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With the Penn State football team led by head coach James Franklin, the program is preparing for a season that has massive expectations surrounding them. As many positional battles are happening within the Penn State football team, the defensive tackle unit is an interesting one that features a talented up-and-coming player.
While the unit is highlighted by preseason All-American senior Zane Durant, it also features redshirt freshman Xavier Gilliam, who has a chance to start for the Nittany Lions. After Durant and other senior Alonzo Ford, the team's defensive coordinator Jim Knowles would even say that Gilliam “stands out the most,” according to 247 Sports.
“Xavier Gilliam has been very impressive, very impressive,” Knowles said last week. “I think after those first two (Durant and Ford), Xavier really stands out the most.”
Gilliam would preserve his redshirt status, as with the amount of departures on the defensive line, the six-foot-two, 305-pound star is eager to compete for a featured spot.
“I'm definitely excited. I'm definitely ready,” Gilliam said. “This is something that I've really been waiting for my whole life — just an opportunity to show what I can do…I feel like I'm moving good with the weight I put on,” Gilliam said. “It never really dragged me down.”
“Learning how to work up a depth chart is really just giving your best in practice,” Gilliam said during the offseason. “I learned the importance of practice and how much that goes into a coach's decision of whether he wants to put you on the field. I just learned that, when you're at practice, you gotta give it your all.”
Penn State football's James Franklin on Xavier Gilliam
With the amount of hype around the Penn State football team, Gilliam is one component that makes the program a dangerous squad headed into the season. Subsequently, for how Gilliam has looked in the offseason and practices leading into the new campaign, Franklin has expressed how good he's looked, even saying that he is vying “for a starting job right now.”
“He's been really good,” Franklin said. “There's been a lot of excitement within the program about him for a while, and he's legitimately fighting for a starting job right now.”
Comparatively, in terms of the mental and physical aspects, Franklin explains how Gilliam checks every box.
“He's just super consistent, very mature,” Franklin said. “He's gotten bigger, stronger, and faster. He was a D-end in high school and a basketball player; he's a really good 305 pounds.”
“He's productive in the run game, he's productive in the pass game,” Franklin continued. “He's come to work every single day, he's football smart.”
At any rate, it remains to be seen how Gilliam performs as the Nittany Lions open the season on Saturday, August 30, against Nevada.
