Blue White Illustrated

A T T H E 2 0 1 9 N I T T A N Y L I O N S Menet also has experience at guard, while Miranda was considered an excellent center prospect coming out of high school. Offensive line coach Matt Limegrover has said Menet is a natural at center, but even so, it wouldn't be entirely surprising to see those two players swap positions. The Lions could also address their hole at tackle with a position change, moving Holmes over from guard. But the player to watch here might just be Walker, even though he will only be a redshirt fresh- man. He stands 6-6, 308 pounds and played in three games in 2018. No matter how it all shakes out, there's room for improvement here. This past season, the Lions finished fifth in the Big Ten in rushing at 205.2 yards per game and surrendered 31 sacks, the league's second-highest total. STAFF SAYS Limegrover on Menet: "He was made to be a center in this confer- ence. I've been coaching in the confer- ence pretty close to 10 years and have seen a lot of good offensive linemen, and he's a guy I felt fit right into that mold. He's intelligent, loves the game, has tremendous physical skills, and it just kind of screamed that it was a good move, and he's shown that there's constant and steady improvement. The best compli- ment I can give him is, he doesn't jump out for any of the wrong reasons. He's not getting beat a lot, he's not a penalty ma- chine, his snaps have been on the money for a first-year guy. I think he's done a re- markable job, and the exciting thing is, there's still a lot more in that tank." DEFENSIVE LINE KEY RETURNEES DE: Yetur Gross- Matos, Daniel Joseph, Jayson Oweh, Shane Simmons, Nick Tarburton, Shaka Toney; DT: Damion Barber, Judge Culpepper, Fred Hansard, Aeneas Hawkins, Ellison Jordan, P.J. Mustipher, Antonio Shelton, C.J. Thorpe, Robert Windsor KEY LOSSES DE: Shareef Miller; DT: Kevin Givens NEWCOMERS Hakeem Beamon, Adisa Isaac OUTLOOK Penn State's defensive line overcame the loss of two would-be starters (Ryan Buchholz, Torrence Brown) and a key backup (Hansard) this past sea- son, and it will probably have to do so again in 2019. Miller and Givens are defi- nitely gone, both having announced in January that they will enter the draft. There is also a chance that Thorpe will move back to offense after spending most of his redshirt freshman year on the op- posite side of the ball. When the coaches made that switch last September, it was described as a temporary move. Givens' surprise exit may have changed their thinking, but it wouldn't be surprising to see Thorpe return to offense, where there are also some big holes to fill. Windsor gives the Lions a solid starter around whom they can build. The 6-4, 295-pounder enjoyed an excellent junior season, totaling 7.5 sacks and 11 tackles for loss. He missed the Citrus Bowl due to an unspecified violation of team rules, but if he's back in the staff's good graces by next August, the Lions should be solid at that spot. If he's not, there will be a spirited com- petition. Shelton replaced him in the Cit- rus Bowl, and the Lions fared OK, holding Kentucky to 297 yards of total offense, nearly 70 yards below their season aver- age. Thorpe backed up Shelton, so if there's any question about Windsor's fu- ture availability, a move back to offense would seem unlikely. Hansard's status will also be a factor. He suffered a season- ending leg injury against Michigan State last October, so he probably won't be full- go in the spring. But if he's ready come August, that would give the defensive front a needed boost. Givens' departure creates an opening for someone at the opposite spot. Heading up the list of contenders are Shelton and Mustipher. The Lions also have some help coming from their redshirt freshman class. Hawkins and Culpepper didn't see action in 2018 and won't be in the mix to start, but they will likely have a chance to work their way into coach Sean Spencer's rotation. The Lions have some concerns on the outside, too, following Miller's exit. Is Toney, at 241 pounds, ready to be an every-down defensive end? If not, is ei- ther Simmons or Joseph ready to step into the starting role? And what does the fu- ture hold for Oweh and Tarburton? The coaches were careful to maintain their freshman eligibility in 2018, but they won't be limited next fall, and both figure to play significant roles. Oweh is an especially intriguing prospect. He was a late bloomer in high school and is still a bit raw. But his ath- leticism has been well-documented. In the summer before his senior season at Blair Academy in New Jersey, the 6-5, 247-pounder turned in the fastest 40- yard time of any player, regardless of po- sition, at a Penn State football camp. He saw action in four games this past fall, to- taling two sacks against Kent State. Said Franklin, "You'd like to say that he's going to have a very bright future." The one sure thing at defensive end is Gross-Matos. A junior-to-be, he finished his first starting season with eight sacks and 20 tackles for loss and will enter the 2019 campaign as a likely contender for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors. STAFF SAYS Defensive coordinator Brent Pry on Gross-Matos: "Yetur is ob- viously a very promising member of our defense right now. He came into our pro- gram pretty raw but with great work ethic and a good skill set. And I think Coach Spencer and Coach [Phil] Galiano have done a great job with him, as well as the older kids in the room. He's very eager. He's got a great motor. And so we knew that he would turn the corner at some point. You just don't know when that's going to occur. The more reps he got, the more experience he got, you would see the improvement. I think the production you saw was a result of him taking to coaching and having a great work ethic and getting a good opportunity." LINEBACKER KEY RETURNEES MLB: Ellis Brooks, Jan Johnson, Jesse Luketa; OLB: Cam Brown, Charlie Katshir, Jarvis Miller, Micah Parsons KEY LOSSES OLB: Jake Cooper, Dae'lun Darien, Brelin Faison-Walden, Koa Farmer

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