Spring break is over, and Penn State was back at it with its fifth winter workout session of the offseason Tuesday morning. The Nittany Lions are about a week away from opening up spring practice as the preparations for the 2025 season begin in earnest.
And yet again, there’s a familiar name among the 10 players to earn competitor of the day from their position coaches: Junior cornerback Elliot Washington II earned the recognition from cornerbacks coach Terry Smith for the fifth time in five winter workout sessions.
Washington has excelled over the past month, and some of his other teammates have started stacking competitor of the day recognition, too, including arguably the team’s top offensive lineman, a rising defensive lineman and a tight end who could be on the verge of a breakout.
Here are the players recognized after the fifth workout:
- Danny O’Brien, quarterbacks: Redshirt sophomore Jaxon Smolik
- Stan Drayton, running backs: Redshirt freshman Quinton Martin Jr.
- Marques Hagans, wide receivers: Freshman Koby Howard
- Ty Howle, tight ends: Sophomore Luke Reynolds
- Phil Trautwein, offensive linemen: Redshirt junior Vega Ioane
- Deion Barnes, defensive linemen: Redshirt freshman Xavier Gilliam
- Dan Connor, linebackers: Redshirt senior Dominic DeLuca
- Terry Smith, cornerbacks: Junior Elliot Washington II
- Anthony Poindexter, safeties: Redshirt sophomore Lamont Payne
- Justin Lustig, special teams: Senior punter Riley Thompson
Washington is competing for a starting job vacated by Jalen Kimber, who departed for the NFL after last season. Junior A.J. Harris held down the other job last season. Earlier this month, strength coach Chuck Losey highlighted where Washington has stood out over the past few months.
“He’s always been a high horsepower guy for us, but I think he’s also a guy who understands the role that he needs to be in for us this year,” Losey said. “And I’ve seen a difference in him.”
Gilliam, who got some playing time last year while preserving his redshirt, is competing in a defensive tackle group that has plenty of playing time available with Dvon J-Thomas and Coziah Izzard moving on and Alonzo Ford recovering from a late-season injury.
Right now, Gilliam is standing out in that group.
“They’re great,” Losey said of the defensive tackles. “They’re doing a really good job. I think you guys got a chance to see X squat under there. They’re bulls in here for us. They’re at the point now to where we just got to get them out there for practices. From a performance standpoint, I mean, they’re at Penn State for a reason. Like, they’re exceptional at this stuff. All of our defensive tackles are. They just need snaps. They need reps. We need to get them out there on the field during spring ball. That’s where they are. But in here, they’ve been outstanding.”
Reynolds has been Howle’s competitor of the day at tight end for the fourth time in five workouts. Reynolds’ physical development has been notable since he enrolled on campus last January. He’s added 40 pounds while also maintaining the athleticism that helped make him a five-star prospect in the Class of 2024.
“He’s got a template set out in front of him with Ty Warren for the past four or five years, he’s following it to the T so far,” Howle said. “This has been an outstanding winter for him.”
Martin is another player who earned praise from Losey earlier this month.
“That kid is dialed in right now,” Losey said. “I think he understands the player that he wants to be, and he doesn’t want to watch from the sideline with me over there. He wants to be on that field as much as he can.”
Losey had good things to say about Howard, who is the second early enrollee to be named a competitor of the day. Howard, a three-star prospect out of Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade-Madonna, joined a room that is looking to increase its contributions in 2025.
“Unbelievably strong, powerful guy from the jump for us,” Losey said. “We got a 7 a.m. lift group Monday, Wednesday and Friday for these guys. He’s the first one in the building for all those days.”
Smolik, who missed his redshirt freshman season with an injury he suffered last spring, was named competitor of the day by O’Brien for the second time, while Ioane, Penn State’s starting left guard last season, also earned it for the second time.
Payne has appeared in four games through his first two years on campus. DeLuca and Thompson are veteran stalwarts.
Earlier this offseason, coach James Franklin said he expected Penn State to conduct six or so winter workouts.
Penn State is scheduled to begin spring practice next week. The Nittany Lions will host their annual Blue-White Game at Beaver Stadium on April 26. The 2025 season is set to kick off against Nevada at Beaver Stadium on Aug. 30.
Previous recaps: Winter Workout No. 1 | Winter Workout No. 2 | Winter Workout No. 3 | Winter Workout No. 4
Overall players recognized through five winter workouts:
- Quarterbacks: Drew Allar (2), Jaxon Smolik (2), Ethan Grunkemeyer
- Running backs: Quinton Martin Jr. (2), Tyler Holzworth, Tiqwai Hayes, Amiel Davis
- Wide receivers: Kyron Hudson (2), Devonte Ross, Peter Gonzalez, Koby Howard
- Tight ends: Luke Reynolds (4), Joey Schlaffer
- Offensive linemen: Vega Ioane (2), Drew Shelton, Alex Birchmeier, Nick Dawkins
- Defensive linemen: Xavier Gilliam (3), Zuriah Fisher, Dani Dennis-Sutton
- Linebackers: Kari Jackson (2), Ta’Mere Robinson, Dominic DeLuca (2)
- Cornerbacks: Elliot Washington II (5)
- Safeties: Zakee Wheatley (2), Vaboue Toure, Kolin Dinkins, Lamont Payne
- Special teams: Riley Thompson (3), Tyler Duzansky (2)
Daniel Gallen covers Penn State for Lions247 and 247Sports. He can be reached at daniel.gallen@paramount.com. Follow Daniel on X at @danieljtgallen, Instagram at @bydanieljtgallen and Bluesky at @danieljtgallen.bsky.social.
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