2017 Players under the radar....

[VaNtyLion]

Got to thinking about this with all of the (deserved) hype around Saquon, but have to say I'm anxious to see what Miles Sanders does after a year under his belt. We want Barkley to get his touches but also think we need to distribute the load early in the season to keep these guys as fresh as possible for the duration. Sanders and Robinson are excellent backs that have barely shown what they can do.


On D, I'm looking at a guy like Cam Brown. I'm still worried about the LB depth a little bit and Cam probably was thrown to the fire a bit early last year but would figure to make a big jump this season.

 

[psuro]

I would like to see what Polk does coming back from injury. How much speed does he still have?

I agree with you on Cam Brown.

 

[VaNtyLion]

I would like to see what Polk does coming back from injury. How much speed does he still have?

I agree with you on Cam Brown.

Polk could add another scary dimension to the offense. Always forget he and Trace were high school teammates and had a lot of chemistry there. Need to find ways to get him the ball other than the jet sweeps, which I think get too predictable.

 

[mrtailgate]

Not under the radar PR Wise but maybe production wise but mine in Johnson. If he's legit and reminds us of Godwin, the O is better this year over last year.

 

[We Are . . .]

Can we count Irv Charles as "under the radar?" With the spring spotlight on Juwan Johnson, will Charles emerge to give us a second tall, dangerous receiver?

Is this the year Stirling Jenkins lives up to his potential to challenge for playing time at OT?

It's fun to have the depth on the team that we can speculate about which under the radar players will have break out years.

 

[Patterson825]

Shareef Miller would be my under the radar player on defense and Brandon Polk on offense

 

[uPBRmeASAP]

I think Colin Castagna is the breakout walkon this year. He's built like Hercules and everytime I've keyed on him he's near the ball

 

[BBrown]

Got to thinking about this with all of the (deserved) hype around Saquon, but have to say I'm anxious to see what Miles Sanders does after a year under his belt. We want Barkley to get his touches but also think we need to distribute the load early in the season to keep these guys as fresh as possible for the duration. Sanders and Robinson are excellent backs that have barely shown what they can do.


On D, I'm looking at a guy like Cam Brown. I'm still worried about the LB depth a little bit and Cam probably was thrown to the fire a bit early last year but would figure to make a big jump this season.

Good topic.

I have a few.
Nick Scott. We definitely need someone to step up and I think he might be the one to do it.
Andre Robinson. I really like what I've seen from him.
Garret Taylor
T.J. Johnson
Colin Castagna
Tyrell Chavis- I think he's ready for a break out year. He looked huge in the LFL photos.
Nick Bowers
Johnathon Holland
I'd add Brandon Polk to the list as well.

 

[bxle]

Looking forward to seeing depth on the O line.
Michal Menet
Will Fries

 

[KnightSlayer]

Shareef Miller would be my under the radar player on defense and Brandon Polk on offense

I like the Miller pick. Redshirt Soph who played a good bit as a RS Freshman. Good year to have a breakout performance.

 

[doublehaul]

Daniel Joseph, there will be a lot of rotations on the DL and Id like to see him get some playing time.

 

[We Are . . .]

Looking forward to seeing depth on the O line.
Michal Menet
Will Fries

Will CJF burn Fries' redshirt?

 

[BBrown]

Daniel Joseph, there will be a lot of rotations on the DL and Id like to see him get some playing time.

In Nate's thread with the photos for LFL there is one of Daniel.
Unless that photo was really distorted he looks waaayyy too thin and lean, to me, to be getting any time at all on the DL.
Its #14 in the list.

https://bwi.rivals.com/galleries/221

 

[KnightSlayer]

In Nate's thread with the photos for LFL there is one of Daniel.
Unless that photo was really distorted he looks waaayyy too thin and lean, to me, to be getting any time at all on the DL.
Its #14 in the list.

https://bwi.rivals.com/galleries/221

6'3" 255lbs for a DE? Sounds good to me. Shareef Miller is listed at 6'5" 255lbs.

 

[BBrown]

6'3" 255lbs for a DE? Sounds good to me. Shareef Miller is listed at 6'5" 255lbs.

I hope you are right and that figure is correct. I would have never guessed, even at 6' 3", that he weighs 255.

 

[Judge Smails]

In Nate's thread with the photos for LFL there is one of Daniel.
Unless that photo was really distorted he looks waaayyy too thin and lean, to me, to be getting any time at all on the DL.
Its #14 in the list.

https://bwi.rivals.com/galleries/221

Haven't read much about Joseph. Wonder if he was working out?

