2019 offense

[bdgan]

The defense looks pretty good with the biggest question being at DT. LB should be the best in years.

DT: Windsor + ???. Hansard & Jordon status unknown. That leaves Shelton & Mustipher.
DE: Matos, Simmons, Oweh
LB: Parsons, Johnson, Brown, Brooks, Luketa, Smith. Legit 2 deep.
CB: Reid, Fields, Johnson
S: Taylor, Sutherland, Wade


Questions at every position on offense except for TE:

QB: Stevens, Clifford. Experience but you never know with a new QB.
RB: Slade, Brown, Ford. Are any ready to be an every down back?
WR: Hamler, Dotson, George, Shorter (Shorter the only kid with size)
OL: Gonzalez, Menet, and Fries return (Fries has struggled). Still need 2 + depth. Miranda?
TE: Friermuth was great. Bowers, Holland, Kuntz. This position should be very strong.

 

[danvillenit]

The defense looks pretty good with the biggest question being at DT. LB should be the best in years.

DT: Windsor + ???. Hansard & Jordon status unknown. That leaves Shelton & Mustipher.
DE: Matos, Simmons, Oweh
LB: Parsons, Johnson, Brown, Brooks, Luketa, Smith. Legit 2 deep.
CB: Reid, Fields, Johnson
S: Taylor, Sutherland, Wade


Questions at every position on offense except for TE:

QB: Stevens, Clifford. Experience but you never know with a new QB.
RB: Slade, Brown, Ford. Are any ready to be an every down back?
WR: Hamler, Dotson, George, Shorter (Shorter the only kid with size)
OL: Gonzalez, Menet, and Fries return (Fries has struggled). Still need 2 + depth. Miranda?
TE: Friermuth was great. Bowers, Holland, Kuntz. This position should be very strong.

I look at the skill positions and see a pile of talent. There are questions but multiple blue chip options at every position. I expect the offense to be slightly better this year and explosive in 2020.

I expect Cain to be ahead of Ford in 2020. More of a power runner and Ford looks more like Slade. Also on campus already

Same on Oline. Questions but some young talent to go with Menet, Gonzo, and Fries. Walker, Miranda, and Thorpe. Similar performance this year and better in 2020

 

[GregInPitt]

The defense looks pretty good with the biggest question being at DT. LB should be the best in years.

DT: Windsor + ???. Hansard & Jordon status unknown. That leaves Shelton & Mustipher.
DE: Matos, Simmons, Oweh
LB: Parsons, Johnson, Brown, Brooks, Luketa, Smith. Legit 2 deep.
CB: Reid, Fields, Johnson
S: Taylor, Sutherland, Wade


Questions at every position on offense except for TE:

QB: Stevens, Clifford. Experience but you never know with a new QB.
RB: Slade, Brown, Ford. Are any ready to be an every down back?
WR: Hamler, Dotson, George, Shorter (Shorter the only kid with size)
OL: Gonzalez, Menet, and Fries return (Fries has struggled). Still need 2 + depth. Miranda?
TE: Friermuth was great. Bowers, Holland, Kuntz. This position should be very strong.

As usual, your views are pretty extreme. There are almost as many questions on defense as there are on offense, with only the fact that QB's are so important leading to slightly more uncertainty for the offense.

DT requires 4+ good players to get through a season, as at least 4 must play every game to keep somewhat fresh in the 4th quarter. Right now there is loads of potential (Mustopher, Hansard,...) but only Windsor that has played at a high level.

DE - Also need about 5 good DE's in order to rush the QB in the 4th quarter vs good teams. YGM will go a long way to making a great unit, but Toney and Simmons have not proven to be effective against both pass and run and Simmons has not stayed healthy for long stretches. Joseph is experienced but has not really played at a high level and the rest of the players look talented but young and unproven.

Lots of talent at LB, and it's all a year older, stronger, and wiser.... Should be a strength on defense for a change.

Love the starting CB's and it looks like there is enough depth, especially if a true freshman can contribute.

