Fleming enjoying ‘healthiest offseason’ of injury-riddled career
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The story of Penn State and wide receiver Julian Fleming is one that crosses state lines and involves heartbreak and redemption. And it likely only could’ve been written in the modern era of college athletics.
Fleming had grown familiar with the turf inside Holuba Hall long before his first practice as a Nittany Lion in January or his first press conference with local media on Tuesday night. And he’d been inside Beaver Stadium multiple times as both a highly touted prospect and a rival opponent.
Fleming’s story as a college athlete is approaching its final chapter, and it’s concluding back home, where it nearly began five years prior. He hopes his health will allow him to produce a happy ending after four injury-riddled seasons at Ohio State.
“I don’t think there’s been a season I played so far that I’ve gotten to go the whole season 100%. ... This is probably the healthiest offseason I’ve had so far,” Fleming said.
The talent has always been there for Fleming. His hands are sticky, his routes are clean and his 6foot-2, 209-pound build has helped define him as one of the nation’s top run-blocking receivers.
What hasn’t always been there is the substance and the consistency, given the former Southern Columbia star had a procedure on each shoulder over his freshman and sophomore years with the Buckeyes.
Fleming may possess the skills necessary to produce a long NFL career, one that he nearly decided to pursue after this past season. But for Fleming, his entire future rests on his shoulders — literally — to keep him on the field.
If Fleming’s healthy, 2024 could be the year that finally gets him over the hump.
“It was a 50/50 shot between going (to the NFL draft) and between transferring, and I just felt like I still needed one more,” Fleming said. “I needed one more year to really prove to myself who I am and prove to other people who I am.”
Above all else, Fleming wants the world to know that he’s a “relentless competitor.”
His teammates and coaches have already been made aware.
“Oh, it’s always a battle,” cornerback Jalen Kimber said. “He’s a bigger guy. I’ve got to use my feet, got to be more physical with him.”
Fleming’s presence in the practice facility is one that James Franklin wished to have over the previous four seasons. But even after 12 visits to campus as a recruit, Fleming was still swayed in 2020 by the wide receiver factory that Ohio State produces every year.
There’s been no love lost between the two, who connected with each other immediately after Fleming entered the transfer portal in December.
“I think he’s been able to kind of move on. We’ve moved on,” Franklin said last week. “There’s been no talk about the past. He’s been really good.”
There have been discussions about Fleming’s role in an offense led by new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, formerly of Kansas, and second-year starting quarterback Drew Allar.
Kotelnicki and Allar each met Fleming on his visit to campus prior to his commitment. Their relationships have only strengthened over time, as Fleming put his head down and worked over his first few weeks with the program.
“I talk to Drew every single day. We have a good relationship,” Fleming said. “We talk in the locker room, talk in the weight room. And I know it’s definitely just constantly been building and building and it’s gonna continue to grow.”
Allar can only hope Fleming’s positive impact extends to the rest of the wide receiver corps, which struggled throughout the 2023 season.
Franklin said he’s “seen more consistency” from last year’s leading receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith. But if this past season proved anything, it’s that the Nittany Lions may not be confident in his abilities as the top target, considering Lambert-Smith’s usage was nearly cut entirely for the final four games of the season.
Fleming, if healthy, could be the leader and consistent threat Penn State so desperately lacked over the course of a 2023 season with high expectations and a disappointing end result.
“I don’t think it’s an individual role, I think it’s going to be a collective role with all of us and it’s going to start with position coach (Marques) Hagans,” Fleming said, “and us being able to build together and not hear any outside noise that’s been said the in the past year.”