Jenkins and Steven Gonzalez. This past
February,
the Lions added three four-
star linemen in Will Fries, Michal Menet
and Connor McGovern, along with
three-star
player Alex Gellerstedt.
Star ratings don't guarantee collegiate
success or, for that matter, collegiate
failure; John Urschel is probably one of
the two best o>ensive linemen to come
out of Penn State during the post-Pa-
terno era, and he was a
two-star
prospect. But the ratings do have some
predictive power, and the Nittany Lions'
2016 depth chart is evidence of their ac-
curacy. Of the 15 players listed on the
three-deep depth chart prior to the
Temple game, only two were from the
Class of 2014, with Wright and Beh
backing up Andrew Nelson at right
tackle. Meanwhile, there were four play-
ers from the Class of 2015 (Bates,
Palmer, Gonzalez and walk-on center
Zach
Simpson) and three from the Class
of 2016 (Fries, Menet and McGovern).
That six players with freshman eligibil-
ity
are already on the three-deep
(Palmer is a juco transfer with senior eli-
gibility) tells you a lot about their poten-
tial, but it also tells you that more
patience is going to be required, because
only now are the pieces starting to fall
into place.
And unfortunately for the Lions, it's
taking so long to ensive line
that there's been some corrosion within
the position groups that were in good
shape when Franklin and his sta> ar-
rived. The defensive line was so deep in
2014 that it could a>ord to loan out
players to the o>ense and still form the
backbone of a defense that ranked sec-
ond in the country against the run. But
this year, three starters and a key backup
had to be replaced, and in their er November swoons
both years.
Penn State would love to fall back into
that pattern, but to do so, it's going to
have to come up with occasional wins
over Ohio State, which is likely to be an
annual title contender for the duration
of Urban Meyer's tenure in Columbus.
It's also going to have to beat Michigan,
which is trending up, and Michigan
State. Penn State has as much history as
its
storied rivals, but it's trying to re-
cover from the most turbulent period in
the program's history. Even though the
NCAA
sanctions have ended, their im-
pact has lingered.
Franklin has had to walk a fine line
when it comes to the ongoing chal-
lenges the Nittany Lions are facing.
Those challenges are real, but after the
Lions' heartbreaking 42-39 loss to Pitt,
he admitted that excuses tend to ring
hollow, no matter how justified they
may be.
"You guys don't want me to talk about
our depth," he told reporters in the
postgame news conference. "I get it. You
don't want me to talk about being a
young football team. You don't want to
hear that. Obviously losing [Jason]
Cabinda is signi