Safety - a big hole to fill, including the need for reliable depth.

On offense there are a good many talented players that will compete for the open Guard position. Miranda has played some, including a start, and looks to be a very good addition. And if another player beats him out that just shows how good that player must be to start ahead of Miranda. There are also some talented players that will compete at OT for the starting spot and the 2nd team positions, although not likely as many as at any of the other open starting spots (Walker, Whigan and Holmes).

Hard for me to worry too much about QB. As you said the candidates have some experience and have been in the program a good while. And although a great leader, Trace missed lots of throws last year I believe mainly due to his injuries. New starting QB's need experience to settle in, but that's why the OOC games are at the start of the season....

I'm not worrying about RB either. Lots of talent with experience in Slade, Brown, and Holmes. And from what I've seen of Cain he looks like a man, physically mature enough to come right in and get lots of carries if that would be needed. How about a 5 star player as likely the 5th team RB - Ford. Hard to complain.

Sure there are some questions at WR. But the position is filled with 4 star talent and all of last year's true freshmen got on the field for some experience in 2018, which will give them a comfort with the offense and allow them to legitimately fight to start in 2019. Hard to complain with all that talent, building a unti around Hamler, who had a freshman season to remember. Whoever starts will be playmakers and there will be plenty of depth unless 2 or 3 get hurt.

TE should be a strength. Just with Freiemuth, and any other TE. But Bowers is a strong player who if he stays healthy may get a chance to play on Sundays. Plus it looks like Holland will be back, and everyone looks for Kuntz to emerge as well.

Overall I don't see much difference in the battles for PT and talent on offense or defense. The real issue is that in today's game QB play is so important to winning football. Many games come down to a good day or bad day by the QB, so it's really the biggest question even though there are always some holes to fill year to year in college football.....

 

[Obliviax]

We'll be very young and inexperienced. This typically means a lot of dumb mistakes. However, lots of athletic talent. The good news is we go Idaho, Buffalo, Pitt, MD, and Purdue to start the year....some decent teams in there but all very beatable. Then we go Iowa, UM, MSU. After that Minny, Indy, tOSU, and Rutgers.

So we should be able to get some good game experience in before playing the better teams. We also get some breaks between the heavyweights.

 

[PS4814]

The pieces are there - imo it's more on if Rahne grows as a play caller from last year.

 

[NJPSU]

Wide receiver returns 2 starters and a 5 star recruit coming off a redshirt year. Only half glass empty Bdgan could worry about that situation.

The OL returns 4 of 6 starters if you include the tight end.

Two of four tailbacks on the depth chart were 5 star recruits.

The offense is loaded. The only legit question is can Stevens throw the ball well enough to keep the offense balanced.

 

[Ceasar]

We'll be very young and inexperienced. This typically means a lot of dumb mistakes. However, lots of athletic talent. The good news is we go Idaho, Buffalo, Pitt, MD, and Purdue to start the year....some decent teams in there but all very beatable. Then we go Iowa, UM, MSU. After that Minny, Indy, tOSU, and Rutgers.

So we should be able to get some good game experience in before playing the better teams. We also get some breaks between the heavyweights.

PSU will have some youth and some inexperience but IMHO 2019 will be the best mix of upper/lower classmen PSU has had in many years.
PSU returns 8 starters on defense: Gross-Matos, Windsor, Brown, Johnson, Parsons (taking the liberty of calling him a returning starter), Reid, Castro-Fields, Taylor. 6 on offense (Fries, Menet, Gonzales, Friermuth, Hamler, Dotson). I count 12 kids on the 2 deep who are 4th or 5th year players; 6 of those are 5th year guys (Windsor, Reid, Taylor, Stevens, Gonzo, Bowers). That is a pretty fair amount of experience as each of these kids has played extensively. We also return our punter and kicker.
We need a handful of young, fairly inexperienced guys to emerge and play very well. But in almost each case we are talking about elite recruits who could have gone just about anywhere - Mustipher, Oweh, Sutherland, maybe one of the FR CB's, Slade, Cain, Ford, Shorter, George, Dunmore. None of those guys needs to be a star, they just need to play well in their role.

