Bowen, Cooper, and Farmer

[Nitwit]

There are a lot of question marks about the possibility of these 3 being our starters (or even being in the rotation) at LB, but there is some talent and experience as well. If Bowen is reinstated and if Cooper is healthy, all of a sudden our LB core is looking much deeper. One can hope. Parsons may wind up starting anyway based on his talent, but it would be nice to have some experience calling the defensive plays.

 

[greg13]

I’d rather see Brooks, Parsons or Luketa get a shot over Cooper as I have seen nothing at all from Cooper from the reps he has gotten.

 

[lbujoe33]

I’d rather see Brooks, Parsons or Luketa get a shot over Cooper as I have seen nothing at all from Cooper from the reps he has gotten.

Cooper wont start. He is a third string linebacker at best. Don't bet on Bowen getting back on the team. Brooks, Parsons, and Farmer.

 

[joeparules]

Cooper wont start. He is a third string linebacker at best. Don't bet on Bowen getting back on the team. Brooks, Parsons, and Farmer.

My take on Bowen is if he definitely was not returning, CJF would state that. The longer CJF doesn't confirm/deny the better the odds are on Manny's return. By B1G conference play my guess is Farmer, Brooks and Bowen with Miller, Parsons and Brown backing them up. Luketa, Cooper and Faison-Walden as third string. Not sure where Jan Johnson fits in.

 

[Bob_Anderson]

I’d rather see Brooks, Parsons or Luketa get a shot over Cooper as I have seen nothing at all from Cooper from the reps he has gotten.

Cooper wont start. He is a third string linebacker at best. Don't bet on Bowen getting back on the team. Brooks, Parsons, and Farmer.

Bowen is basically already back. He may not play right away, or at all in 2018, but it's happening.

 

[PearlSUJam]

I'm hoping the 4 game freshman rule might help in our favor in this case.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

Farmer has always been a hell of an athlete - would love to see it all come together for him this year...

 

[Elwood Blues]

I'm torn on Bowen. His track record is piss poor. I think Penn State outlasts SC in the Rose Bowl if he's there to play when Bell went down (having Blacknall wo uld have helped as well). Had a sinking feeling at the end of the first half when Bell went down. Then he misses a second bowl game.

But - as a selfish short-term thinking fan - I know he could be a huge help to the team this year.

Confident that JF will only let him return if he's truly demonstrated that his long-standing issues (whatever they are) are behind him and he's grown up. Even then, I'm sure he's on permanent double secret probation.

 

[royboy]

I'm looking for a breakout season for Cam Brown. He's got the tools and now has added size, strength, and experience.

 

[tboyer]

Re Bowen, even if he is back, whether he plays really depends on the development of Brooks, Luketa and Parsons. If they get enough of a handle on the position to start the season, they'll rapidly improve -- so they should play a lot to accelerate that development.

It would sure be nice to have Bowen in the rotation but it's probably better if someone else starts.

Anyway there are lots of options. Just like every position group on the team now. Lots of options. This is what it's like after four years of very good recruiting.

 

[Jerademan74]

I'm torn on Bowen. His track record is piss poor. I think Penn State outlasts SC in the Rose Bowl if he's there to play when Bell went down (having Blacknall wo uld have helped as well). Had a sinking feeling at the end of the first half when Bell went down. Then he misses a second bowl game.

But - as a selfish short-term thinking fan - I know he could be a huge help to the team this year.

Confident that JF will only let him return if he's truly demonstrated that his long-standing issues (whatever they are) are behind him and he's grown up. Even then, I'm sure he's on permanent double secret probation.

I agree that Bowen may in fact get a last chance shot this season, but how many chances do you give a guy who repeatedly gets in trouble after having a second and third chance? I can guaranty you that if we didn't need him for the experience he brings, he wouldn't even be a consideration for CJF. BTW, I am not overly confident with Koa Farmer as a starter. He can be great on blitzing the QB from the outside, but to cover the run on every play basis is not his strength. Let's hope our DL and secondary picks up the slack our LBers will undoubtedly have, especially early in the season. I have 100% confidence in our Offense with Trace leading the way, but our D has lots to prove !

