Blue White Illustrated

E ver since the early years of Joe Pater- no's tenure as head football coach, redshirting freshman players has been a big part of Penn State's philoso- phy. You could probably count on one hand the number of times more than six true freshmen have seen action in any given year. Even when the Nittany Lions recruited the nation's No. 1 class in 2006, only :ve members played that fall: receiver Chris Bell, defensive linemen Maurice Evans and Jared Odrick, tight end Andrew Quarless and cornerback A.J. Wallace. All won letters as true freshmen. Another example is Penn State's No. 2- rated Class of 1991. That year, Paterno was able to recruit :ve prep All-America running backs: Brian King, Mike Archie, J.T. Morris, Stephen Pitts and Ki-Jana Carter. Only one of those :ve players – Morris – went on to play as a true fresh- man. Archie, Carter, King and Pitts all were redshirted. Even when the NCAA handed down its sanctions against Penn State just before the start of the 2012 season – an un- precedented development that caused several key players to leave the program abruptly – new head coach Bill O'Brien didn't feel compelled to play the majori- ty of his freshman recruits. Only :ve members of Penn State's Class of 2012 saw action in their :rst year on campus: quarterback Steven Bench, defensive backs Da'Quan Davis and Jordan Lucas, tight end Jesse James and receiver/cor- nerback Trevor Williams. Penn State's Class of 2013 also had some celebrated freshman performers, such as quarterback Christian Hacken- berg and tight end Adam Breneman. But in the end, only six of its scholarship- holding members got onto the :eld. In addition to Hackenberg and Breneman, the Lions gave playing time to receiver Richy Anderson, linebacker Brandon Bell and defensive backs Anthony Smith and Jordan Smith. Heading into the 2014 season, it ap- pears Penn State's approach to redshirt- ing is about to change signi:cantly. James Franklin has stated on several oc- casions that every member of this year's incoming freshman class should be pre- pared to play in some capacity this fall. "With the depth issues we have at sev- eral positions on both o;ense and de- fense and the fact that we'll be allowed to only have 75 scholarship players on our roster, this class, when it arrives on campus, needs to come prepared to play," Franklin said. "In many instances, I think we're going to have to rely on some freshmen, maybe at positions that you don't typically rely on them at." Franklin and his sta; signed 25 players this past February. Five of those players –defensive tackles Tarow Barney and Antoine White, quarterback Michael O'Connor, receiver De'Andre Thompkins and o;ensive tackle Chasz Wright – en- rolled in January and took part in spring practice. By all accounts, they took to heart Franklin's words and approached their :rst collegiate practice sessions knowing that they needed to get them- selves in position to play this fall. Coming out of spring drills, Barney is the top backup to redshirt sophomore Austin Johnson at the one-technique defensive tackle spot. White positioned himself as a backup to redshirt junior Anthony Zettel at the three-technique defensive tackle position, along with redshirt freshman Parker Cothren and senior Tyrone Smith. Thompkins may challenge for playing time at wide receiver, and he could also be a factor on punt returns. O'Connor will go into preseason camp as Hacken- berg's No. 1 backup at quarterback, and Wright could end up behind redshirt freshman Andrew Nelson at right o;en- sive tackle. At 6-foot-7, 321 pounds, he already has the kind of imposing physique he will need in order to hold his own as a freshman. But this class's impact won't begin and end with the :ve January enrollees. I can envision as many as 20 true freshmen seeing action. Let's take a position-by- position look at the places on both of- fense and defense where I believe fresh- men could be called upon this fall. QUARTERBACK O'Connor, who came out of spring practice ranked second be- hind Hackenberg, isn't the only fresh- man with an opportunity to make the depth chart at this position. Trace Mc- Sorley will also vie for a spot a

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