UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Six Penn State football players – TE Pat Freiermuth, OL Will Fries, OL Michal Menet, DE Jayson Oweh, LB Micah Parsons and DE Shaka Toney – each earned official invitations to the 2021 NFL Combine. The Nittany Lions have had 26 NFL Combine participants in the last four years with eight athletes in 2018, seven in 2019 and five in 2020.
The combine this year is virtual under current COVID-19 health and safety protocols, but the NFL still released a full list of invitees. All six players will participate in Penn State Football Pro Day on March 25.
TE Pat Freiermuth
- Two-time team captain.
- Appeared in 30 career games, making 26 starts.
- Named the Kwalick-Clark Big Ten Tight End of the Year, the first ever PSU tight end to win the award.
- 2019 Second Team All-American by the AFCA and The Athletic.
- Owns the record for PSU career touchdown receptions by a tight end with 16.
- Finishes his career tied for eighth all-time at Penn State with 16 career touchdown receptions with O.J. McDuffie (1988-92).
- Tallied 1,185 career receiving yards to rank 26th overall and third among tight ends in program history
- Owns 92 career receptions, tied for 20th all-time at PSU.
- Finished career catching a pass in 29-straight games, dating back to the Pitt game (9/8/18), a school-record among tight ends.
- Became the 34th Nittany Lion and seventh Penn State tight end to accumulate 1,000 career receiving yards.
OL Will Fries
- Appeared in 48 career games at Penn State, making 42 starts.
- Made 26 career starts at right tackle, nine at left tackle, six at right guard and one at left guard.
- Earned his degree in economics in December 2019.
- Named an All-Big Ten second team selection by the coaches and honorable mention All-Big Ten honoree by the media in 2020.
- Started all nine games on the offensive line in 2020, making three starts at right tackle before starting the final six games at right guard.
- Penn State ranked second in the Big Ten in total offense (430.3).
OL Michal Menet
- Appeared in 46 career games, making 34 starts at center.
- Earned Third-Team All-Big Ten honors from the coaches and media in 2020.
- Received an invitation to the Senior Bowl.
- Started all nine games at center in 2020.
- Selected as a team captain.
- Penn State ranked second in the Big Ten in total offense (430.3).
DE Jayson Oweh
- Joined teammate Shaka Toney as the first Penn State defensive end duo to receive All-Big Ten first team honors since Courtney Brown and Brad Scioli in 1998.
- Earned All-Big Ten first team honors from the coaches and second team laurels from the media.
- Appeared and started in seven games at defensive end in 2020.
- Made 38 tackles (4th on the team), including 20 solo stops, 6.5 tackles for loss, one pass breakup and one QB hurry.
- Named the coaching staff's Defensive Player of the Week vs. Indiana (10/24).
- Made 10 tackles vs. Maryland (11/7), becoming the first Penn State defensive lineman with 10 or more tackles in a game since Yetur Gross-Matos against Indiana in 2018 (10 tackles).
LB Micah Parsons
- 2019 Big Ten Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year, becoming the first sophomore in Big Ten history to win the award.
- 2019 first team All-Big Ten selection by the coaches and media.
- Named a Consensus All-American by the NCAA.
- Was a first team All-America selection by numerous outlets, including the Associated Press, USA Today, ESPN, the AFCA, Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report and Pro Football Focus.
- Earned additional All-America honors from by Sporting News, CBS Sports, the FWAA, Walter Camp Foundation, The Athletic and Phil Steele.
- Has six career forced fumbles, seventh all-time at Penn State.
- Was a finalist for the Butkus Award and a semifinalist for the Bednarik Award.
DE Shaka Toney
- Appeared in 47 career games at Penn State, making 22 starts.
- Tallied five career games with two or more sacks and seven career games with at least two tackles for loss.
- Finished his career with 20.5 career sacks, good for eighth all-time at Penn State.
- Joined teammate Jayson Oweh as the first Penn State defensive end duo to receive All-Big Ten first team honors since Courtney Brown and Brad Scioli in 1998.
- Tied the Penn State game record with four sacks, all in the fourth quarter, at Indiana (10/20/18).
- Named a 2020 All-Big Ten first team by the coaches and media.
- Started all nine games in 2020 and was selected a team captain.
- Made 31 tackles (21 solo) to go along with a team-leading five sacks, 7.5 tackles for loss (2nd on the team), one forced fumble, two QB hurries and a pass breakup.
- Finished tied for fourth in the Big Ten with five sacks.