and
they abandoned the run- will
be relying heavily on young players who,
in a perfect world, would not yet be ap-
pearing on the two-deep.
Mangiro is the only senior among the
likely starters and will be expected to
start somewhere, either at the center
spot he manned most of this past year
or at left guard, where he would com-
pete with Dowrey. Gaia is back at right
guard and Nelson at right tackle. The
opposite tackle spot is open, which
makes Palmer's commitment an ab-
solute windfall. He's a juco prospect
with junior eligibility, and he's already
on campus. Those two factors make
him the most likely candidate to fill one
of the team's most critical vacancies. A
transfer here would certainly help.
DEFENSIVE LINE
RETURNING DE: Curtis Cothran, Carl
Nassib, Evan Schwan, Garrett Sickels;
DT: Tarow Barney, Parker Cothren,
Austin Johnson, Anthony Zettel
ARRIVING DE: Torrence Brown, Ryan
Buchholtz, Kamonte Carter; DT: An-
toine White
DEPARTING DE: Deion Barnes, Brad
Bars, C.J. Olaniyan; DT: Tyrone Smith
ANALYSIS This unit was rock solid for
most of the year, as Penn State allowed
only 100.5 rushing yards per game to
ect that could impact the entire line-
backer corps.
So, who's the next man up? That de-
pends on whether we're talking about
the short- or long-term future. At 6-1,
244 pounds, Reeder already has the
physical
attributes you look for in a
middle linebacker, and co-defensive
coordinator Brent Pry said during the
regular season that he was impressed
with the freshman's grasp of Penn
State's scheme. But Reeder will be mak-
ing his debut this fall, and the coaches
may prefer to ease him into a role that is
critical to the defense's success. If they
do choose to take their time with Reed-
er, they'll be looking for Wooten or
Kline to step up.
Wooten backed up Hull as a redshirt
sophomore last fall, but if neither he nor
Kline is ready for an expanded role, the
next option would be to move Wartman
or Bell from outside to inside linebacker
– the same move that Hull made a year
ago. Hull's move worked out beautifully
for all concerned, but it's not necessarily
a blueprint for this year's team. Wart-
man and Bell both had strong sopho-
more seasons at outside linebacker, so
the coaches would likely prefer to leave
them at their current positions.
SECONDARY
RETURNING CB: Christian Campbell,
Da'Quan Davis, Kasey Gaines, Grant
Haley, Jordan Lucas, Jordan Smith,
Trevor Williams; Saf.: Marcus Allen,
Troy Apke, Malik Golden, Anthony
Smith
ARRIVING CB: Amani Oruwariye,
Jarvis Miller, Ayron Monroe, John Reid,
Garrett Taylor, Daquan Worley
DEPARTING Saf.: Adrian Amos, Jesse
Della Valle, Ryan Keiser
ANALYSIS Amos made 37 consecutive
starts for the Nittany Lions, a streak
dating back to the 2012 season. But
overall, Penn State's secondary didn't
get dinged very hard by graduation. Of
the eight players on the Pinstripe Bowl
two-deep, six are set to return. In fact,
four of those players were true freshmen
in 2014: Campbell, Haley, Allen and
Apke. The Nittany Lions redshirt years, and
