What I'm Looking forward to in 2024

[Hero17]

my rambling thoughts - want to see is creativity on offence, unpredictability, getting the ball to playmakers in space. I believe the OL will be good.
They won't be able to keep QM off the field but how will he be used? hmmm.
Losing Diaz hurt the most for me on D. Not so worried about the LBers or secondary, but stuffing the run and pressuring the QB,
I'm worried about a drop off but hoping a few players step up, its DDS's time to shine.

We are!

 

[step.eng69]

Hero,
In today's talent market, it will take $100,000 to a million+ per athlete to maintain competitiveness. Do you think our benefactors are willing to contribute these monetary advances?
I don't know how the contributors to the future of Penn State athletics will play out.

 

[bdroc]

Not so worried about the LBers

Carter moved to DE and Jacobs is gone. King is the only returning starter. I guess we're going with Elsdon and Deluca.

 

[bdroc]

Hero,
In today's talent market, it will take $100,000 to a million+ per athlete to maintain competitiveness. Do you think our benefactors are willing to contribute these monetary advances?
I don't know how the contributors to the future of Penn State athletics will play out.

I wonder if limited NIL is the reason we didn't get a top level WR in the portal. The focus might be protecting existing players.

 

[Rip_E_2_Joe_PA]

Carter moved to DE and Jacobs is gone. King is the only returning starter. I guess we're going with Elsdon and Deluca.

I think you forgot a few LBs

 

[EdwardoCarrachio]

Cautious optimism on the offense is warranted IMO. We did however lose quite a bit on the OL. If we don't improve, I think this is why. We do also still need more top WR help, but we did last year as well and the room had no leadership.

On defense, the concern about the DL I think is overblown. Yes, we lost 2 NFL DEs. But Dennis-Sutton and Carter are going to be one of the best 2 starting DEs in the nation and we returned all DTs with decent reps. Carter's get off at the snap is freakish. I felt like Sutton was as good as both of those we lost last year and had better size. That room looks to have decent depth as well.

LB looks like we lost a lot, but I think Rojas will be an All-American (maybe not this year). He had one game last year where he was involved with like 2 or 3 turnovers (INT, FF, Fumble recovery?) in like maybe 7 reps. And King back in the middle is great for experience and he was on an upward trajectory IMO over last year.

My concern is at the corners. Safety is tight but the corners are new and unproven. That IMO is the question mark on D. Unfortunately, I think that is where our toughest opponents have the most ability to attack us.

 

[lazydave841]

Carter moved to DE and Jacobs is gone. King is the only returning starter. I guess we're going with Elsdon and Deluca.

Rojas and King will be the 2 starters. Supposedly playing 3 safeties as a base defense this year. Elsdon and Deluca are probably the initial 2nd string, but I think we see the other LBs start stealing snaps.

 

[EdwardoCarrachio]

Rojas and King will be the 2 starters. Supposedly playing 3 safeties as a base defense this year. Elsdon and Deluca are probably the initial 2nd string, but I think we see the other LBs start stealing snaps.

Hadn't seen the 3 safeties discussed yet. That's an interesting twist that fits the talent on hand.

 

[lazydave841]

Hadn't seen the 3 safeties discussed yet. That's an interesting twist that fits the talent on hand.

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No way is this official by any means, but it does reflect Allen's 4-2-5 and lists a 3rd LB position (which would be Deluca currently).

Wheatley, Winston, and Reed are the projected 3 safeties. This is probably why Mack hit the portal (including a bag, but what can you do there). Reed is the expected Nickel. I think it also speaks to the experience of the safeties compared to Corners as well (I think you could throw a dart and name starters there; nobody is penciled in there yet imo).

 

[RickinDayton]

Carter moved to DE and Jacobs is gone. King is the only returning starter. I guess we're going with Elsdon and Deluca.

Did you forget about some of the other LBers like Rojas & Robinson?

 

[The Spin Meister]

my rambling thoughts - want to see is creativity on offence, unpredictability, getting the ball to playmakers in space. I believe the OL will be good.
They won't be able to keep QM off the field but how will he be used? hmmm.
Losing Diaz hurt the most for me on D. Not so worried about the LBers or secondary, but stuffing the run and pressuring the QB,
I'm worried about a drop off but hoping a few players step up, its DDS's time to shine.

