Blue White Illustrated

W hen Penn State wrapped up its spring football practice sessions in April 2014, most of the team's unanswered questions revolved around its rebuilt o=ensive line. But there were two other areas of serious concern: de- fensive tackle and wide receiver. New head coach James Franklin wasn't sure whether the Nittany Lions had the man- power up front to stop opposing o=ens- es, nor did he know whether quarter- back Christian Hackenberg would have a go-to receiver like the one he had as a freshman. The two key receivers on Penn State's roster that spring were redshirt fresh- man DaeSean Hamilton and sophomore Geno Lewis. Hamilton had missed the ;rst three weeks of practice with a wrist injury, and that was a cause for concern. The Lions were looking to replace one of the best wideouts in school history in Allen Robinson, who had totaled 174 catches for 2,445 yards and 17 touch- downs in his two seasons as a starter be- fore opting to leave school a year early to enter the NFL Dra>. But Hamilton hadn't seen any action to that point in his career, and Lewis had totaled only 18 receptions for 234 yards in his ;rst sea- son with the Lions. Experience was de;- nitely lacking. Meanwhile, at defensive tackle, red- shirt sophomore Austin Johnson was the only returning player with substantial game experience. DaQuan Jones had le> for the NFL, and there was skepticism that his projected replacement at the three-technique tackle spot, 6-foot-4, 274-pound junior Anthony Zettel, would be able to ;ll his shoes. A>er all, Zettel had begun his Penn State career at defensive end, and it did not seem un- reasonable to wonder whether he would be able to establish himself as a physical presence in the middle of the line. But fortunately for the Nittany Lions, both Zettel and Hamilton performed at a very high level in their ;rst season as major contributors. Zettel ended up winning ;rst-team All-Big Ten recogni- tion a>er posting 52 tackles, eight sacks, 17 tackles for loss and three intercep- tions as a junior. He was the only Foot- ball Bowl Subdivision player to rank among the league leaders in both sacks and interceptions. Hamilton didn't receive quite as much recognition as his teammate, but that doesn't mean he wasn't just as impor- tant to the o=ense as Zettel was to the defense. He certainly didn't disappoint, catching 82 passes for 899 yards and two touchdowns and winning second-team All-Big Ten honors, as well as a spot on the Big Ten All-Freshman teams com- piled by BTN.com and ESPN.com. Two years later, Franklin and his Nit- tany Lions ;nd themselves facing a sim- ilar dilemma at defensive tackle. John- son and Zettel are o= to the NFL, leaving redshirt junior Parker Cothren as the only player on the 2016 roster with sub- stantial game experience. And while the situation at wide receiv- er is not as cloudy as it was in the sum- mer of 2014, there are some questions to be answered as Hamilton looks to regain his footing as one of the Big Ten's top wideouts a>er a sophomore year in which his numbers declined substan- tially. Playing in an o=ense that was nearly as inconsistent as it had been the year before, Hamilton totaled just 45 catches for 580 yards with six touch- downs in 2015. Heading into the 2016 season, the overall situation at wide receiver looks pretty good, as junior Chris Godwin is coming o= a breakout year in which he had 69 catches for 1,101 yards and ;ve touchdowns. With Godwin and Hamil- ton leading the way, Penn State should ;eld one of the top two or three wide re- ceiver combinations in the Big Ten this fall. However, with the new system that ;rst-year o=ensive coordinator Joe Moorhead has installed this spring, it's become evident that the Lions' o=ense can never have too many quality wide- outs. Moorhead's passing game normal- ly deploys three wide receivers and a tight end, but it's not unusual for his of- fenses to have four wide receivers on the ;eld at the same time. It's a West Coast-style passing game, and its suc- cess was re

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