Junior Christian Hackenberg has elected to forego his senior season at Penn State and enter the NFL Draft.
“Penn State is a really special place. It means more to me than I ever thought it would,” Hackenberg stated following the TaxSlayer Bowl.
The three-year starter for the Nittany Lions exited the 24-17 loss to Georgia midway through the second quarter with an apparent shoulder injury. Hackenberg finished the game with 139 yards on eight completions with a huge chunk coming on a 51 yard pass to Chris Godwin two plays before exiting the game.
A Palmyra, Virginia, native, Hackenberg will leave Penn State after starting 38 games under center for the Nittany Lions. Hackenberg put his stamp on the Penn State record book in his three years in State College as he leaves Happy Valley holding school records for 300-yard passing games (9), 200-yard passing games (21), passing yards (8,457), attempts (1,235), completions (693), passing touchdowns (48), and total offense (8,215).
The highly-touted high school prospect thrived under Bill O’Brien’s offense as a freshman, cruising to school records, breaking 12 freshman passing records and throwing for 2,955 yards. Hackenberg threw for 20 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 2013, as well.
Hackenberg followed up with a sophomore season under James Franklin that saw him throw for 2,977 yards and only 12 touchdowns. Interceptions limited the Penn State offense as Hackenberg threw 15 in the fall of 2014.
A sub-par season in 2015 had many speculating whether Hackenberg would be better off staying for his senior year. The third-year signal caller threw for 2,525 yards behind an offensive line that struggled mightily throughout the season.
According to Bleacher Report, Hackenberg is projected to be the fourth-ranked quarterback in the draft.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
