Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1499919
J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 2 3 2 1 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Penn State returns six of the 11 players who started on offense in its 35- 21 Rose Bowl victory over Utah. The wealth of returning talent has given rise to high expectations this fall, but there are some lingering questions that have yet to be answered. Here, listed in order from least to most worrisome, is a look at how Penn State's position groups rank coming out of spring practice: 1. Tight End Talented juniors Theo Johnson and Tyler Warren headline this group, and redshirt sophomore Khalil Dinkins looked excellent in spring practice and during the Blue-White Game, showing solid progress as a run blocker. Dinkins' emergence gives Penn State a very strong three-deep at the position, with true freshman Andrew Rappleyea entering the mix soon. If Rappleyea, a former On3 four-star prospect, proves he's up to the chal- lenge, the team could run four-deep at the position despite a lack of posi- tive buzz about the rest of the group this spring. The one concern here is that Johnson was charged with two misdemean- ors following an alleged altercation in February at a fraternity house. He sat out spring practice for unspecified reasons, and it is unclear whether he will miss any action when the season begins in September. 2. Running Back Adding former Minnesota running back Trey Potts via the transfer portal helped solidify the depth chart behind sophomores Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen. Potts' impending arrival with two years of eligibility remaining resolves the one glaring issue for a group that went into spring drills with superstar talent but little depth. Now that the backfield has more manpower, it moves up in our rankings coming out of spring drills. 3. Offensive Line The Blue-White Game offered a bit of a reality check for a group that has inspired considerable optimism. While junior Olumuyiwa Fashanu sat out the game, the offensive tackles behind him didn't show much progress from last season. As a result, it'll be another dicey season of hoping that the top-line start- ers don't get hurt and the team doesn't have to plumb the depths of its roster at tackle. However, redshirt sophomore left guard Landon Tengwall looked like his old self in his first public appearance since suffering a season-ending injury last October, and the depth in the interior appears to be legitimate. Super senior Hunter Nourzad had a good day at center, which is a posi- tive sign. The steps forward for the offensive line are tangible, but the right tackle spot is still a position to monitor. 4. Quarterback It's not a show of disrespect to place the young quarterbacks near the bottom of this list. In the absence of any rave reviews from the staff about the progress of sophomore Drew Allar and redshirt freshman Beau Pribula, it would be hard to move them much further up. Allar had some rough moments early in the spring game but bounced back well and finished with 19 completions in 30 attempts for 202 yards and a touchdown. While we weren't able to draw many conclusions from watching him throw against basic coverages, we got an encouraging sense of how he plays through pressure. Meanwhile, Pribula looked good when he was able to set his feet and throw. He hit 10 of 27 passes for 92 yards and an interception, and he ap- pears to be progressing as expected. 5. Wide Receiver Coach James Franklin issued frequent challenges to this group during spring drills, including in his presser after the Blue-White Game. "We need more wideouts to compete at a high level," he said. "We need six guys that we feel like we can win with in the Big Ten. I think we have six guys on our current roster that can do it, but they need to step up. They can't throw enough this summer. "I will also say this: I keep bringing up that third wide receiver. They're not just competing against wide receivers because, just like last year, if our second-best tight end is better than our third wide receiver, then we'll be in more 12-personnel [two tight ends]. We want to be an 11-personnel [one tight end] team if we can, but we'll play to our strengths." The Lions added Kent State transfer Dante Cephas in May, which theoret- ically improves the stock of this group. But even then, Franklin has made it clear that he wants the players on the current roster to make significant strides this offseason. He's pushing them because they are the final piece to a relatively com- plete offensive roster to support a new starting quarterback. — Thomas Frank Carr Ranking Penn State's Offensive Position Groups Fourth-year junior Tyler Warren is part of a deep Penn State tight end corps. Last season, he caught 10 passes for 123 yards and 3 touchdowns. PHOTO BY FRANK HYATT