Every offseason, college football teams have players who impress the staff throughout the course of spring and summer ball. These players tend to surprise fans and analysts when the season starts, as many don’t get to see the development that coaches see.
For the Penn State Nittany Lions, one of those players is defensive end Zuriah Fisher, who has been drawing attention from head coach James Franklin.
James Franklin Expects Big Things From Zuriah Fisher in 2025
In a recent press conference, James Franklin was asked about Fisher, who missed all of 2024 due to injury.
Franklin had high praise for the defensive end and thinks that he could surprise a lot of people heading into 2025, saying,” I think internally within our program, there’s a lot of confidence that Fish has got a chance to have a big year. He’s one of those guys that I don’t think anyone is talking about right now outside of the program, based on not seeing him recently, but there’s a lot of excitement internally.”
Fisher has had a very up-and-down college career. He committed to the Nittany Lions in 2020, and 247Sports had him ranked as a four-star prospect and a top 200 player in the class.
After a slow start to his career, Fisher appeared in all 13 games for Penn State in 2023, making 17 tackles and racking up 3.5 sacks. Fisher was expected to play a big role in 2024, but as previously mentioned suffered a season ending injury before the year kicked off.
Heading into 2025, Fisher has two years of eligibility remaining, but Franklin seems to think that he could end up being a draft pick in 2026, saying, “I could see by the mid-point of next year, there’s going to be a significant buzz about him.”
Penn State will need a big season out of Fisher as the Nittany Lions are looking to replace the production of Abdul Carter, who had 12.5 sacks in 2024 en route to being the third overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
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Fisher will likely start at defensive end alongside Dani Dennis-Sutton, who had 8.5 sacks in 2024, and if Fisher has the season Franklin expects him to, the two could form one of the best pass-rushing duos in the country next season.
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