Penn State true freshman tight end Luke Reynolds has seen the field in each of Penn State's first two games of the season and now, the former top-100 prospect has officailly been green lit by the Nittany Lions coaching staff.
Giving the Massachussetts native the opportunity to play in the remainder of the season, buring his redshirt in the process. Reynolds is the third Nittany Lions true freshmen to receive the green light to burn their redshirt this fall joining center Cooper Cousins and safety Dejuan Lane.
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The decision by the Nittany Lions coaching staff is by no means a surprise and comes after the program lost backup tight end Andrew Rappelyea to a long term injury ahead of their week two matchup against Bowling Green.
'Luke's doing really well," Franklin said during his weekly press conference. "He's one of these guys who showed up on campus. He was very driven and motivated to play, that is both mentally and physically. Was willing do the things necessary to play," he added.
"Attack the weight room. Attack summer workout. Attack the playbook. He ability to make plays in the passing game. He'll also stick his nose in there and for some of these guys that never really done that at the highschool level, that's a challenge, and especially when you're asking them to, you know, block Smith Vilbert, over 280 pounds, or whatever he may be. He's shown a willingness and aggressiveness with that as well."
"I've been a real big fan of Luke's and his approach," Franklin said as he was finishing up his thoughts on the 6-foot-4, 248-pound true freshman. "You know we got a ton of guys that I think could play as true freshman, but the guys that have played, I think are showing that they're willing to make the type of sacrifices and commitments to actually do it."
Now officially a part of the Penn State tight end rotation for the remainder of the season, Reynolds is expected to be a frequent sight on the field for the Nittany Lions. After playing in just 12 snaps in the Nittany Lions season opener against West Virginia, that number almost doubled against Bowling Green in week two.
The Nittany Lions plan on using three tight ends routinely this fall and Reynolds will fill into the spot left by Rapplyea as he works behind starting tight end Tyler Warren and fellow backup tight end Khalil Dinkins. Dinkins himself is working his way back from injury and saw a handful of snaps in the Nittany Lions week two win against Bowling Green.
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