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appear to be well-stocked with potential difference-makers and shouldn't have much trouble getting quickly up to speed. It's noteworthy that Johnson's succes- sors at middle linebacker, Ellis Brooks and Jesse Luketa, are both experienced juniors. The other open spot, Sam out- side linebacker, features a rising star in Brandon Smith. Pry no doubt wishes he could have gotten Smith some reps this spring, along with redshirt freshman Lance Dixon and January enrollee Tyler Elsdon, but as long as everyone stays healthy, the Nittany Lions don't appear to have a lot of concerns here. "I like the guys in the room. I like the candidates," Pry said. "Ellis Brooks and Jesse Luketa are certainly two guys with good experience who will battle it out at one of those spots. Brandon Smith, Lance Dixon, Charlie Katshir – I'm ex- cited about all three of those guys and what they're bringing to the table right now. There's a lot of depth in the room and a lot of competition. In my experi- ence, those are pretty good ingredients for a good unit." SECONDARY The Lions have two va- cancies to fill here, and while they have plenty of talent on hand, some of the players who are expected to be major contributors in 2020 are either true sophomores or redshirt freshmen. Two defensive backs on the current roster – safety Enzo Jennings and cornerback Joseph Johnson III – are January en- rollees. That being the case, a full spring practice would have been awfully help- ful. Even with practice shut down, the staff has put some wheels in motion. Redshirt sophomore Trent Gordon has been moved from cornerback to safety, helping rebuild some depth following the graduation of starting strong safety Garrett Taylor. Gordon, a four-star prospect in Penn State's 2018 recruiting class, played in 14 games over the past two seasons, both on special teams and at cornerback, but Pry said the 5-11, 192-pounder was ulti- mately a better fit at safety. "He was a guy with some solid corner credentials and was continuing to de- velop at that position," Pry said. "But when we looked around at our personnel boards, at our technique boards, he checked more boxes at the safety posi- tion, which is good for him and good for us. With some guys, it takes a short time to figure that out. Some guys, it takes us a little bit longer to figure out what their best position is. I think that's one of the critical things that we can do as coaches – the evaluation piece on a regular basis. Are the guys in our program in the right spots to reach their potential and to help us the most?" On the April 18 depth chart, Jaquan Brisker and Jonathan Sutherland were listed at strong safety, while Lamont Wade was ahead of Tyler Rudolph and Gordon at the free safety spot. Wade is down to 188 pounds, 11 pounds off his playing weight last year, which may indicate that he feels he would be more effective with a bit less bulk and a bit more speed. Safeties coach Tim Banks said Wade's versatility is going to serve him well heading into his final college season. "You need to have guys in the game who obviously can cover but also have enough stout about them to be able to make tackles," Banks said. "And I think Lamont can do that. I think the ability for him to blitz and come off the edges sets him apart from some guys. And I think the overall energy that he brings and the passion for the game that he brings are contagious within your de- fense. "I think those are traits that will be very attractive to some guys at the next level. Once he finishes and helps us con- tinue our goals here, someone will be very fortunate to have him." At cornerback, the Nittany Lions need to find a replacement for John Reid. Redshirt junior Donovan Johnson was listed atop the April 18 depth chart, but the battle is also likely to include some of those aforementioned young players. Marquis Wilson and Keaton Ellis are sophomores, while Joey Porter Jr. and Daequan Hardy are redshirt freshmen. With the Lions looking to rebound from a 2019 season in which they plunged to 100th place nationally and 13th in the Big Ten in pass defense (251.5 ypg), this will be one of the their most conse- quential position battles when team ac- tivities resume. SPECIAL TEAMS The Lions need to find a punter and a return specialist or two. It's hard to imagine the lack of spring practice impacting the first of those searches too dramatically. There were only three punters listed on the team's spring roster: juco transfer Bradley King and punter/place kickers Jordan Stout and Carson Landis. We haven't seen anything yet of King and Landis, but we've seen plenty of Stout, albeit as a kicker. The Virginia Tech transfer has a very strong leg, as he displayed last sea- son with 66 touchbacks on 83 kickoffs. If he can generate as much power as a punter as he's shown on kickoffs and long-distance field goals, the Nittany Lions should be just fine here. As for the kick- and punt-return P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L >>

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