Blue White Illustrated

PENN STATE FOOTBALL >> SPRING PRACTICE REPORT ally impressed with them. T.J. is so posi- tive. He's got a huge smile on his face. Dunmore is the same way. They've been great." With Hamler and Shorter gone and Hippenhammer focused on baseball this spring, the newcomers will defi- nitely have a chance to show what they can do. Other redshirt freshmen throughout the roster will have a chance, too, al- though none of the other position groups are quite as green as the receiver corps. In December, Franklin cited a number of last year's newcomers who had impressed in practice. "I think Caedan Wallace is a guy who is really playing well right now with a lot of confidence, doing a lot of good things for us," he said. "Joey Porter is a guy who jumps out in my mind, Lance Dixon, Tyler Rudolph – those are guys who probably jump out in my mind right now. Brenton Strange is a guy early on who did some really good things. So there are a bunch. "I hate to do this because I'm going to miss somebody, and someone's parent is going to be mad at me or some kid is going to be mad at me, but those are the guys who probably jump out to me. An- other guy who we've been talking about a lot who we took late in the process is [Daequan] Hardy. Hardy, just like we saw in his high school film, scoring five touchdowns in the state championship game, is just a natural football player. The game comes easy to him in some ways in terms of finding the ball and things like that." Wallace figures to find a spot on the depth chart at offensive tackle, while Dixon will fit in at linebacker, possibly behind Brandon Smith at the Will spot now that Cam Brown has graduated. Porter, Rudolph and Hardy will have an impact in the secondary, and Hardy might also be a candidate for the punt- and kickoff-return jobs with Hamler off to the NFL. And while Franklin didn't mention Smith Vilbert and Hakeem Beamon, they could be factors at defen- sive end, or, in Beamon's case, the three- technique tackle spot. There are also 11 true freshmen from the Class of 2020 already on campus, and several will likely figure into posi- tion battles this spring. For instance, there's no established depth behind Freiermuth at tight end, which makes Theo Johnson a prospect who could push for playing time in the fall with a strong showing in the weeks to come. Caziah Holmes has some pretty good players ahead of him at running back, but Ricky Slade's transfer means that he'll probably get more reps than he might have expected when he signed in December, and he could find himself in the punt- and kickoff-return mix, too. And of course, Lambert-Smith and Dot- tin will almost certainly figure into the battles at wide receiver. 5 How is the secondary coming together following a dicult 2020 season? After Penn State plunged from second in the Big Ten in pass defense two years ago (181.5 ypg) to 13th last season (251.5 ypg), the secondary is the team's biggest question mark on defense. Or is it? The Nittany Lions may have lost cornerback John Reid and strong safety Garrett Taylor, who combined to make 48 starts during the past two sea- sons. But they welcome back two play- ers who were good enough last season to at least consider the possibility of leaving early for the NFL Draft: corner- back Tariq Castro-Fields and free safety Lamont Wade. What's more, the Lions have a handful of rising stars from their recent recruiting classes who should help fill the gaps in the depth chart. One player who deserves special men- tion heading into spring practice is sophomore cornerback Marquis Wilson. The coaching staff had originally planned on redshirting Wilson, a former four-star prospect from Windsor, Conn. But the Lions were banged up in the de- fensive backfield last season, and the in- juries created an opening for the true freshman. "He just has continued to get better and better and better and build confi- dence and build trust with the coaches," Franklin said last November. "He's a guy who is playing well for us right now." Wilson continued to play well in the postseason. His fourth-quarter inter- ception of Brady White was one of the biggest plays of the Cotton Bowl, ending a Memphis drive at the Penn State goal line just as the Tigers appeared poised to turn it back into a one-score game. That Wilson was even in the game at that critical juncture says a lot about the faith that the coaching staff had in him. This spring, he is likely to vie for Reid's spot, along with fellow sophomore Keaton Ellis, Donovan Johnson, Trent Gordon and maybe one or two of the freshmen – Hardy, Porter and early enrollee Joseph Johnson III. At the strong safety spot, Jonathan Sutherland has been a big hitter on spe- cial teams and figures to be the leading candidate to replace Taylor, with Tyler Rudolph and C.J. Holmes also in con- tention. Porter, too, could be a factor at one of the safety positions. When the 6- foot-2, 180-pounder was recruited, Franklin cited his length, noting that he might eventually grow out of the cor- nerback spot. It's possible that that time has arrived. Either way, it appears that the Lions have the talent on hand to fill their vacancies in the secondary. Now granted, the last time we saw Penn State in action, the defense was giving up 479 passing yards to Memphis in the Cotton Bowl. Fans would be well within their rights to question whether things are trending in the right direc- tion. But the abundance of young talent here offers reason to feel optimistic going into spring practice. Franklin said late last season that he was excited about the future of his young defensive backs. "I think as the season has gone on, the coaches have gained more and more confidence in those guys," he said. "And I think those guys have gained more and more confidence in themselves. We're going to need them." ■

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