 

[psuken]

There are a lot of question marks about the possibility of these 3 being our starters (or even being in the rotation) at LB, but there is some talent and experience as well. If Bowen is reinstated and if Cooper is healthy, all of a sudden our LB core is looking much deeper. One can hope. Parsons may wind up starting anyway based on his talent, but it would be nice to have some experience calling the defensive plays.

No way that Cooper starts, and no one knows if Bowen will even be on the Team yet.

 

[BBrown]

There are a lot of question marks about the possibility of these 3 being our starters (or even being in the rotation) at LB, but there is some talent and experience as well. If Bowen is reinstated and if Cooper is healthy, all of a sudden our LB core is looking much deeper. One can hope. Parsons may wind up starting anyway based on his talent, but it would be nice to have some experience calling the defensive plays.

Not sure if we will ever see Manny or not, it sounds like there is a chance but he's got to really toe the line.
Cooper I have no idea. I've heard injuries have really curtailed his ability so what I'm about to say is probably not fair to him but I have nothing else to go on. So far I haven't seen him do anything that would make me comfortable with him starting.
Farmer is an enigma. I thought towards the end of 2016 he was really starting to play well then last year, through weight gain or new position or whatever he just didn't perform.
If those are our starting 3 LB'rs I would have massive concerns.
But you are correct they provide some excellent depth I just don't think 2 of 3 are starters.

 

[BBrown]

I'm torn on Bowen. His track record is piss poor. I think Penn State outlasts SC in the Rose Bowl if he's there to play when Bell went down (having Blacknall wo uld have helped as well). Had a sinking feeling at the end of the first half when Bell went down. Then he misses a second bowl game.

But - as a selfish short-term thinking fan - I know he could be a huge help to the team this year.

Confident that JF will only let him return if he's truly demonstrated that his long-standing issues (whatever they are) are behind him and he's grown up. Even then, I'm sure he's on permanent double secret probation.

I'm with you on Bowen. I thought we were better at LBR after Smith came in for him last year.

 

[Sooner Lion]

Farmer has always been a hell of an athlete - would love to see it all come together for him this year...

View embedded media

If Farmer is still starting by the third game, we are in trouble. My 2 cents.

 

[BBrown]

Re Bowen, even if he is back, whether he plays really depends on the development of Brooks, Luketa and Parsons. If they get enough of a handle on the position to start the season, they'll rapidly improve -- so they should play a lot to accelerate that development.

It would sure be nice to have Bowen in the rotation but it's probably better if someone else starts.

Anyway there are lots of options. Just like every position group on the team now. Lots of options. This is what it's like after four years of very good recruiting.

Agree. We'll find out pretty quickly how good the lbr's are going to be and the DE and DL.
The AP State RB is pretty good and Pitt will be trying to exploit the lbr's the entire game.
Even with the questions we have at LBR I don't think either AP St. or Pitt will have a good enough OL to take advantage of it.
That being said I don't think the LB'rs we see in the first 3 games will be the ones we see at the start of B1G season. Parson's will be starting by then. JMO.

 

[NJPSU]

Cooper wont start. He is a third string linebacker at best. Don't bet on Bowen getting back on the team. Brooks, Parsons, and Farmer.

Brooks wasn't even mentioned by Franklin when he ran through the list of potential middle linebackers. Maybe it was just an oversight or maybe he's in the doghouse or maybe he hasn't stepped up.

 

[BBrown]

Brooks wasn't even mentioned by Franklin when he ran through the list of potential middle linebackers. Maybe it was just an oversight or maybe he's in the doghouse or maybe he hasn't stepped up.

LOL, I prefer to think of it as our secret weapon and Franklin doesn't want to let the secret out.

 

[83wuzme]

Maybe with Bowen, the answer will come at the end of summer semester.

 

[PSU_Chicago]

Can anyone list out Bowen's indiscretions that have landed him where he is today?

 

[Ranger Dan]

Can anyone list out Bowen's indiscretions that have landed him where he is today?

Since it’s alleged that he’s had two incidents/issues and nobody knows for sure what the whole story is, we could consider this a form of “double, secret probation”....