 

[bdgan]

Wide receiver returns 2 starters and a 5 star recruit coming off a redshirt year. Only half glass empty Bdgan could worry about that situation.

The OL returns 4 of 6 starters if you include the tight end.

Two of four tailbacks on the depth chart were 5 star recruits.

The offense is loaded. The only legit question is can Stevens throw the ball well enough to keep the offense balanced.

IIRC the WRs weren't so great last year. Hamler was explosive in space but not very big. Others looked good in limited action. Shorter was 5* but didn't play until late. Some highly rated kids but I'd certainly say there are some questions.

Sanders was a 5* recruit with an experienced OL and we struggled against good teams last year. This year we'll start a sophomore RB and an OL that must replace a couple of multi year starters. Lots of star talent but that doesn't mean much until we see it in action.

I didn't say that PSU will be a bad team, only that the offense has a lot of questions. You seem ready for a championship run.

 

[Osprey Lion]

As usual, your views are pretty extreme. There are almost as many questions on defense as there are on offense, with only the fact that QB's are so important leading to sightly more uncertainty for the offense.

DT requires 4+ good players to get through a season, as at least 4 must play every game to keep somewhat fresh in the 4th quarter. Right now there is loads of potential (Mustopher, Hansard,...) but only Windsor that has played at a high level.

DE - Also need about 5 good DE's in order to rush the QB in the 4th quarter vs good teams. YGM will go a long way to making a great unit, but Toney and Simmons have not proven to be effective against both pass and run and Simmons has not stayed healthy for long stretches. Joseph is experienced but has not really played at a high level and the rest of the players look talented but young and unproven.

Lots of talent at LB, and it's all a year older, stronger, and wiser.... Should be a strength on defense for a change.

Love the starting CB's and it looks like there is enough depth, especially if a true freshman can contribute.

Safety - a big hole to fill, including the need for reliable depth.

On offense there are a good many talented players that will compete for the open Guard position. Miranda has played some, including a start, and looks to be a very good addition. And if another player beats him out that just shows how good that player must be to start ahead of Miranda. There are also some talented players that will compete at OT for the starting spot and the 2nd team positions, although not likely as many as at any of the other open starting spots (Walker, Whigan and Holmes).

Hard for me to worry too much about QB. As you said the candidates have some experience and have been in the program a good while. And although a great leader, Trace missed lots of throws last year I believe mainly due to his injuries. New starting QB's need experience to settle in, but that's why the OOC games are at the start of the season....

I'm not worrying about RB either. Lots of talent with experience in Slade, Brown, and Holmes. And from what I've seen of Cain he looks like a man, physically mature enough to come right in and get lots of carries if that would be needed. How about a 5 star player as likely the 5th team RB - Ford. Hard to complain.

Sure there are some questions at WR. But the position is filled with 4 star talent and all of last year's true freshmen got on the field for some experience in 2018, which will give them a comfort with the offense and allow them to legitimately fight to start in 2019. Hard to complain with all that talent, building a unti around Hamler, who had a freshman season to remember. Whoever starts will be playmakers and there will be plenty of depth unless 2 or 3 get hurt.

TE should be a strength. Just with Freiemuth, and any other TE. But Bowers is a strong player who if he stays healthy may get a chance to play on Sundays. Plus it looks like Holland will be back, and everyone looks for Kuntz to emerge as well.

Overall I don't see much difference in the battles for PT and talent on offense or defense. The real issue is that in today's game QB play is so important to winning football. Many games come down to a good day or bad day by the QB, so it's really the biggest question even though there are always some holes to fill year to year in college football.....

To bdgan, the glass is always totally empty. We have Slade, Brown and Holmes plus two highly
thought of freshmen in Ford and Cain and he is worried about "an every down back".