Cam Brown (left) looks much stronger

Lamont Wade looking pretty jacked...

 

[artsandletters]

Will CJF burn Fries' redshirt?

That's Gunsie's decision, not Franklin's. Everybody knows that.

 

[doublehaul]

In Nate's thread with the photos for LFL there is one of Daniel.
Unless that photo was really distorted he looks waaayyy too thin and lean, to me, to be getting any time at all on the DL.
Its #14 in the list.

https://bwi.rivals.com/galleries/221

Same size as Torrence Brown, which is ok with me.

 

[ILLINOISLION]

Will CJF burn Fries' redshirt?

Has he consulted with Guns yet?????

 

[BiochemPSU]

I'll go Jake Cooper and Robert Windsor.

 

[artsandletters]

In Nate's thread with the photos for LFL there is one of Daniel.
Unless that photo was really distorted he looks waaayyy too thin and lean, to me, to be getting any time at all on the DL.
Its #14 in the list.

https://bwi.rivals.com/galleries/221

Ellison Jordan's upper body is thick. Jaysus.

 

[BBrown]

Ellison Jordan's upper body is thick. Jaysus.

+100.
There were 3 or 4 guys that really stood out as being in great shape.
Cam Brown
Lamont Wade
Ellison Jordan
and in another group of pictures Tyrell Chavis.
Our DL is going to be good and deep.

 

[GregInPitt]

Good topic.

I have a few.
Nick Scott. We definitely need someone to step up and I think he might be the one to do it.
Andre Robinson. I really like what I've seen from him.
Garret Taylor
T.J. Johnson
Colin Castagna
Tyrell Chavis- I think he's ready for a break out year. He looked huge in the LFL photos.
Nick Bowers
Johnathon Holland
I'd add Brandon Polk to the list as well.

Nice list. With a list like this of right now non-starters, in addition to the obvious returning talent/starters, this will be a fun team to watch. We know Scott is a great athlete from his special teams work. Andre Robinson is a powerful back and it will be great to see what he does in the open field as he gets more touches. I really have no opinion on Taylor, not having seen enough of him on the field so far - but as a former top recruit if the staff has found a home for him at Safety he can fight to start when Allen leaves. TJ Johnson looked great in the Spring game, and is a bigger kid than I can ever remember playing CB at PSU. Castagna is playing a position of need (depth wise) and looks to be much more mature than the young talent that will be in the fray at DE, maybe giving him a chance to stabilize the position some what. Chavis was just getting his feet wet last year, so with a year in the program should be ready to utilize his talent and be a serious player in the DT rotation. Bowers was reported to be ready to contribute last year, before his injury, and together with Holland (who looked good, but not especially big) should be the type of TE depth the team needs. Polk seemed ahead of Thompkins before he got hurt, so his speed should be a problem for defenses when he is targeted.

As someone said above, I'm looking for Cam Brown to make a serious improvement in his play this year. He got thrown into the fray before he was really ready, but the upside of those situations is the next year when a player uses the game experience and the associated critique that identifies his weaknesses and addresses those weaknesses, many times making a big leap in performance in the second year on the field....

 

[fkkkjm]

Will CJF burn Fries' redshirt?

Who was the poster that this was an inside joke with? I can't remember who last year kept posting about this over and over...

 

[We Are . . .]

Who was the poster that this was an inside joke with? I can't remember who last year kept posting about this over and over...

21guns. (I miss the guy although I'm relatively certain he's still posting under another handle. His posts were entertaining and the exchanges with his message board buddies were a hoot.)

 

[Osprey Lion]

Polk could add another scary dimension to the offense. Always forget he and Trace were high school teammates and had a lot of chemistry there. Need to find ways to get him the ball other than the jet sweeps, which I think get too predictable.

That was under a different OC.

 

[artsandletters]

21guns. (I miss the guy although I'm relatively certain he's still posting under another handle. His posts were entertaining and the exchanges with his message board buddies were a hoot.)

Missing Gunsie is like saying you miss cancer after being in remission for ten years.

 

[TiredOldLion]

Missing Gunsie is like saying you miss cancer after being in remission for ten years.

Dare I ask what happened to that poster? I don't want to jinx anything.

 

[artsandletters]

Dare I ask what happened to that poster? I don't want to jinx anything.

?

 

[RochLion]

A guy I've seen do nothing but improve each year, but doesn't get discussed much here, is Saeed Blacknall. I could see him very much having a Godwin like year. That, and I can seem him taking a share of possession catches away from Gesicki to keep defenses guessing.