Blue White Illustrated

G oing into Penn State's Citrus Bowl game against Kentucky on Jan. 1, one couldn't help but feel that James Franklin and his assistant coaches were already starting to get excited about the year to come. The coaches knew that during the upcoming o:-season they would have to 9nd a replacement for their record-setting quarterback, Trace McSorley, but there were good vibes em- anating from the Nittany Lions' practice sessions leading up to the bowl game. Away from the practice 9eld, they had enjoyed a very good December. During the early signing period for the Class of 2019, the Lions received 18 signatures, giving them the No. 2 recruiting class in the Big Ten behind Michigan and the No. 10 class in the country according to Ri- vals.com. But the really good news for Penn State was that 11 of those December signees were scheduled to enroll in Janu- ary. Among those players were lineback- ers Brandon Smith and Lance Dixon, running back Noah Cain, defensive backs Keaton Ellis and Tyler Rudolph, defensive end Adisa Isaac, quarterback Ta'Quan Roberson, tight end Brenton Strange and juco o:ensive lineman An- thony Whigan. Rivals has assigned all nine of those prospects four stars, and if anything, those ratings undersell this group. I've been in the business of evalu- ating recruits for four decades, and in my opinion, Smith and Dixon are unques- tionably 9ve-star talents. With so many newcomers arriving early, it appeared that Penn State was set to have a well-stocked scholarship ros- ter on board for its spring practice ses- sions, maybe the team's best spring ros- ter since the NCAA sanctions were im- posed in 2012. If there were any concerns about its composition, they had to do with the possibility that the team would have di;culty getting down to the NCAA's 85-scholarship limit for the 2019 season. But the outlook abruptly changed dur- ing a three-week period that followed PSU's 27-24 loss to Kentucky in Or- lando. In early January, 9ve players an- nounced they would be forgoing their senior seasons in order to enter the NFL Dra<. That list included running back Miles Sanders, o:ensive linemen Ryan Bates and Connor McGovern, and de- fensive linemen Shareef Miller and Kevin Givens. In addition to losing those players, Penn State saw 13 others enter the NCAA's newly established transfer por- tal, more than any team in the Football Bowl Subdivision. As of early March, 11 of those players had either found new schools or were still exploring their op- tions. The other two – safety Lamont Wade and wide receiver Cam Sullivan- Brown – withdrew their names and were expected to be on hand when Penn State began spring practice on March 13. Only one of the players Penn State lost had been a projected starter in 2019. That player was wide receiver Juwan Johnson, who is headed to Oregon. Later this year, the Lions will welcome graduate transfer wide receiver George Campbell, along with the remaining players in their 23-player recruiting class, bringing their scholarship roster to roughly 80 players. In the coming months, several of the remaining schol- arship openings could be taken by addi- tional transfers. Even though they may be under the scholarship limit due to their graduation losses and the wave of transfers and early exits for the NFL Dra<, the Lions still seem fairly well-positioned on of- fense, defense and possibly on special teams to be considered legitimate con- tenders for the Big Ten East Division title this coming fall. That's why I'm ex- cited to see how the following key posi- tion battles play out in spring practice. These battles 9gure to have a large bear- ing on how Penn State fares in 2019. QUARTERBACK CONTENDERS Tommy Stevens, Sean Cli:ord ANALYSIS The good news for Penn State is that Stevens appears to be largely re- covered from the surgery that forced him to miss the Citrus Bowl and the team's December practices. No one outside the program knew what his availability for spring practice was going to be, but in an interview with BWI's Nate Bauer in late February, Stevens indicated that he planned on taking part in practice, possi- bly with a few minor limitations. Franklin said that Stevens would enter spring practice with the inside track on winning the starting QB job for the up- coming season, but he added that a 9nal decision most likely wouldn't be made until preseason camp in August. "We had a lot of discussions about when is the right time to have his sur- gery, but Tommy's family and the sta: decided the best time to have the sur- gery would be once his academics 9n- ished up and he got through the [2018] season," Franklin stated back in Decem- ber. "He was able to do that, and now this will allow him, hopefully, to be full- go for spring ball." Even though he will be a 9

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