Penn State head coach James Franklin offered up another partially opened look into the Nittany Lions spring practice Wednesday afternoon, letting reporters in to catch about half an hour of this afternoon's session.
While the stretching portion was light and lively, almost like a dance party in the middle of Holuba Hall, there was a very serious tone to the rest of practice. Not that the coaching staff wasn't still encouraging livelihood and fun, but it's clear that this is a time the staff feels is incredibly important at this moment for this team as it tries to take the next step this summer.
In fact, Franklin could be heard at one point during special teams work shouting to everyone and no one in particular, "Let's get organized!"
A detail-oriented, keen-eyed guy for what does and does not make a smooth operation, Franklin is often looking for the implementation of the best, most organized practice he can have, and clearly today was no different.
With that as a jumping off point, I was able to take in a few observations from what we saw at practice this afternoon:
1) Carl Nassib is so much bigger than he used to be.
Tim Owen is going to have details on it tomorrow from the interview session that we had with Nassib and a few other Lions earlier in the day, but just taking in his appearance at practice for the first time, he is a solid, solid 6-foot-7, 270 pounds now. I don't know exactly how he'll end up playing out the 2015 season, but that tall, big defensive end is exactly what this staff is looking for.
He was running first team with Sickels during the portion of practice we took in. Parker Cothren and Austin Johnson were the DTs. Second team looked like Evan Schwan and Curtis Cothran on the ends with Joe Holmes and Antoine White the other two DTs.
Probably not worth putting much stock in though because Anthony Zettel was a late arrival for a scheduled media appearance earlier today, and according to my colleague Tim Owen, he was at practice and dressed but was not participating. And, Tarow Barney also was not dressed for practice this afternoon.
2) Speaking of which, Koa Farmer and DeAndre Thompkins were both at practice this afternoon, but neither was in pads or participating. Farmer has been out for the past couple of practices, but does not appear to be suffering any real injury. Thompkins looks to be the same.
I also did not see Nyeem Wartman. *Which explains Gary Wooten as first team Mike LB, with Ben Kline moved up to second team this afternoon.
We'll have to do some digging to find out if there are illnesses or what else might be up. No initial indications at present.
3) I spent a decent amount of time taking in the wideouts and trying to get a better feel for how that group is going to shake out.
There was a period with the quarterbacks, tight ends and wideouts in the latter part of practice that we were able to see that provided a little bit better feel.
The breakdown looks to be as such, keeping in mind that Thompkins was out:
Group 1: DaeSean Hamilton, Chris Godwin and Matt Zanellato in the slot
Group 2: Geno Lewis, Saeed Blacknall, Gregg Garrity
Group 3: Luke Vadas, Gordon Bentley, Josh McPhearson
Group 4: Javon Turner, Kyler Diehl
Obviously, this is spring ball and there will be some additional reinforcements by the time the offseason rolls around. Franklin was helping with some of the instruction for the wideouts this afternoon, warning of too much drifting during their routes. This was something discussed earlier this spring, but the ability to really up the level of precision for both Christian Hackenberg and the wideouts in particular is something the staff is really seeking out this spring so that they can carry it forward through the summer months when they get so much work in together on their own time.
4) The tight ends broke down Kyle Carter, Mike Gesicki, Brent Wilkerson.
Adam Breneman was in pads at practice, but not working with the group
when we saw it. He very well might have just been a late arrival due to a class as he's been participating in every other session we've seen so far this spring.
5) At running back, we didn't see any contact work, and the pecking order appeared to be Akeel Lynch, Nick Scott, Johnathan Thomas and Mark Allen. Considering Thomas was held out of contact work on Saturday, it seems likely that they're trying to be cautious with him as this thing goes along.
6) Working snaps with the quarterbacks, Angelo Mangiro continues to own that starter's spot at present, with Wendy Laurent working with Trace McSorley and Tom Devenney working with both Tommy Stevens and Billy Fessler.
7) During some of the defensive line work, Austin Johnson was just an absolute animal not only with his speed and quickness, but his force as well. I think what you're starting to see though now is the opportunity for him to take that next step from just being a physically gifted guy to one who they are trying to turn into something even more elite. That's why coach Sean Spencer was riding him for some of the smaller technique details there were even though he's so clearly dominant otherwise.
8) In the secondary, Grant Haley and Trevor Williams were first team corners today, with Marcus Allen and Jordan Lucas at the two safety spots. Amani Oruwariye was working as a second team safety and pulled in an easy interception during drill work, with Troy Apke working at the other safety spot.