We are!

Good thread. Post more often. We need more content from different people.

 

[RickinDayton]

my rambling thoughts - want to see is creativity on offence, unpredictability, getting the ball to playmakers in space. I believe the OL will be good.
They won't be able to keep QM off the field but how will he be used? hmmm.
Losing Diaz hurt the most for me on D. Not so worried about the LBers or secondary, but stuffing the run and pressuring the QB,
I'm worried about a drop off but hoping a few players step up, its DDS's time to shine.

We are!

#1) If Allar has been deprogrammed from avoiding difficult throws to avoid any mistakes.
2) If CJF can give the OC full control (game planning/in game play calling), especially with QB utilization.
3) Can the OL mesh and become a consistent strength?
4) Tom Allen's defensive scheme. Better concealment of blitzes, is the 4-2-5 used the majority of reps or a good mixture of 4 DL, 3 LBers, and 4 secondary still predominant, finally will the interior defense against the power run teams improve?
5) Can Fleming elevate the WR play, can Wallace play a whole season, and will Kadean Saunders breakout in the new scheme?
6) Will Quintonn Martin receive more reps @ RB or WR?
7) Will Nick Singleton be run more outside to utilize his speed on the edge?
8) Will the new FG kicker be consistent from 40 yds in?

 

[bdroc]

I think you forgot a few LBs

I should have mentioned Rojas but of course I didn't list everybody on the roster. Hopefully a couple of unproven underclassmen will surprise us but my point is that only 1 of 3 starters are back at the position this fall. Suggesting that we are in good shape at LB seems a bit premature.

Same thing goes for the OL. We lost 3 starters to the NFL and that won't be easy to replace. I know we have Rucci, Birchmeier, and Williams but they're unproven at this point.

 

[bdroc]

Did you forget about some of the other LBers like Rojas & Robinson?

Robinson is a RS freshman with 2 career tackles vs UMass. The kid might turn out to be great but just listing the names of underclassmen doesn't mean we're in great shape this fall.

 

[Rip_E_2_Joe_PA]

I should have mentioned Rojas but of course I didn't list everybody on the roster. Hopefully a couple of unproven underclassmen will surprise us but my point is that only 1 of 3 starters are back at the position this fall. Suggesting that we are in good shape at LB seems a bit premature.

Same thing goes for the OL. We lost 3 starters to the NFL and that won't be easy to replace. I know we have Rucci, Birchmeier, and Williams but they're unproven at this point.

Robinson had a great spring. Starters graduate and have for decades and underclassmen fill their spots many more successfully than those they replace.

 

[LMTLION]

#1) If Allar has been deprogrammed from avoiding difficult throws to avoid any mistakes.
2) If CJF can give the OC full control (game planning/in game play calling), especially with QB utilization.
3) Can the OL mesh and become a consistent strength?
4) Tom Allen's defensive scheme. Better concealment of blitzes, is the 4-2-5 used the majority of reps or a good mixture of 4 DL, 3 LBers, and 4 secondary still predominant, finally will the interior defense against the power run teams improve?
5) Can Fleming elevate the WR play, can Wallace play a whole season, and will Kadean Saunders breakout in the new scheme?
6) Will Quintonn Martin receive more reps @ RB or WR?
7) Will Nick Singleton be run more outside to utilize his speed on the edge?
8) Will the new FG kicker be consistent from 40 yds in?

Considering what we saw in the spring game, I hope it happens as well, but has there been any actual indication that Martin will get reps at WR?

 

[NJPSU]

Considering what we saw in the spring game, I hope it happens as well, but has there been any actual indication that Martin will get reps at WR?

No

 

[lazydave841]

Considering what we saw in the spring game, I hope it happens as well, but has there been any actual indication that Martin will get reps at WR?

No

No @LMTLION but AK could always have something up his sleeve. Historically, he usually has at least one gadget play per game and Martin is the under the radar type of weapon to utilize there.