TOS has us ranked 45th

[bdgan]

45. Penn State
Biggest Positive: If Christian Hackenberg really is an NFL starting quarterback, he has to step up and become that sort of a player. If he is, then Penn State can beat anyone. The defensive front was a brick wall, and despite losing Mike Hull, it should be terrific to go along with a secondary that gets everyone back.
Biggest Negative: Are there any receivers? They have to be far better and far more explosive, and the O line has to be night-and-day better to keep Hackenberg upright and coming up with something for the woeful ground game.

Interesting:

• No comments about having to replace DEs
• Very critical of our WRs

http://cfn.scout.com/2/1523824.html

 

[LionFan96]

They listed receivers as the biggest negative?? Hamilton, Lewis, Blacknall, Godwin, Thompkins, plus Breneman and Gesicki at TE. Hamilton had 900 yards receiving last year, Lewis had 750. Blacknall and Godwin were young but had some great catches and showed a lot of potential, and Thompkins is crazy fast. Breneman and Gesicki give big targets with great hands. I'd list receivers as a strength without a doubt.

 

[Chickenman Testa]

They listed receivers as the biggest negative?? Hamilton, Lewis, Blacknall, Godwin, Thompkins, plus Breneman and Gesicki at TE. Hamilton had 900 yards receiving last year, Lewis had 750. Blacknall and Godwin were young but had some great catches and showed a lot of potential, and Thompkins is crazy fast. Breneman and Gesicki give big targets with great hands. I'd list receivers as a strength without a doubt.

Yeah, that's goofy as hell

 

[stneumann83]

#45?????? The receivers are our biggest question? Who the F comes up with this stuff? Well at least expectations are low and could play well for us....but this write up was not well researched and as previously mentioned just plain "goofy".

 

[mickey_PSU]

It's fair if you base the evaluation, generally, on how we looked last year. However, a critical review of the team should result in a somewhat differebt evaluation. I'll go with Phil Steele, I believe he gave us a final ranking of 19, which is about where I expect us to finish.

In fact, stuff like this is great- it should motivate the receivers; the offensive line problems last year were well documented and I expect them to be highly motivated as well. I like being underrated (from my perspective).

 

[fairfaxlion2]

CFN has been useless for well over 15 years. Most of their (poorly written) articles have absolutely no point whatsoever. Not surprising that they would point to one of our only strengths as the biggest weakness.

 

[bdgan]

#45?????? The receivers are our biggest question? Who the F comes up with this stuff? Well at least expectations are low and could play well for us....but this write up was not well researched and as previously mentioned just plain "goofy".

They are correct until we prove them wrong.

I think we see the WR position as a strength because we have a lot of highly rated prospects that played pretty good for freshmen. But none of them excelled at creating separation and they were pretty average blockers. I also don't recall them stealing many 50/50 balls away from defenders. I do recall Hack getting upset when they ran the wrong route. Those things typically come with time.

I think it was wrong to call the WR position a weakness. I think it would be more accurate to call it average but with lots of potential.

 

[PSU-Knocker]

They are correct until we prove them wrong.

Is our ranking of #19 wrong till we prove it correct?

 

[ILLINOISLION]

Sorry, ILLINOIS LION has them ranked #26 to start the season.

 

[BobPSU92]

They listed receivers as the biggest negative?? Hamilton, Lewis, Blacknall, Godwin, Thompkins, plus Breneman and Gesicki at TE. Hamilton had 900 yards receiving last year, Lewis had 750. Blacknall and Godwin were young but had some great catches and showed a lot of potential, and Thompkins is crazy fast. Breneman and Gesicki give big targets with great hands. I'd list receivers as a strength without a doubt.

There was a lot of criticism last year over the inability of the wide receivers to get open. I wonder if the receivers were criticized, at least in part, because of all the sacks that Hackenberg took. In many cases, he went down quickly because the pocket disintegrated such that the receivers did have time to get open.

 

[senatedon]

That ranking was done 5 months ago, which makes it...worthless.

 

[bdgan]

Is our ranking of #19 wrong till we prove it correct?

Nobody is wrong at this point. We can criticize all we want but in the end it means nothing until we see how the team performs on the field.

 

[bdgan]

There was a lot of criticism last year over the inability of the wide receivers to get open. I wonder if the receivers were criticized, at least in part, because of all the sacks that Hackenberg took. In many cases, he went down quickly because the pocket disintegrated such that the receivers did have time to get open.

IMO it was a combination of things. Hack needed to do better, the receivers needed to do better, the OL certainly needed to do better, and the staff needed to call faster developing plays to help Hack and the OL.

Most of the players are more experienced now and they've been with the coaching staff long enough to learn the system. It will be interesting to see what they can do this season.

 

[Nashville Lion]

I hope the receivers coach tacks that info up on a bulletin board...get the wideouts some extra motivation.

 

[Rip_E_2_Joe_PA]

#45?????? The receivers are our biggest question? Who the F comes up with this stuff? Well at least expectations are low and could play well for us....but this write up was not well researched and as previously mentioned just plain "goofy".

More importantly...why does anyone pay for what these do nothings write or say. Might as well walk into a kindergarten class and ask them for their analysis for the upcoming season.