Former 4-star prospect Schlaffer is making early progress at TE
Veteran Penn State tight end Theo Johnson has had someone tailing him for the last five months.
Freshman Joey Schlaffer, the former Exeter star in Berks County, has tried to glean every morsel of information he can get from Johnson and Tyler Warren, another veteran, since his arrival on campus in January.
“Joey came in and immediately nipped at my heels,” Johnson said, “trying to pick my brain, watch extra film, always get my opinion on certain things and ask me to talk through stuff with him.
“He’s really eager to learn and to grow and to improve. That accompanied with his talent is going to help him shorten the learning curve.”
Schlaffer will join Nittany Lions teammates Nick Singleton of Gov. Mifflin and J’ven Williams of Wyomissing as part of Penn State Night Saturday at FirstEnergy Stadium before the Reading Fightin Phils play the Hartford Yard Goats in an Eastern League game.
Schlaffer and Williams will pose for photos and sign autographs from 5 to 6 p.m.; Singleton will pose for photos at the same time.
Schlaffer has made quick progressatPennState,according to Johnson and a couple of his coaches. His biggest challenge is climbing the depth chartattightend,whereJohnson, Warren, Khalil Dinkins and Jerry Cross are ahead of him and classmate Andrew Rappleyea.
“Joey’s a really smart kid,” tight ends coach Ty Howle said. “He’s able to pick up on the things we’re doing. He works really hard at it. I’ve been really impressed with him. He’s doing a really nice job. I’m looking forward to seeing how he develops in the weight room this summer with Coach Losey (strength and conditioning coach Chuck Losey).”
The 6-5 Schlaffer has already added about 15 pounds since his enrollment; Penn State lists him at 227 pounds. But he needs to add more bulk to play tight end in the Big Ten and be a dual threat as a receiver and blocker.
“When we first started to run him around, he didn’t move initially the way I thought he was going to move,” Losey said. “But he’s really smoothed out in his change-of-direction work. Even with his testing numbers in terms of speed, he’s done a really good job and is getting better.
“That’s what I’m most pleased about with Joey. He’s definitely taken his time on campus and he’s developing. He’s done a really good job in the time he’s been here.”
At Exeter, Schlaffer was a four-year starter and threetime All-State selection who helped lead the Eagles to a 12-1 record last fall, the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 2 title and a District 3 Class 5A runner-up finish.
He set Berks County career records for receiving yards (2,493) and touchdown catches (28) and was rated a four-star prospect by On3 and Rivals.
“I’ve been really pleased with Joey,” Howle said. “He’s had a ton of growth. The biggest growth has been putting his hand in the ground and playing tight end. This spring was a good opportunity for him to get acclimated with some of the things we do in the run game.
“He has tremendous ability to run and obviously great size.”
Johnson sees a lot of the same traits in Schlaffer that he had as a freshman in 2020 when he was following former Penn State tight end Pat Freiermuth, now with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“I was always with Pat every time he was catching balls and every time he was doing stuff,” Johnson recalled. “I wanted to be with him. That’s ultimately what helped me play my freshman year.
“I think it’s been good to see that in Joey. He definitely has some developing to do physically, like putting weight on. But I think that his mindset has been right. When your mindset is right, everything else will fall into place.”