Blue White Illustrated

April 11, 2012

Penn State Sports Magazine

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will return for their fifth year of eli- gibility in 2013. With so many questions on the of- fensive line, it will critical for Penn State's younger players to make some progress. Redshirt sopho- mores Miles Dieffenbach and Kham- rone Kolb and redshirt freshmen Angelo Mangiro, Ryan Nowicki and Donovan Smith are the players to watch in 2012 and 2013. It looks as though Mangiro and Smith may challenge for starting jobs at right guard and left tackle, respectively. Smith is listed at 6-5, 315 pounds, and Mangiro checks in at 6-2, 295. On the opposite side of the ball, the key to success at both defensive end positions in the fall is going to be straightforward. With Crawford and Latimore gone, Penn State needs Massaro to come back healthy and fill the strongside de- fensive end position and senior Sean Stanley to prove he's ready to be a full-time, every-down end. The good news for the Nittany Li- ons is that both of those develop- ments appear to be realistic. Mas- saro is reportedly healthy, and Stanley now is listed at over 250 pounds. In addition to Massaro and Stan- ley, Penn State needs two defensive ends to emerge to provide depth and give Larry Johnson his preferred four-man rotation at all four defen- sive line positions. The contenders are redshirt sophomores C.J. Olaniyan and Kyle Baublitz and red- shirt freshmen Deion Barnes and Anthony Zettel. The 6-4 Olaniyan is reportedly up to 255 pounds, while Baublitz stands 6-5, 265. In addi- tion, there have been reports that Barnes now stands 6-4, 255. Whether Zettel ends up playing at strongside defensive end or at the three-technique tackle position has not yet been determined. Penn State's depth at defensive end declined in late February when Shawn Oakman was dismissed from the team because of a reported vio- lation of team rules. It appears Oak- man is going to transfer to Lack- awanna Junior College in Scranton, Pa. That brings us to the secondary. Gone are cornerbacks D'Anton Lynn and Chaz Powell and safeties Drew Astorino and Nick Sukay. Penn State has only two scholarship safeties on its roster – redshirt jun- iors Malcolm Willis and Stephen Obeng-Agyapong – and four scholar- ship cornerbacks – senior Stephon Morris, redshirt juniors Derrick Thomas and Mike Wallace, and sophomore Adrian Amos. Given the depth issues in the sec- ondary, it might seem likely that redshirt sophomore wideout Alex Kenney would move to free safety; that hadn't happened as of this writing. Redshirt sophomore walk- on Ryan Keiser will be counted on for depth at safety this fall. For Penn State's coaching staff to feel secure at the cornerback posi- tions this fall, Morris needs to stay healthy, Amos needs to build on the potential he showed in 2011 and, most of all, Thomas needs to resolve all of his off-the-field problems. Thomas may be the key here. For- mer Penn State defensive coordina- SEE CORNER, PAGE 37 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 1 1 , 2 0 1 2 9

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