Hey everyone,
Since Nate is in New York covering the NIT this week, I got called up from the bullpen to take care of practice notes this evening. Obviously, the news surrounding QB Tommy Stevens dominated the evening. You can read more about that HERE.
You can also watch Franklin's complete press conference with the media here!
With that said, there were a few tidbits from practice that caught my eye.
- Depth Charts
I'll start with the first and second-team offensive depth charts. Of course, this is just one practice session, so lets not put a ton of stock into this. However, there are a few notable developments that I'll hit on after this.
- The first thing that should standout is that WR Juwan Johnson was not present this evening.
- TE Nick Bowers was dressed. I just personally didn't see him take a rep with the first-team. I may have missed that, but when I was focusing on tight end, I saw Danny Dalton with the first-team. Jonathan Holland was present but not dressed this evening.
- Tackle Ryan Bates was dressed this evening. From everything we've gathered, PSU is just limiting his reps this spring.
- We only saw a handful of reps, but Michal Menet definitely stood out to me. You can tell that he really wants to lock this job up, and from what we've gathered, he's done a good job of that, so far. Out of all the lineman this evening, to me, it felt like he was giving it everything he had, getting to the next level, staying on guys until the whistle, etc. That makes sense considering the other four have played substantial time, but still, from what I got to see this evening, Menet was really getting after it.
- When it comes to the defensive chart, it was clear that they were mixing first and second-string players this evening, so it was tough to get a good feel for that side of the ball while we were there. Hopefully we'll be able to get a better feel for the defense in the coming weeks.
Wide Receiver
- There's been a lot of buzz surrounding two young receivers: Mac Hippenhammer and KJ Hamler. DeAndre Thompkins told us today that Hamler had the best play of camp so far. During the team's scrimmage a few days ago, Hamler caught a beautiful deep post route, burning the secondary. As for Hippenhammer, Franklin called him one of the team's most natural players this evening.
“Mac Hippenhammer is one of the more natural football players that we got. Even last year, when he was redshirting on scout team and on special teams, you would watch him do things and it just came natural. He has to get bigger and stronger, but I think the baseball experience has been good for him. His confidence has [grown] with that. He did really well academically. That was part of the requirement…so I see him really growing.
“K.J. [Hamler] is probably the buzz of the camp right now, with the players and the coaches. He’s just so quick and fast. Usually, you get a guy that’s really fast or really quick. He’s both. He’s still not as efficient with his movements as he needs to be, but he’s an exciting player…K.J. is [also] a very good blocker on the perimeter, which you wouldn’t [think] that looking at him.”
Linebacker
There's been a lot of excitement surrounding Micah Parsons and his performance during the first few sessions. His athleticism has been evident from day one, but he still has to learn more about the position before he's ready to really take that next step. When asked how Parsons and all the young linebackers have been progressing so far, Franklin said that it's still too early to say that anyone has separated themselves, but he has been impressed with the group.
“It’s too early at this point. I will say that, at this point, it’s obvious, when you’re comparing the three freshman that just got in here and Ellis [Brooks]. Ellis has been here. He’s played a lot of football, at that position. So, it just comes a bit more natural to him compared to someone like Micah, who’s a great athlete but is still figuring it out. Jesse [Luketa] moves really well and he’s played the position now for a couple years…[Nick] Tarburton has lost a bunch of weight, [mainly] body fat, so they’re three young, exciting prospects, but it’s good seeing Ellis out here getting some work, as well."
Since Nate is in New York covering the NIT this week, I got called up from the bullpen to take care of practice notes this evening. Obviously, the news surrounding QB Tommy Stevens dominated the evening. You can read more about that HERE.
You can also watch Franklin's complete press conference with the media here!
With that said, there were a few tidbits from practice that caught my eye.
- Depth Charts
I'll start with the first and second-team offensive depth charts. Of course, this is just one practice session, so lets not put a ton of stock into this. However, there are a few notable developments that I'll hit on after this.
- The first thing that should standout is that WR Juwan Johnson was not present this evening.
- TE Nick Bowers was dressed. I just personally didn't see him take a rep with the first-team. I may have missed that, but when I was focusing on tight end, I saw Danny Dalton with the first-team. Jonathan Holland was present but not dressed this evening.
- Tackle Ryan Bates was dressed this evening. From everything we've gathered, PSU is just limiting his reps this spring.
- We only saw a handful of reps, but Michal Menet definitely stood out to me. You can tell that he really wants to lock this job up, and from what we've gathered, he's done a good job of that, so far. Out of all the lineman this evening, to me, it felt like he was giving it everything he had, getting to the next level, staying on guys until the whistle, etc. That makes sense considering the other four have played substantial time, but still, from what I got to see this evening, Menet was really getting after it.
- When it comes to the defensive chart, it was clear that they were mixing first and second-string players this evening, so it was tough to get a good feel for that side of the ball while we were there. Hopefully we'll be able to get a better feel for the defense in the coming weeks.
Wide Receiver
- There's been a lot of buzz surrounding two young receivers: Mac Hippenhammer and KJ Hamler. DeAndre Thompkins told us today that Hamler had the best play of camp so far. During the team's scrimmage a few days ago, Hamler caught a beautiful deep post route, burning the secondary. As for Hippenhammer, Franklin called him one of the team's most natural players this evening.
“Mac Hippenhammer is one of the more natural football players that we got. Even last year, when he was redshirting on scout team and on special teams, you would watch him do things and it just came natural. He has to get bigger and stronger, but I think the baseball experience has been good for him. His confidence has [grown] with that. He did really well academically. That was part of the requirement…so I see him really growing.
“K.J. [Hamler] is probably the buzz of the camp right now, with the players and the coaches. He’s just so quick and fast. Usually, you get a guy that’s really fast or really quick. He’s both. He’s still not as efficient with his movements as he needs to be, but he’s an exciting player…K.J. is [also] a very good blocker on the perimeter, which you wouldn’t [think] that looking at him.”
Linebacker
There's been a lot of excitement surrounding Micah Parsons and his performance during the first few sessions. His athleticism has been evident from day one, but he still has to learn more about the position before he's ready to really take that next step. When asked how Parsons and all the young linebackers have been progressing so far, Franklin said that it's still too early to say that anyone has separated themselves, but he has been impressed with the group.
“It’s too early at this point. I will say that, at this point, it’s obvious, when you’re comparing the three freshman that just got in here and Ellis [Brooks]. Ellis has been here. He’s played a lot of football, at that position. So, it just comes a bit more natural to him compared to someone like Micah, who’s a great athlete but is still figuring it out. Jesse [Luketa] moves really well and he’s played the position now for a couple years…[Nick] Tarburton has lost a bunch of weight, [mainly] body fat, so they’re three young, exciting prospects, but it’s good seeing Ellis out here getting some work, as well."
