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Mangiro in his battle with redshirt sophomore Wendy Laurent at center. I believe Mangiro is the key to building a strong o:ensive line. When he arrived on campus in June 2011, Rivals.com rat- ed him the No. 3 o:ensive guard prospect in the country. But going into his fourth year in the program, he has yet to start a game. I believe that if Mangiro wins the starting center job this spring and plays up to his potential in the fall, the right side of the o:ensive line, despite lacking game experience, will fall into place. Nelson seems ready to take over at right tackle, if Bill O'Brien's glowing as- sessments last year are any indication. That leaves Dowrey, Gaia and Mahon battling for the right guard position. At the beginning of spring practice, I had major concerns about whether Penn State would come out of the drills with a sense of stability along the o:ensive line. But if Mangiro can establish him- self as the starter at center, Penn State will enter preseason practice in August with a key piece of the puzzle already solved. The le; side of the line boasts an excellent player in redshirt junior tackle Donovan Smith. With Mangiro at center, Nelson would be a lock to 9ll the starting job at right tackle, and that would leave only the two guard positions still unset- tled going into preseason practice. Dowrey, Gaia and Mahon would be in the mix for those spots. 3. Austin Johnson and Anthony Zettel need to take charge up front on defense. Given the Lions' lack of depth and ex- perience at linebacker, Johnson and Zettel need to become dominant defen- sive tackles. They will need to control the line of scrimmage and keep opposing o:ensive linemen o: of the linebackers. In his debut season, Johnson totaled 21 tackles, three tackles for loss and one sack. They were solid numbers for a red- shirt freshman. But with Jones and Kyle Baublitz graduating, Johnson needs to become more dominant and double those numbers. At 6-4, 313 pounds, he has the physique to handle the job. Zettel's move from strongside defen- sive end to the three-technique defen- sive tackle spot just might prove to be the most important position switch of the spring, at least on defense. Zettel has to be prepared to 9ll Jones' shoes. An All-Big Ten performer last year, Jones was Penn State's fourth-leading tackler with 44.5 stops. He was 9rst on the team with 11.5 tackles for loss and third with three sacks. Zettel performed very well at the strongside defensive end position last fall. He didn't start any games, but he was 9rst on the team with six tackles for loss and second with four sacks. He was one of Penn State's top playmakers on defense. At 6-4, 275 pounds, he's a bit too light to be an every-down defensive tackle, but his development at the posi- tion is a key for Penn State. 4. Finally, Adrian Amos needs to settle in at free safety to bring stabili- ty to the secondary. Jordan Lucas is set at the boundary cornerback position. He was Penn State's third-leading tackler with 55 to- tal stops last season, and he also tied for the team lead with three interceptions while breaking up 13 passes. Elsewhere, however, the personnel sit- uation is in motion, starting with Amos. He's played cornerback most of his ca- reer, but at 6-0, 209 pounds, he's a nat- ural strong safety. Penn State is looking to use a multiple-set defensive scheme under new coordinator Bob Shoop, and Amos is the player best suited to man an outside linebacker/strong safety hybrid position. With Lucas at the boundary corner- back position and Amos taking over at strong safety, two of the four secondary spots are spoken for. That leaves free safety, where Ryan Keiser and Malik Golden are doing battle, and the 9eld cornerback spot, where the competition includes Trevor Williams, Da'Quan Davis and Jordan Smith. Senior Jesse Della Valle and sophomore Anthony Smith provide depth at safety, but Amos's move to strong safety is the key factor in the secondary. ■ !" #$%&'$(#)*++$ $,)*&-'#%./##% 001(2134 .$).$1243%56! !"#"$% & %' ( % ) !"#"*+,% - %$%.- %$%/0'' 012$%!#/0'' 3% %+ +%'4 (3 ++5%6(3%12 332( % 7+7 8 $($ !" #$%&'$(#)*++$ $,)*&-'#%./##% 001(2134 .$).$1243%56! !"#"$% & %' ( % ) !"#"*+,% - %$%.- %$%/0'' 012$%!#/0'' 3% %++ +%'4 (3 ++5%6(3%12 332( % 7++7 8 $#($

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