Arizona Cardinals take Penn State OL Michal Menet in NFL Draft
Penn State’s fifth player — and second offensive player — had his name called in the seventh round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Former Nittany Lion center Michal Menet was picked No. 247 overall by the Arizona Cardinals.
Menet joins former teammates Micah Parsons at No. 12, Odafe Oweh at No. 31, Pat Freiermuth at No. 55 and Shaka Toney at No. 246.
He and Freiermuth have been the only offense players from Penn State to hear their name called thus far.
Menet appeared in 46 games, starting in 34 of them.
He was named a captain his last two years on campus and earned multiple postseason accolades for his on-field work. He was an All-Big Ten honorable mention by the coaches and media as a redshirt junior and named All-Big Ten third team member by both the coaches and media as a redshirt junior.
Menet was a stalwart along the offensive front for three seasons as a starter and was key in the team’s transition between offensive line coaches prior to the 2020 season. Penn State offensive line coach Phil Trautwein said he wanted to earn Menet’s trust because he was the leader of the room.
“If he didn’t believe in me, then I knew it would be hard (earn the group’s belief),” Trautwein said last spring. “So the first thing I did was build a relationship with them and made sure those guys, the older guys, believe in me.”
The center put his leadership on display by earning his captain status but also by understanding the importance of his relationship with Trautwein.
“It was very important for me to establish with him,” Menet said last spring. “I’ve been around for a little while and become one of the leaders of the room. If I’m not bought in, it would’ve been a little bit harder for him to transition to coaching (us).”
Menet doesn’t have the requisite length to play offensive tackle but could play any of the three interior spots along the offensive line.