 

[GregInPitt]

Wide receiver returns 2 starters and a 5 star recruit coming off a redshirt year. Only half glass empty Bdgan could worry about that situation.

The OL returns 4 of 6 starters if you include the tight end.

Two of four tailbacks on the depth chart were 5 star recruits.

The offense is loaded. The only legit question is can Stevens throw the ball well enough to keep the offense balanced.

Exactly. And if Stevens can't we have a young QB CJF can go to that started last year 5 for 5 with the 6th pass dropped in the bowl game, about a 40 yarder perfectly thrown on his first play coming in cold off the bench.

A good bit of unknown concerning the QB roster, just like when replacing any 3 year starter, but on paper it looks as good as I can remember. Stevens, Clifford, Levis and 2 4-star freshman that have already enrolled......

 

[GregInPitt]

We'll be very young and inexperienced. This typically means a lot of dumb mistakes. However, lots of athletic talent. The good news is we go Idaho, Buffalo, Pitt, MD, and Purdue to start the year....some decent teams in there but all very beatable. Then we go Iowa, UM, MSU. After that Minny, Indy, tOSU, and Rutgers.

So we should be able to get some good game experience in before playing the better teams. We also get some breaks between the heavyweights.

Better get used to being "very young and inexperienced" to some degree as this is the model that the top talent teams (oh-high-ya, Bama, USC...) have been dealing with most years due to all the players they have that leave early for the NFL. Combined with the "portal" we may always be younger going forward that what the norm has been.

But we do have some great experience to build around on both sides of the ball:
On D:
YGM, and Simmons and Toney have played a good bit as well
Windsor
Jan Johnson
Cam Brown (will be his 4th year playing, 3rd year starting)
Parsons (played lots of football already)
Reid, 5th year, with 3 years already of significant PT
Castro-Fields, talented and very experienced
Taylor, 5th year player, returning starter

On O:
Stevens is very mature and pretty experienced for a backup that will assume the starting job.
Slade played a good bit for a true So
J.Brown in the program a few years
Holmes will be a 3rd year player, having played as a true frosh at ND and having a year of practice at PSU
Menet and Fries will be in their 4 year at PSU, and be returning starters
Gonzo will be a 5th year player, in his 4th year of playing
Freiermuth is a returning starter, AA candidate, backed up by a 5th year player (Bowers) that has played well whenever healthy.
As someone pointed out, 2 returning starters at WR and loads of young talent that has also gotten some experience last season. And I like the size of both Shorter and George. The true freshman Dunmore looks like he will "play big" as well as he fills out.

I just can't see complaining about not having returning mature players. Lots of candidates for leadership as well. Trace can't be the QB until he's 30 years old.........

 

[GregInPitt]

PSU will have some youth and some inexperience but IMHO 2019 will be the best mix of upper/lower classmen PSU has had in many years.
PSU returns 8 starters on defense: Gross-Matos, Windsor, Brown, Johnson, Parsons (taking the liberty of calling him a returning starter), Reid, Castro-Fields, Taylor. 6 on offense (Fries, Menet, Gonzales, Friermuth, Hamler, Dotson). I count 12 kids on the 2 deep who are 4th or 5th year players; 6 of those are 5th year guys (Windsor, Reid, Taylor, Stevens, Gonzo, Bowers). That is a pretty fair amount of experience as each of these kids has played extensively. We also return our punter and kicker.
We need a handful of young, fairly inexperienced guys to emerge and play very well. But in almost each case we are talking about elite recruits who could have gone just about anywhere - Mustipher, Oweh, Sutherland, maybe one of the FR CB's, Slade, Cain, Ford, Shorter, George, Dunmore. None of those guys needs to be a star, they just need to play well in their role.

Sorry I repeated some of what you already noted, but I started typing before I saw that you already responded....

