Only Ryan Buchholz Until Penn State Football|Penn State Hot Topics|Team BattleGround|College BattleGround

The Penn State Nittany Lions football team takes on Kent State at Beaver Stadium in exactly 97 days. Wearing 97 for Penn State this year is defensive end Ryan Buchholz, a redshirt freshman from Great Valley High School in Malvern, PA.

Buchholz should be able to crack the defensive line rotation in 2016, and brings an exciting skillset to the table. The coaching staff flirted with the idea of moving him to defensive tackle this offseason, but his size at 6-foot-6 and 260 pounds still lends itself to playing out wide for the time being.

With Garrett Sickels the only returning starter on the defensive line, the development of the young depth is going to be critical for defensive line coach Sean Spencer’s unit to have success in 2016. There are three open starting positions and plenty of snaps to go around beyond that, with Spencer likely to rotate his lines even more than he did last season. Look for Buchholz’s play to be an important factor as Spencer tries to reload after losing three NFL talents in one offseason.

Only 97 days until Penn State football.