KEY PERSONNEL Pat Freiermuth*, Theo
Johnson, Zack Kuntz, Brenton Strange,
Tyler Warren
LOSS Nick Bowers*
RISING STAR With spring practice hav-
ing been scuttled, it's hard to say who's
likely to emerge be-
hind Freiermuth as the
team's backup tight
end. But Kuntz has the
most experience of
any of the players who
are vying for that spot.
The 6-foot-7 redshirt
sophomore is up to 252
pounds, an improve-
ment of 11 pounds
from his listed weight last season. To
date, he's only caught three passes for 26
yards, but those numbers are certainly
going to go up this coming season.
BIGGEST LOSS The Nittany Lions' only
loss here was Bowers, who served pri-
marily as Freiermuth's backup last sea-
son but also started against Pitt and
Maryland when Penn State opened in
two-tight end sets. Waylaid by a series
of injuries that kept him o= the choice in
2021. Zack Kuntz and January enrollee Theo Johnson were consensus top-er playing primarily at the quarter-
back position in high school. ■
OR
OR
KUNTZ
>>
Freiermuth said. "But, you know, I
played, I was e=ective. Just kind of
seeing my growth as a route runner, I
would say that I'm pretty proud of
myself for that. But you know, I always
want to continue to grow."
He followed up his debut season
with a sophomore e=ort in which he
totaled 43 catches for 507 yards and
another seven touchdowns. He was
second on the team in receptions, re-
ceiving yards and receiving touch-
downs, trailing only K.J. Hamler. In
compiling those numbers, he dis-
played the traits that