 

[Carl Spackler]

We certainly have shifted from the 5th year senior model to the 3rd year RS Sophmore or Junior leaving early for the NFL. Then the transfers that were generally foreign to a PSU team in the past, at least to this level. When you play with the big boys and recruit at this level you end up with HS star players on the bench and that doesn't meet their NFL aspirations, thus the movement.

It is a big change for anyone who has followed this school over a long period. It takes some time to get used to yet it is exciting and promising in the long term as we ramp up to a different model.

 

[NittanyOpp]

I'd be shocked if Noah Cain didn't impress people. Have a feeling his running style is some of what this offense and team has missed, a mean powerful mother trucker.

Questions will be present every year in this early draft entry, graduate in 3 years, transfer portal era. How many questions did we have when PSU won the B1G in 2016? And after the Michigan beat down that year how many thought PSU would win out?

As we've seen repeatedly with this program, one or two plays are usually the difference the last 3 years. Who's to say one of these new guys can't make that play to put us over the top?

 

[81b&w]

I'd be shocked if Noah Cain didn't impress people. Have a feeling his running style is some of what this offense and team has missed, a mean powerful mother trucker.

Questions will be present every year in this early draft entry, graduate in 3 years, transfer portal era. How many questions did we have when PSU won the B1G in 2016? And after the Michigan beat down that year how many thought PSU would win out?

As we've seen repeatedly with this program, one or two plays are usually the difference the last 3 years. Who's to say one of these new guys can't make that play to put us over the top?

Nice line!

 

[MacNit07]

We certainly have shifted from the 5th year senior model to the 3rd year RS Sophmore or Junior leaving early for the NFL. Then the transfers that were generally foreign to a PSU team in the past, at least to this level. When you play with the big boys and recruit at this level you end up with HS star players on the bench and that doesn't meet their NFL aspirations, thus the movement.

It is a big change for anyone who has followed this school over a long period. It takes some time to get used to yet it is exciting and promising in the long term as we ramp up to a different model.

Very well stated...it’s a whole new world for PSU...but one we’ll need to embrace if we want to play with the Big Boys!

 

[MacNit07]

I'd be shocked if Noah Cain didn't impress people. Have a feeling his running style is some of what this offense and team has missed, a mean powerful mother trucker.

Questions will be present every year in this early draft entry, graduate in 3 years, transfer portal era. How many questions did we have when PSU won the B1G in 2016? And after the Michigan beat down that year how many thought PSU would win out?

As we've seen repeatedly with this program, one or two plays are usually the difference the last 3 years. Who's to say one of these new guys can't make that play to put us over the top?

So correct - wish I had a dollar for every time last year when I said: “ Need someone to make one play!”

 

[ChiTownLion]

Mustopher

Greg, I enjoy your posts but I will enjoy them even more when you get the spelling down on this name.

 

[NJPSU]

To bdgan, the glass is always totally empty. We have Slade, Brown and Holmes plus two highly
thought of freshmen in Ford and Cain and he is worried about "an every down back".

bdgan’s gonna bdgan.

 

[bdgan]

To bdgan, the glass is always totally empty. We have Slade, Brown and Holmes plus two highly
thought of freshmen in Ford and Cain and he is worried about "an every down back".

I was in your part of the woods last week. I would have called you to go have a beer but I knew I'd get stuck paying.

 

[veebs]

I hope Thorpe stays on the OL and they get 1-2 Grad Transfers on the DL to help with depth

 

[Jo Man]

Only 7 months left to put the QB sneak into the playbook. Better get to work

 

[RU31trap]

I firmly believe that the Nittany Lion 2019 season will very much depend on QB play and a solid offensive line. Whether it's Stevens or Clifford I think the competition is going to be fierce. The defense should be solid.

 

[Lionsfan1000]

People tend to significantly underestimate how,challenging it is to replace a multi-year starting quarterback. Hope I am wrong but Stevens has shown me nothing to make me think his leading the offense will be anywhere close to MsSorley’s. Much more than a slight drop off. Throw in a rebuilt o-line and I think 2019 will be a very frustrating year of perceived underachievement. Hope I am wrong but I doubt it.

