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Brown showing his potential as backfield threat T H E 2 0 1 9 S E A S O N old when he arrived on campus after spending five years at the Brooks School, and he had a sense of purpose that others picked up on. Said Nick Bowers, "When he got here, we knew he was a special player. He was a very mature guy." The coaching staff saw it, too. "He's one of those guys who has earned the respect of his teammates," Franklin said, "but he's really also aligned with the coaches in terms of what we want, what we expect, how we want the culture driven." Freiermuth's quick development gave the staff some options as it began strate- gizing for the 2019 season. His skills as both a blocker and receiver offered them a level of flexibility that they didn't have in previous years. Said Franklin, "He does both things well. You're going to find some tight ends who may put up gaudy numbers in the pass game, but they aren't the same type of player in the run game. That's where I think he's pretty unique." The Lions used to be primarily an 11- personel team: one running back, one tight end. But the combination of Freier- muth and Bowers gives them the ability to switch to a 12-personnel alignment: one running back, two tight ends. And be- cause all of Penn State's tight ends run well, they have added flexibility within the latter grouping. "The thing that's great is that our 12- personnel [group] has the ability to align and play like a 10-personnel team," Franklin said. "So we can get into a spread P enn State has become known in re- cent years for its pro:ciency at devel- oping highly productive tight ends. But the program has always been known for developing highly productive running backs, from Franco Harris and Lydell Mitchell to Saquon Barkley and Miles Sanders. One of the team's emerging o

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