This post was edited on 4/1 6:40 PM by Nate Bauer/BWI Staff
This post was edited on 4/1 6:56 PM by Nate Bauer/BWI Staff
While the stretching portion was light and lively, almost like a dance party in the middle of Holuba Hall, there was a very serious tone to the rest of practice. Not that the coaching staff wasn't still encouraging livelihood and fun, but it's clear that this is a time the staff feels is incredibly important at this moment for this team as it tries to take the next step this summer.
In fact, Franklin could be heard at one point during special teams work shouting to everyone and no one in particular, "Let's get organized!"
A detail-oriented, keen-eyed guy for what does and does not make a smooth operation, Franklin is often looking for the implementation of the best, most organized practice he can have, and clearly today was no different.
With that as a jumping off point, I was able to take in a few observations from what we saw at practice this afternoon:
1) Carl Nassib is so much bigger than he used to be.
Tim Owen is going to have details on it tomorrow from the interview session that we had with Nassib and a few other Lions earlier in the day, but just taking in his appearance at practice for the first time, he is a solid, solid 6-foot-7, 270 pounds now. I don't know exactly how he'll end up playing out the 2015 season, but that tall, big defensive end is exactly what this staff is looking for.
He was running first team with Sickels during the portion of practice we took in. Parker Cothren and Austin Johnson were the DTs. Second team looked like Evan Schwan and Curtis Cothran on the ends with Joe Holmes and Antoine White the other two DTs.
Probably not worth putting much stock in though because Anthony Zettel was a late arrival for a scheduled media appearance earlier today, and according to my colleague Tim Owen, he was at practice and dressed but was not participating. And, Tarow Barney also was not dressed for practice this afternoon.
2) Speaking of which, Koa Farmer and DeAndre Thompkins were both at practice this afternoon, but neither was in pads or participating. Farmer has been out for the past couple of practices, but does not appear to be suffering any real injury. Thompkins looks to be the same.
I also did not see Nyeem Wartman. *Which explains Gary Wooten as first team Mike LB, with Ben Kline moved up to second team this afternoon.
We'll have to do some digging to find out if there are illnesses or what else might be up. No initial indications at present.
3) I spent a decent amount of time taking in the wideouts and trying to get a better feel for how that group is going to shake out.
There was a period with the quarterbacks, tight ends and wideouts in the latter part of practice that we were able to see that provided a little bit better feel.
The breakdown looks to be as such, keeping in mind that Thompkins was out:
Group 1: DaeSean Hamilton, Chris Godwin and Matt Zanellato in the slot
Group 2: Geno Lewis, Saeed Blacknall, Gregg Garrity
Group 3: Luke Vadas, Gordon Bentley, Josh McPhearson
Group 4: Javon Turner, Kyler Diehl
Obviously, this is spring ball and there will be some additional reinforcements by the time the offseason rolls around. Franklin was helping with some of the instruction for the wideouts this afternoon, warning of too much drifting during their routes. This was something discussed earlier this spring, but the ability to really up the level of precision for both Christian Hackenberg and the wideouts in particular is something the staff is really seeking out this spring so that they can carry it forward through the summer months when they get so much work in together on their own time.
4) The tight ends broke down Kyle Carter, Mike Gesicki, Brent Wilkerson.
Adam Breneman was in pads at practice, but not working with the group
when we saw it. He very well might have just been a late arrival due to a class as he's been participating in every other session we've seen so far this spring.
5) At running back, we didn't see any contact work, and the pecking order appeared to be Akeel Lynch, Nick Scott, Johnathan Thomas and Mark Allen. Considering Thomas was held out of contact work on Saturday, it seems likely that they're trying to be cautious with him as this thing goes along.
6) Working snaps with the quarterbacks, Angelo Mangiro continues to own that starter's spot at present, with Wendy Laurent working with Trace McSorley and Tom Devenney working with both Tommy Stevens and Billy Fessler.
7) During some of the defensive line work, Austin Johnson was just an absolute animal not only with his speed and quickness, but his force as well. I think what you're starting to see though now is the opportunity for him to take that next step from just being a physically gifted guy to one who they are trying to turn into something even more elite. That's why coach Sean Spencer was riding him for some of the smaller technique details there were even though he's so clearly dominant otherwise.
8) In the secondary, Grant Haley and Trevor Williams were first team corners today, with Marcus Allen and Jordan Lucas at the two safety spots. Amani Oruwariye was working as a second team safety and pulled in an easy interception during drill work, with Troy Apke working at the other safety spot.
This post was edited on 4/1 6:40 PM by Nate Bauer/BWI Staff
This post was edited on 4/1 6:56 PM by Nate Bauer/BWI Staff
