Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/787374
DEFENSIVE TACKLE SIGNEES Corey Bolds, Fred Hansard ANALYSIS Antoine White and Brenon Thri: announced in January that they would be transferring, and Curtis Cothran, Parker Cothren and Tyrell Chavis will be seniors in 2017. That means Penn State needed to recruit two defensive tackles in this year's class. Hansard, a four-star prospect, and Bolds, who received three stars from Ri- vals, 8t the bill. The Lions do have some other return- ing players in the middle of their defen- sive line in sophomore Robert Windsor and redshirt freshman Antonio Shelton at the one-technique spot and redshirt sophomore Kevin Givens and redshirt freshman Ellison Jordan at three-tech- nique. But the addition of Hansard and Bolds improves their long-term outlook signi8cantly. LINEBACKER SIGNEES Ellis Brooks, Brelin Faison- Walden, Brailyn Franklin ANALYSIS Gone are middle linebacker Nyeem Wartman-White and outside linebacker Brandon Bell. Returning at the box linebacker positions are senior Jason Cabinda, redshirt sophomore Jake Cooper, senior Brandon Smith and sophomore Cam Brown. At the Sam OLB position, Penn State's talent pool in- cludes junior Manny Bowen, redshirt junior Koa Farmer and redshirt sopho- more Jarvis Miller. It could also include Toney (who is listed at defensive end on the Lions' most recent roster) and/or Brown. Experience and depth are a con- cern at all three linebacker positions. Penn State recruited three linebackers in its Class of 2017. Faison-Walden en- rolled in January and is expected to practice this spring at the Sam position. Franklin will be at OLB when he reports in June, and Brooks will be behind Cabinda and Smith at MLB. Brooks may end up playing in 2017 in order to pre- pare for the 2018 season. With Cabinda and Smith both having only one more year of eligibility, the incoming fresh- man looks to have a great shot at starting in his second season on campus. SECONDARY SIGNEES D.J. Brown, Tariq Castro- Fields, Donovan Johnson, Jonathan Sutherland, Lamont Wade ANALYSIS Penn State will have three starters back in the secondary for spring practice: free safety Marcus Allen and cornerbacks Grant Haley and John Reid. Allen and Haley will be seniors this coming fall, while Reid will be a junior. Behind them are senior Christian Campbell, redshirt junior Amani Oruwariye, redshirt sophomore Garrett Taylor and redshirt freshmen Zech McP- hearson and T.J. Johnson. The only 2016 starter to depart is strong safety Malik Golden. Senior Troy Apke, redshirt sophomore Ayron Mon- roe and redshirt junior Nick Scott will compete this spring to replace him. Apke, Scott, Oruwariye, Campbell, Tay- lor and possibly Johnson could see ac- tion at free safety in spring practice. The Lions might also take a look at Wade, an early enrollee, at that position. Penn State may have recruited one of the top three defensive back classes in the country this year. Wade was Rivals' No. 1 cornerback nationally, while Cas- tro-Fields, Johnson and Sutherland were all given four stars. This might be the most athletic group of defensive backs Penn State has ever signed in a single re- cruiting class. SPECIAL TEAMS SIGNEES None ANALYSIS With Tyler Davis having converted 22 of 24 8eld goal attempts as a junior and Blake Gillikin having aver- aged 42.8 yards as a true freshman, Penn State is in great shape at the place-kick- ing and punting positions heading into the 2017 season. In addition, kicko9 specialist Joey Julius has two more years of eligibility remaining, and Alex Barbir, a 2016 signee, is coming o9 a redshirt year. The Lions are looking ahead, though. They are actively recruiting Koltan McGhee of Bishop Guilfoyle High in Altoona, Pa. McGhee is considered by some to be the top kicker in the Class of 2019. He already has 8ve 8eld goals of 50-plus yards. ■