Royster to Return to PSU

July 28, 2010 – | View Comments

Penn State has produced plenty of quality offensive linemen–and that’s pretty much a given when you consider just how solid the running game has been just about every year in the past 50. But only one Penn Stater ever received the highest honor for his …

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Royster to Return to PSU

Submitted by Devon on January 6, 2010 – View Comments

GoPSUSports has the story:

All-Big Ten tailback Evan Royster (Fairfax, Va.) announced today he will remain at Penn State for his senior season.

“I wanted to return to finish my degree and for my final year at Penn State,” Royster said. “I’m looking forward to next season.”

Royster will enter the 2010 season with 2,918 career rushing yards, good for No. 8 in the Penn State record books. He needs 481 yards to break Curt Warner’s school record of 3,398 yards, set during the 1979-82 campaigns. Royster needs just 82 yards to become the sixth Nittany Lion to eclipse 3,000 yards on the ground.

Barring an injury, Evan Royster will become Penn State’s all-time leading rusher, and I’m sure that played into his decision. However, what weighed more highly, I’m sure, was his draft grade. Royster struggled this season, due to the struggles of his offensive line, as he rushed for 6 fewer touchdowns and had a per carry average of 5.7 last year, almost a full yard less than his 6.5 as a sophomore in 2008.

Is it wrong that I’d kinda hoped Royster would forego his senior season for the NFL? Penn State has a ridiculously stocked cupboard of running backs, and with so many other positions needing to be replaced (namely, quarterback and linebacker), and an obscenely difficult schedule featuring games at Ohio State, Alabama, and Iowa, I think most fans have already written off 2010 as a 8-or-9 win campaign. To see what Curtis Dukes, Silas Redd, and, just maybe, Marcus Lattimore could do would be a bright spot in a potentially bleak season. Consider the implications on Lattimore’s recruitment: a stud prospect like him would surely reject a redshirt, and with Royster and Green returning, along with Redd coming in (and he, too, would likely not merit a redshrit), the carries simply do not add up for Lattimore to be included.

As it is, I’ll welcome back Royster with open arms, he’s among the most consistent backs in the country, and is sure to be a good safety net for whichever first-year-as-a-starter is under center for Penn State. But with labor disputes looming, and an uncapped year in the NFL next year, I can only wonder if a 3rd round or 4th round selection in 2010 might get paid better than a 2nd rounder in 2011.

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Bob

Flag, I too agree with much of this post. I wanted Lattimore badly and this cannot help. As for Royster, becoming the man at the top of the stairs in the Student Bookstore is tough to walk away from. The leading rusher in PSU history!

As for his pro prospects, he is a clone of Tony Hunt who made very little of an NFL career. He is a very good college back with not enough spped or power to make of an NFL impact. He was right to stay in college, break the records, work on his speed and hands, and perhaps improve his skills to NFL level. Right now, he looks like Tony Hunt to NFL scouts. He must change that perception. As for PSU, we are a much better team with him and a rookie QB than without him.
Kevin McGuire

Good stuff Devon. You beat me to the punch over here. I tend to agree with what you say though. The 2010 season, to me, looks to be a season of some growing pains, which is ok, because 2011 looks to be shaping up as a BCS championship run worthy season, if with Newsome in only his second year as a starter.

Welcome back Royster, even if the team would probably have been slightly better off in the long term if he had left for the NFL. I think this takes PSU out of the running for Marcus Lattimore as well, which kind of bites on the day in which news broke that he ruled out Georgia. I'm thinking South Carolina is the favorite for him now for sure.