Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1092898
S P R I N G P R A C T I C E R E P O R T J ames Franklin was his usual optimistic self in early February when he met with the media to discuss Penn State's latest recruiting class. The Nittany Lions had landed the No. 11 class in the country as rated by Rivals.com, and 11 of those 23 new players were already on campus taking classes, meaning that they would be available to take part in winter work- outs and spring practice. It was another good signing day for the Lions, and their coach's optimism about the long-term future seemed entirely well-founded. But even Franklin couldn't help but note that the short-term picture was a little bit cloudier. "Obvi- ously, there are a lot more question marks going into this season than maybe we had in the past," he said. "But I'm excited about where we're going." The Lions had known all along that they were going to need a new starting quarterback in 2019, and the list of offensive vacancies grew substantially in Janu- ary when their top returning rusher and two starting offensive linemen announced that they would be leaving early to enter the NFL Draft. Then came the transfers. Thirteen players entered the transfer portal after the season, including two wideouts with starting experience – Juwan Johnson and Brandon Polk – and up-and-coming young pass- catcher Cam Sullivan-Brown. Of the players who had announced they were exploring their options, only two – Sullivan-Brown and safety Lamont Wade – had said as of this writing that they would be returning to Penn State. The result, as Franklin noted last month, was that there's a bit more uncertainty than anybody anticipated this off-season. When spring practice began on March 13, the Nit- tany Lions had about the same number of scholarship players on hand that they usually have this time of year. But that was mainly because nearly half of their freshman class was already enrolled. With only 12 of FIVE QUESTIONS | The Nittany Lions will be looking for answers this spring as they work to fill some key vacancies