the Texans to enter the 2023 season, that was before Scruggs suffered a strained hamstring recently in preseason. With Scruggs likely out for game one, it appears that third string OC Jarrett Patterson will be the guy for game one at least until Scruggs recovers.

Toney's name has been mentioned quite a bit this offseason due to him being suspended indefinitely for violating the league's gambling policy. Now technically he is still part of the Commanders roster, but the minimum suspension from the NFL is one full season, so don't expect to see Toney until 2024 at least.

Entering year two of his contract with the Bills, the 31-year old defensive tackle is once again the team's starting defensive tackle. However this year he will have a little more on his plate as edge rusher Von Miller will mis the first four weeks due to being put on the PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) list to start the season.

After starting all eight games that he appeared in last season for the Chargers, Johnson will retain that role as starting DT in year two. Currently he helps to form one of the best D-Line rooms in the NFL as he plays alongside guys like Sebastian Joseph, Joey Bosa and Aaron Donald.

After only one sack and three tackles for loss in 2022, Johnson is hoping for a much better 2023 season especially with him now the full time starter.

Givens is back with the 49ers once again after appearing in 13 games last year, 11 of which came as the starting defensive tackle. This year he will be backup to start the year, but he will still very much be part of the rotation of the top projected defense in the NFL in 2023.

Arguably the league's top defensive player, Parsons returns to the Cowboys once again for year three. After back to back seasons with 13+ sacks, Parsons has been talking a lot this offseason about his team goals and him being annoyed about them coming up short each of the last two seasons.

Look for a big year out of Parsons as he continues his reign as one of the defense's top players.

Oweh had a little bit of a quieter year two last season, as he was dealing with a shoulder injury throughout most of the year and it even required offseason surgery.

Word is that he had a solid training camp so far, but this year will be make or break for Oweh as contract extension talk will likely begin sooner rather than later.

This year will mark Gross-Matos' fourth year with the Panthers and he's had some ups and downs, with this past season being arguably his best so far with the team, registering 54 total tackles, four fumble recoveries and 2.5 sacks.

The former Temple grad transfer, only spent one year at Penn State, but it was enough to earn him a second round selection in the 2022 NFL Draft. In year one, Ebiketie saw the field plenty as he appeared in all 16 games and even started one.

This year he will be the team's starting outside linebacker on week one, so only time will tell how he does, but given PSU's track record of edge rushers in the NFL, he should do just fine.

The Pennsylvania native was a late seventh round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, which usually means the odds are stacked against him, but he managed to make the active roster and appeared in seven games.

This preseason Luketa has played quite a few different roles for the Cardinals including linebacker, special teams and even fullback recently. It will be interesting to see how he is used to this season for Arizona.

Brown played quite a bit for the Giants last season as both a special teamer and a linebacker since the team suffered several injuries at linebacker last season.

This year his role will be shifted a bit with the Giants adding several notable linebackers this offseason, but Brown is still expected to be an integral part of the special teams unit.

The Pittsburgh native was selected by the Steelers with the 32nd pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, joining the same team that his dad played for back in 1999 to 2006.

Now Porter Jr. isn't expected to be a starter to begin the season, but he's going to be behind of the better cornerbacks in recent NFL history in Patrick Peterson. Despite not starting, expect Porter Jr. to play quite a few snaps this year as a rookie.

After several years with Green Bay, Amos followed his good buddy Aaron Rodgers and several others former Packers over to New York to join the Jets.

Amos is currently the backup behind Tony Adams at safety on the week one depth chart, but expect the veteran to play plenty of snaps.

Brisker had a pretty good year one with the Bears, appearing in and starting 15 games for the Bears in 2022. In those games, he finished with 104 total tackles (73 solo), 1 interception, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery.

Look for the ballhawk to have another big year two with the Bears.

The former Super Bowl LVI Champ, Scott has consistently moved up each and every year since being in the league. Last season he was the full time starter at safety for the Rams and did enough to earn himself a three year deal with the Bengals, where he will start once again.

The third round pick in the recent NFL Draft, Brown will start the season as the backup safety for the 49ers behind Tashaun Gipson. However due to Gipson's previous injury history, Brown might see the field quite a bit as the 49ers could be very cautious with him.

In year one with the Ravens, Stout averaged 45.7 yards per punt and will return once again as the team's starting punter. Combined with Justin Tucker at kicker and the Ravens have one of the better special teams units in the league.

Stoll might've went undrafted, but he did enough in camp to impress the Seahawks coaching staff and earn a roster spot as the team's top long snapper as a rookie.

PRACTICE SQUAD

TE Nick Bowers (Miami Dolphins)

DT PJ Mustipher (Denver Broncos)

CB Amani Oruwariye (New York Giants)

CB Tariq Castro-Fields (Washington Commanders)

RESERVED / INJURED LIST

CB Troy Apke (Washington Commanders)

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