Podcast Lyons / Keys Gone, Who Replaces Them? + Latest Recruit Scoop

[Richie O]

Happy Valley Insider - PSU POD: Lyons / Keys Gone, Who Replaces Them? + Latest Recruit Scoop

In this week's episode we talk about Lyons and Keys departure, the depth around the team and three new commitments.

pennstate.rivals.com

 

[Rip_E_2_Joe_PA]

Happy Valley Insider - PSU POD: Lyons / Keys Gone, Who Replaces Them? + Latest Recruit Scoop

In this week's episode we talk about Lyons and Keys departure, the depth around the team and three new commitments.

pennstate.rivals.com

Seiko the Psycho. Could anyone be more melodramatic about PSUs lb situation. I am finding it hard to be alarmed and to waste worry on that room. Same at DE. Practice is for evaluation for the most part and next man up has always been a part of this game for every program in the nation.

 

[ryoder1]

After listening to this I am now concerned about our O-Line. Not confident the receivers have made the necessary progress and Fleming will not be any kind of difference maker. Also we are very very thin at both LB and DE. Not a positive outlook at all.

 

[lazydave841]

After listening to this I am now concerned about our O-Line. Not confident the receivers have made the necessary progress and Fleming will not be any kind of difference maker. Also we are very very thin at both LB and DE. Not a positive outlook at all.

OL has been a question mark since we sent 3 guys to the NFL. We have multiple guys with starts under their belt returning (Sal, Nelson, Vega, Shelton), but only 2 of them are perhaps pegged to start. We seemingly have depth, something prior to last year we seemed to never have. We just don't have a sure thing.

WR is going to be a concern until they do something in live action. I've seen one article where one of our safeties (Reed or Winston i think) is quoted as saying "the WRs got the best of us today". Fleming will probably be Fleming if he's healthy. He's never had a 1st round type of year, but he's never been more than the #3 WR at OSU.

DE was thin with Lyons. He got time last year, which was very good, but returning experience was low regardless. Fisher being hurt doesn't help, but we are going to have to rely on 2 or 3 new faces to replace depth. DDS and Vanover should be really good players and Carter adds some pass rush excitement, but our depth is still inexperienced.

LB is about the same. King is really good and we have Elsdon to spell him (but that hasn't inspired much yet to be fair). Rojas has less experience than Carter did coming into year 2, but he should be a tackling machine. Can he be the havoc maker on forced fumbles and picks that Carter was as a pass rusher?

De Luca has experience, but he still needs to get to another level. Behind them, it's a lot of unknown. Keys had no major contributions previous but it's still a hit to depth. Wylie being hurt sucks, but he's less experienced than Fisher was at DE and really hasn't shown much yet (aka his injury hurts depth but is not quantifiable).

Allen being a LB coach could be really good for this unit. Our 3rd string guys are probably higher rated prospects than he's used to working with at IU.

Reloading means unknowns stepping in and not missing a beat or playing better than their predecessors. You aren't going to send a bunch to the NFL and return 17 pure starters. You can't bring in 25 recruits and fill in every gap with studs in the portal.

 

[bdgan]

After listening to this I am now concerned about our O-Line. Not confident the receivers have made the necessary progress and Fleming will not be any kind of difference maker. Also we are very very thin at both LB and DE. Not a positive outlook at all.

I think Fleming will be an improvement over KLS but he might not be the star WR we're hoping for. Evans has the speed. Hopefully he'll be a difference maker. Saunders has to step up too. He's got to get some separation because he's too small to win 50/50 balls.

I've been concerned about LB since Carter was moved to DE. I feel better with Sutton and Fisher (when healthy) at DE and Carter at LB even if we move Carter around a lot. I guess we'll play 5 DBs more often but I don't know how well that will work with powerful opponents. It scares me to think we're going to rely on freshman Kari Jackson to provide depth.

