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groin pull, the decision to move Drake is looking like a stroke of ge- nius. 3. BILL BELTON With redshirt junior Curtis Dukes unavailable for spring practice be- cause of an academic situation, O'Brien opted to move Belton from the slot receiver position to a back- up tailback spot behind Silas Redd. "We just felt like that was, in our staff's opinion, a most appropriate position for him," O'Brien said, "body-type-wise and skill-set-wise." The move alleviated a serious depth situation at running back for spring practice and in the fall. Penn State went into spring drills with only two backups behind Redd: sen- ior Derek Day and redshirt sopho- more Zach Zwinak. Last fall, Redd struggled in the second half of the season. He was physically drained from carrying the football so frequently – 244 times in all – and was bothered by a collar- bone injury he received against Ne- braska. Belton brings depth to the running back position, and with his speed, he provides a second home run threat to complement Redd. 4. DAQUAN JONES Devon Still is projected as a prob- able first-round NFL draft choice on April 26. He was the Big Ten Defen- sive Player of the Year, and Jones is going to have a difficult time filling his shoes this fall. But it's a chal- lenge he needs to embrace if Penn State is to have a dominant front four this coming fall. With redshirt freshman Anthony Alosi and redshirt sophomore Luke Graham moved to the offensive line for spring practice, Jones' only ex- perienced challenger for Still's start- ing three-technique defensive tackle position is redshirt senior James Terry. Anthony Zettel could be in line for playing time at the spot, but he's a redshirt freshman. Sopho- more Evan Hailes was in street clothes for unknown reasons in the first half of spring practice. 5. GARRY GILLIAM Given the emphasis O'Brien places on the tight end position, a healthy Gilliam is essential this fall. "Yeah, it's very important," O'Brien said at his March 26 news confer- ence. "That is a very important part of what we're going to do offensively. Obviously, the last two years in New England taught me a lot about the use of the tight end, multiple tight ends. The more [tight ends] you have, the more difficult it is to de- fense." With Gilliam back from his 2010 knee injury and junior Kevin Hap- lea, freshman Jesse James and red- shirt freshman Kyle Carter also in the fold, O'Brien just might have the depth he needs at the tight end spot this fall. In the meantime, one thing defi- nitely is clear: How Massaro, Drake, Belton, Jones and Gilliam emerge from spring practice will have a big impact on how Penn State performs in 2012. W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M A P R I L 3 0 , 2 0 1 2 9

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