Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/491635
Barnes at the strongside defensive end position, he totaled 11 tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks. Brown redshirted last fall and has been praised repeatedly by Franklin and Shoop, both of whom were impressed with his performance throughout last season and in the team's winter work- outs. He began spring practice at 6-3, 256 pounds, and Shoop indicated that he might be the most athletic defensive end on Penn State's spring roster. At his news conference previewing spring practice, Franklin seemed to be very excited about Penn State's depth at both defensive end positions despite the loss of Barnes and Olaniyan. "You look at [Carl] Nassib, [Curtis] Cothran, Sickels, Brown – we are excited about all of those guys," Franklin said. "Cothran is a guy [who weighs] about 260 pounds, looks beautiful. Brown, a guy who played running back in high school, is almost 260 pounds now. You have Sickels, you have [Evan] Schwan, again a guy who is big, strong, athletic, tests extremely well. They are the guys right now. Nassib, Cothran, Brown, Sickels and Schwan. Right now, we have 4ve guys over 250 pounds who power cleaned 335 pounds or more. The thing we're lacking is experience." That brings us to Cothren and White at defensive tackle. I believe Cothren could have a breakout season as a backup to Anthony Zettel. Last fall, playing in all 13 games, he totaled 11 tackles, 2.5 tack- les for loss and a sack. He's now 6-5, 292 pounds a6er gaining close to 30 pounds since he arrived on campus in June 2013. White, in the 14 months he's been on campus, has also added 30-plus pounds. Statistically, Penn State 4elded one of the top two defenses in the Big Ten last season. Amos, Barnes, Hull, Keiser and Olaniyan all played major roles in the defense's performance. They won't be easy to replace, and many believe Penn State's defense will take a step backward this fall. But I don't believe that will be the case. The in5ux of players from the Class of 2014 – Allen, Apke, Brown, Cabinda, Campbell, Haley, Farmer and Reeder – coupled with the steady development of their predecessors in the Class of 2013 – Sickels, Cothren and Cothran – is al- ready having an impact this spring, and it will de4nitely boost Penn State's out- look this coming fall. ■ PHIL GROSZ'S PROJECTED 2-DEEP* OFFENSE WR DaeSean Hamilton Saeed Blacknall WR Chris Godwin Geno Lewis/DeAndre Thompkins RT Andrew Nelson Brendan Brosnan RG Brian Gaia Chasz Wright C Angelo Mangiro Wendy Laurent LG Brendan Mahon Albert Hall/Derek Dowrey LT Paris Palmer Chance Sorrell TE-F Kyle Carter Brent Wilkerson TE-Y Mike Gesicki Adam Breneman RB Akeel Lynch Nick Scott QB Christian Hackenberg Trace McSorley DEFENSE DE Carl Nassib Curtis Cothran/Evan Schwan DT Austin Johnson Tarow Barney DT Anthony Zettel Parker Cothren/Antoine White DE Garrett Sickels Torrence Brown OLB Jason Cabinda Troy Reeder MLB Nyeem Wartman Gary Wooten/Ben Kline OLB Brandon Bell Von Walker/Koa Farmer CB Trevor Williams Da'Quan Davis FS Jordan Lucas Malik Golden SS Marcus Allen Troy Apke CB Grant Haley Christian Campbell * Depth chart applies only to spring practice; it does not include incoming freshmen