The OL will be interesting. We have to replace 3 starters. I think it's too early to rely on Cousins. I'm optimistic about Donkoh. Williams and Birchmeier are both RS freshmen but they came in with high rankings. Hopefully one of them can really break out. Also, for Allar to be successful we have to settle on a LT.

 

[ryoder1]

OL has been a question mark since we sent 3 guys to the NFL. We have multiple guys with starts under their belt returning (Sal, Nelson, Vega, Shelton), but only 2 of them are perhaps pegged to start. We seemingly have depth, something prior to last year we seemed to never have. We just don't have a sure thing.

WR is going to be a concern until they do something in live action. I've seen one article where one of our safeties (Reed or Winston i think) is quoted as saying "the WRs got the best of us today". Fleming will probably be Fleming if he's healthy. He's never had a 1st round type of year, but he's never been more than the #3 WR at OSU.

DE was thin with Lyons. He got time last year, which was very good, but returning experience was low regardless. Fisher being hurt doesn't help, but we are going to have to rely on 2 or 3 new faces to replace depth. DDS and Vanover should be really good players and Carter adds some pass rush excitement, but our depth is still inexperienced.

LB is about the same. King is really good and we have Elsdon to spell him (but that hasn't inspired much yet to be fair). Rojas has less experience than Carter did coming into year 2, but he should be a tackling machine. Can he be the havoc maker on forced fumbles and picks that Carter was as a pass rusher?

De Luca has experience, but he still needs to get to another level. Behind them, it's a lot of unknown. Keys had no major contributions previous but it's still a hit to depth. Wylie being hurt sucks, but he's less experienced than Fisher was at DE and really hasn't shown much yet (aka his injury hurts depth but is not quantifiable).

Allen being a LB coach could be really good for this unit. Our 3rd string guys are probably higher rated prospects than he's used to working with at IU.

Reloading means unknowns stepping in and not missing a beat or playing better than their predecessors. You aren't going to send a bunch to the NFL and return 17 pure starters. You can't bring in 25 recruits and fill in every gap with studs in the portal.

Good summary. Wylie at LB and Fisher at DE being hurt is looming big now.

At LB, Rojas really needs to step in and be very good as in our best LB along with King. Hoping Ta'Mere Robinson steps up. Need Wylie back as soon as he can meaningfully contribute. Not sure with Deluca but we absolutely need him to play well. We know what we have with Elsdon.

At DE, like Wylie at LB need Fisher back.
Smith Vilbert could be okay for us, hopefully. Maybe Joseph Mupoyi and Mason Robinson step up and can make an impact. Both have great size at 6'5" and 6'4" and pretty highly ranked out of HS. Both 2nd year in program.

On OL, what was concerning is they spoke about J'ven William's a former 5 star OL recruit or close to it not showing much thus far and same with Birchmeier. Also the prediction was Shelton will only be okay at LT and won't stay there. Maybe Donkoh replaces him who supposedly is a stud. Cooper Cousins doing well. Rucci seems limited from what I gather. Mixed bag but concerned that LT is a big question mark.

 

[Rip_E_2_Joe_PA]

I am predicting a 4 win season.

 

[lazydave841]

On OL, what was concerning is they spoke about J'ven William's a former 5 star OL recruit or close to it not showing much thus far and same with Birchmeier. Also the prediction was Shelton will only be okay at LT and won't stay there. Maybe Donkoh replaces him who supposedly is a stud. Cooper Cousins doing well. Rucci seems limited from what I gather. Mixed bag but concerned that LT is a big question mark.

I don't believe that much can be gathered about our OL yet. They only put pads on Saturday. I think any comments on them is premature, but more historical. The line wasn't awesome last year vs Michigan and OSU, and we lost 3 guys to the NFL thus they have to be a liability.

We have 5 players who can man the Tackle spots. That's pretty good for what we had '14-'21.

If one can't get excited about this team, what will they feel like next year with the probable departures?