Penn State football’s star running back Journey Brown potentially out for the season
Penn State football will likely be without its star running back for the 2020 season. Redshirt junior Journey Brown could miss the 2020 season due to a health condition, 247Sports first reported.
A source told the Centre Daily Times it’s unlikely Brown plays this season.
“Journey Brown is being treated for a medical condition discovered during the off-season and will potentially miss the 2020 football season,” a Penn State spokesperson later confirmed.
Brown was projected to lead the Penn State backfield after breaking out to close out the 2019 season. The junior ended the season with 16 carries for 202 yards and two touchdowns in the team’s 53-39 Cotton Bowl win over Memphis in December. He finished with 890 yards and 12 touchdowns on only 129 carries and started to receive plenty of draft hype in the offseason.
Dane Brugler of The Athletic ranked him as his No. 1 running back in the 2021 draft class heading into this season.
Brown’s absence leaves Penn State with little time to figure out its running back rotation. The Nittany Lions kick off against Indiana on Saturday and could use a rotation similar to the one used by last year’s team. Last season, Brown split the workload with Noah Cain and occasionally Devyn Ford and Ricky Slade before the then-redshirt sophomore took control of the lead back duties.
Now that Brown is unlikely to play, Cain and Ford should see a lion’s share of the work, with true freshmen Caziah Holmes and Keyvone Lee picking up the rest of the slack.
The group of running backs has plenty of collective talent but will undoubtedly miss Brown, one of the best backs in the country.
