Blue White Illustrated

Joining that group this coming spring will be freshman Andre Robinson, 5-9, 209-pounder who is redshirting this season. All of the players in Penn State's deep back9eld – even Barkley – should bene9t from the extra practice sessions prior to the bowl game. WIDE RECEIVERS Penn State will re- turn seven of its top eight receivers for the 2016 season. The leader of the group is Chris Godwin, a second-team All-Big Ten selection this year a;er catching 63 passes for 968 yards and 9ve touch- downs during the regular season. The other retuning wideouts are Polk, Dae- Sean Hamilton, Geno Lewis, Saeed Blacknall, DeAndre Thompkins and Greg Garrity. Except for Lewis, everyone will have at least two years of eligibility remaining, with Polk and Thompkins having three years. All seven will bene9t from the 15 extra practice sessions, but the two wide receivers who stand to gain the most are freshmen Irvin Charles and Juwan Johnson. Both have the potential to stretch the 9eld vertically. TIGHT ENDS A;er the o:ensive line, this position group has been the of- fense's biggest disappointment in 2015. The Lions have been inconsistent both in catching and blocking. Kyle Carter is set to graduate, but Mike Gesicki and Brent Wilkerson will return in 2016, and Adam Breneman has seen sporadic ac- tion this year, so there's hope that he will be able to rebound from the knee issues that have hindered him for much of his career. Gesicki, Wilkerson and Brene- man have combined for 19 catches for 169 yards and one touchdown. Two true freshmen hope to make an impression in December: Nick Bowers and Jonathan Holland. OFFENSIVE LINEMEN The 9rst-team unit is obviously still a work in progress, but the biggest bene9ciaries of Penn State's bowl practices are likely to be redshirt freshmen Noah Beh, Brendan Brosnan, Chance Sorrell and Chasz Wright. Expect o:ensive line coach Herb Hand to watch those young players very closely. Also take note of true freshmen Ryan Bates, Steven Gonzalez and Sterling Jenkins. BWI is hearing that Bates (cen- ter or guard) and Gonzalez (guard) could appear on the two-deep depth chart next fall if they continue to impress this month and in spring practice. DEFENSIVE LINEMEN It is going to be interesting to see who replaces Nassib, Johnson and Zettel. Those three players have combined for 159 tackles this sea- son, including 42.5 tackles for loss and 24 sacks. They are the heart and soul of a defense that leads the country with 97 tackles for loss and 44 sacks. It's expected that redshirt sophomore Curtis Cothran, redshirt freshman Tor- rence Brown and redshirt junior Evan Schwan will vie to replace Nassib. Cothran and Brown played in all 12 games this fall, while Schwan missed a game with a minor leg injury. Cothran totaled 16 tackles, four tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks during the regular season, while Brown had 11 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. Schwan totaled 21 tackles and had an assist on a negative- yardage stop. Those players have an advantage in that they've got some experience under their belt, but there are three true fresh- men who really stand to bene9t from December's bowl practice sessions: Ryan Buchholz, Kevin Givens and Shareef Miller. Penn State defensive line coach Sean Spencer called Buchholz "a tremendous talent for us." "He's capable of playing end and capa- ble of playing three-technique [defen- sive tackle]," Spencer added. "Obvious- ly, in our 9rst year we didn't sign a de- fensive tackle. He was one of our [2015 recruits of whom] we said, if we need him to project inside, he could." Buchholz stands 6-6 and is listed at 254 pounds. Penn State wants him to add some more weight, which seems to indicate that he'll eventually play the three-technique defensive tackle spot, maybe in 2016. But he's still expected to practice at strongside defensive end in spring practice. Givens is one of the more explosive THE LATE SHOW McSor- ley has played in six games, including the regular-sea- son finale against Michi- gan State. He's complet- ed 6 of 13 passes for 43 yards. Photo by Steve Manuel

• Cover