 

[danvillenit]

PSU is replacing two out of six on the front if you include the TE. That’s not exactly rebuilding the Oline. That’s probably the average yearly attrition on a college Oline

 

[81b&w]

People tend to significantly underestimate how,challenging it is to replace a multi-year starting quarterback. Hope I am wrong but Stevens has shown me nothing to make me think his leading the offense will be anywhere close to MsSorley’s. Much more than a slight drop off. Throw in a rebuilt o-line and I think 2019 will be a very frustrating year of perceived underachievement. Hope I am wrong but I doubt it.[/QUOTE

His drive against Michigan didn't offer you a glimmer of hope? C'mon, he's gonna be a solid QB, and if not Clifford will. And if Clifford isn't, Levis will. And if Levi's isn't ...we have more

 

[Osprey Lion]

I was in your part of the woods last week. I would have called you to go have a beer but I knew I'd get stuck paying.

Who are you kidding? You still have the first dollar you made.
And you live in my area. Punta Gorda is only 30 miles away from me.
Send me a message and I'll give you my phone number so you have
it the next time you come all the way to Sarasota..

 

[Osprey Lion]

People tend to significantly underestimate how,challenging it is to replace a multi-year starting quarterback. Hope I am wrong but Stevens has shown me nothing to make me think his leading the offense will be anywhere close to MsSorley’s. Much more than a slight drop off. Throw in a rebuilt o-line and I think 2019 will be a very frustrating year of perceived underachievement. Hope I am wrong but I doubt it.

I'm guessing you are wrong. I think the new WR coach will make a big difference and Stevens running
threat will open up passing lanes.

 

[blion72]

I firmly believe that the Nittany Lion 2019 season will very much depend on QB play and a solid offensive line. Whether it's Stevens or Clifford I think the competition is going to be fierce. The defense should be solid.

totally agree with that view. i am a little more comfortable that the QB situation will be in a good state faster. there are more moving parts that need to get set for the OL to be a well oiled machine. a lot of good potential for OL players, but we need them to have their act together quickly.

 

[NittanyOpp]

People tend to significantly underestimate how,challenging it is to replace a multi-year starting quarterback. Hope I am wrong but Stevens has shown me nothing to make me think his leading the offense will be anywhere close to MsSorley’s. Much more than a slight drop off. Throw in a rebuilt o-line and I think 2019 will be a very frustrating year of perceived underachievement. Hope I am wrong but I doubt it.

Other than mop up duty and a few plays at Michigan being thrown in the fire how would anyone know this?

 

[GregInPitt]

I hope Thorpe stays on the OL and they get 1-2 Grad Transfers on the DL to help with depth

I also hope Thorpe moves back to OL and stays there, moving into a starting Guard spot either this year or in 2020 when Gonzo is gone.

But regarding the DL, PSU has 8 returning scholarship DT's, after losing only Givens to the NFL, and will likely have 3 incoming DT's in the 2019 class (Ellies, Beamon, and ???).
Returning:
27 Aeneas Hawkins DT Fr. Fr. 6-2 285 Cincinnati, Ohio / Moeller
42 Ellison Jordan DT Jr. So. 6-0 291 Upper Marlboro, Md. / Gilman School
53 Fred Hansard DT So. Fr. 6-3 316 Burlington, N.J. / The Hun School
54 Robert Windsor DT Sr. Jr. 6-4 295 Fond Du Lac, Wis. / Fond Du Lac
55 Antonio Shelton DT Jr. So. 6-2 310 Westerville, Ohio / Westerville-North
88 Judge Culpepper DT Fr. Fr. 6-4 282 Tampa, Fla. / H.B. Plant
90 Damion Barber DT So. Fr. 6-3 283 Harrisburg, Pa. / Harrisburg
93 PJ Mustipher DT Fr. Fr. 6-4 300 Owings Mills, Md. / McDonogh School

I really do not see CJF bringing in a grad transfer DT. We'll already likely have 10 or 11 DT's on the roster, with only Windsor being a 5th year senior. It will be interesting to see how the young DT's that have been in the program but that have not played perform this Spring - Hawkins, Culpepper and Barber. As well as if Mustipher makes a move for the starting DT spot opposite Windsor.

