It turns out that Wednesday’s early departures of DL Shareef Miller and OL Connor McGovern were only the beginning of a wave out of Penn State football as two more Nittany Lions confirmed they were leaving the program for two very different reasons.
On the positive side of the ledger, offensive lineman Ryan Bates confirmed his plans to skip his senior season with the program and declare for the 2019 NFL Draft.
— Ryan Bates (@52batesryan) January 2, 2019
Bates was one of PSU’s best players up front and has started since 2016 for the team at both guard and tackle. He was named to the third-team All-Big Ten the past two years and was a freshman All-American for several publications in his first year in the lineup blocking for Saquon Barkley and company.
On the flip side of things, redshirt sophomore linebacker Dae’lun Darien also tweeted that he’s on the move from Happy Valley as a transfer. He is expected to find a school closer to his family in Baltimore to deal with a health issue with his father.
Please respect my decision✊🏽 pic.twitter.com/ncjyCyz61N
— Dae'lun Darien❗️ (@ddaelun1710) January 2, 2019
Darien played in eight games for Penn State this year and mostly filled a role as a backup linebacker.