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Juice Scruggs delivers massive prediction for Penn State’s 2023 season
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Penn State center Juice Scruggs might not be back with Penn State in 2023, but he is certain the future entails a trip to the College Football Playoff.
Scruggs announced that he would bypass his final year of eligibility to enter the NFL draft in April. A lifelong dream of his, Scruggs’ stock might be at an all-time high after producing one of the best run-blocking grades in the B1G.
Still, while he is leaving Happy Valley, it’s the talent returning that makes him feel confident about the program’s status moving forward.
“I got nothing but faith in those guys,” Scruggs said during the Rose Bowl media session Thursday. “Olu [Fashanu] as you guys know, is going to be a top-10 pick in the future. Hunter [Nourzad], he is going to be a great center. Those guys, the young guys, Drew Shelton and Vega [Loane] stepping up. And then you got Landon coming back off injury. You got Nick Dawkins coming back from injury. You are just going to have a whole bunch of guys that are going to have a lot of depth, and I’m excited for them, man. I’m going to be rooting for them every week.”
Scruggs said it would be a dream to close out his Penn State career with a win over Utah Monday, but he also knows that’s not the end goal of the program. A win over a top-10 roster in “The Granddaddy of Them All” might just be the start of a promising outlook for next season.
With the young talent improving from their freshmen season to the new prospects arriving next fall, Scruggs is certain that 2023 is the year of the Nittany Lions. And no, that doesn’t mean just pulling off an upset over Ohio State or Michigan.
“As you guys see, we got some great young talent, and that would just be like momentum for them to just go forward,” Scruggs said. “Me personally, I’m calling it now, I think they’re going to reach the playoffs next year.”
The Nittany Lions will kickoff against the Utes at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., at 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 2.
Cole Thompson is a freelance writer for Saturday Tradition who has covered college football and the NFL for multiple websites. Thompson is currently based in Houston, Texas, and also can be heard daily on SportsMap National Radio's 'Just Sayin It' from 3am-6am.