Regarding DE, there will be 6 returning DE's, all of whom have played some, and at least 2 incoming DE's (Isaac and Vilbert). 8 DE's on scholarship is very proportionate for an 85 scholarship roster.

18 Shaka Toney DE Jr. So. 6-3 241 Philadelphia, Pa. / Imhotep Charter
28 Jayson Oweh DE Fr. Fr. 6-5 247 Howell, N.J. / Blair Academy
34 Shane Simmons DE Jr. So. 6-3 250 Laurel, Md. / DeMatha
46 Nick Tarburton DE Fr. Fr. 6-3 246 Green Lane, Pa. / Pennridge
49 Daniel Joseph DE Jr. So. 6-3 253 Brampton, Ontario, Canada / Lake Forest Academy (Ill.)
99 Yetur Gross-Matos DE So. So. 6-5 259 Spotsylvania, Va. / Chancellor

So I believe that CJF will bring in at most 1 Grad Transfer on the DL, and more than likely none.

DL production will depend on the job that Spencer has been doing in developing all the young talent already on the roster. It will be interesting to see what the DT and DE 2-deep looks like after Spring practice. But at DT with both Handsard and Jordan recovering from significant injuries, they both could climb up the depth chart in the Fall.

 

[NittanyOpp]

I think people are overestimating how good Trace was this year. He wasn't great, whether that's due to injury etc, he just wasn't as good. Great leader but not great passer this year, so I don't think the drop off will be as bad as some make it out to be.

 

[NittanyOpp]

The defense looks pretty good with the biggest question being at DT. LB should be the best in years.

DT: Windsor + ???. Hansard & Jordon status unknown. That leaves Shelton & Mustipher.
DE: Matos, Simmons, Oweh
LB: Parsons, Johnson, Brown, Brooks, Luketa, Smith. Legit 2 deep.
CB: Reid, Fields, Johnson
S: Taylor, Sutherland, Wade


Questions at every position on offense except for TE:

QB: Stevens, Clifford. Experience but you never know with a new QB.
RB: Slade, Brown, Ford. Are any ready to be an every down back?
WR: Hamler, Dotson, George, Shorter (Shorter the only kid with size)
OL: Gonzalez, Menet, and Fries return (Fries has struggled). Still need 2 + depth. Miranda?
TE: Friermuth was great. Bowers, Holland, Kuntz. This position should be very strong.

George has size, may not be as tall as Shorter JJ etc but he's a big kid. Godwin type size

 

[83wuzme]

I think the offense needs to be overhauled. I can see the kind of offense we needed to run in 2016 when we still had a lot of roster issues, especially on the OL. We are in a different situation now. We need to have a better and more consistent rushing offense. We can utilize the TE’s more as well as the backs in the passing game. It would also be nice to have more than one guy ( Hamler ) who can be a vertical threat.

 

[81b&w]

I grew up around the Hawkins bloodline, there's some serious athletes from that tree. Really glad to see him at PSU

 

[Option Bob]

I grew up around the Hawkins bloodline, there's some serious athletes from that tree. Really glad to see him at PSU

Glad to see someone talking about Hawkins. He was a great recruit with offers from most of the Big Dogs. At 6-2, 285 last season, he might have out in some solid muscle weight, making him at least physically ready to see action.

 

[GregInPitt]

Glad to see someone talking about Hawkins. He was a great recruit with offers from most of the Big Dogs. At 6-2, 285 last season, he might have put in some solid muscle weight, making him at least physically ready to see action.

Yep, the time has come to see what the young DT's can do - Hawkins (who looks smaller than most of the others so I would be surprised to see him playing other than 3-technique), Barber, (2 years in the S&C program), and Cullpepper.