Going into the 2024 football season, Nittany Lions Wire will examine each scholarship player listed on the Penn State roster. Over the preseason, each profile will cover the player’s background, how recruiting websites rated them coming out of high school, and what role they will play for James Franklin this season.
True freshman QB Ethan Grunkemeyer is an exciting addition to Penn State’s QB room, and he may be in line for playing time sooner than anticipated. He has impressed in spring camp by all accounts and an injury to Jaxon Smolik has opened up a chance at being the third QB. More on that later, but Grunkemeyer could end up being the future of the QB position in Happy Valley.
Preseason Player Profile
Hanover Evening Sun
Hometown: Lewis Center, OH
Height: 6-2
Weight: 202 lb
Class in 2024: Freshman
Recruiting Rankings
The Columbus Dispatch
Class of 2024: Consensus 4-star recruit, no. 8 QB (247Sports)
Ethan Grunkemeyer was a highly-touted 4-star recruit, ranked inside the top 15 QBs in the 2024 class by all the major recruiting outlets. He was also a consensus top-10 player out of Ohio. Despite his recruiting pedigree, the only real blue-blood program to offer him was Penn State. A few other Big Ten programs offered him as well, with Minnesota, Northwestern, and Indiana all making a play for him. He finalized his commitment to Penn State in May 2023 and enrolled early so that he could attend spring practice.
Depth Chart Overview
The Columbus Dispatch
Penn State’s QB situation is one of the more stable in the country, with an established starter in Drew Allar and a high-end backup in Beau Pribula. Beyond them, however, things were less clear coming into camp. Redshirt freshman Jaxon Smolik was the expected third quarterback, but he suffered an undisclosed injury that will keep him out for an extended period. In his absence,…
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