Blue White Illustrated

help Mike, take a little stress o7 of him so he doesn't have to play 80 snaps a game. We have a lot of talented tight ends – Nick Bowers, Danny Dalton, Tom Pancoast – who can relieve that stress on Mike this fall." But while those players are likely to see their roles grow in the months to come, my choice as Penn State's breakout player on o7ense is Johnson. Entering his redshirt sophomore season, he stands 6-4, 227 pounds, has 4.5 40-yard speed and is coming o7 an eye-opening performance in spring practice. He's been cited by James Franklin and wide receivers coach Josh Gattis as one of the rising stars in a receiver corps that must replace All-Big Ten wideout Chris God- win. Johnson capped an outstanding spring with a noteworthy performance in the Blue-White Game. As a starter for the Blue, he totaled seven receptions for 81 yards and ended the game with a 15-yard TD catch from backup QB Tommy Stevens. "He was ready to play every day this spring," Gattis said. "It started with the 6rst day of spring practice and didn't stop until spring practice was over fol- lowing the Blue-White Game. He learned how to use his full potential and was one of the hardest workers all spring BACKUP CORNERBACK CONTENDERS Lamont Wade, T.J. John- son, Zech McPhearson OUTLOOK Wade and Johnson both were impressive in spring practice. A January enrollee, Wade made a great 6rst im- pression, leading the team with four in- terceptions during the o7-season drills. Johnson, at 6-2, 185 pounds, is Penn State's biggest cornerback. With John Reid out of the lineup inde6nitely due to an injury he su7ered in spring practice, there's an opportunity for playing time here behind starters Grant Haley and Christian Campbell. GUARD CONTENDERS Brendan Mahon, Michal Menet, Steven Gonzalez, Andrew Nelson OUTLOOK Sounds crowded, but these four players battled each other at the le8 and right guard positions during the 6rst two weeks of preseason practice, with freshman Mike Miranda possibly in the mix as well. I love the depth and compe- tition, and the manpower surplus illus- trates why James Franklin believes he's going to have one of the best o7ensive lines in the Big Ten this coming fall. STRONG SAFETY CONTENDERS Ayron Monroe, Troy Apke, Nick Scott OUTLOOK Apke got a shout-out from Franklin on media day, but right now I have no idea who has the best chance to replace Malik Golden at this key spot. It's interesting that Scott was named captain of the special teams. MICHAL MENET Despite missing a sub- stantial portion of spring practice with nagging injuries, Menet is expected to battle Mahon, Gonzalez, Miranda and Nelson for either the starting le8 or right guard position. T.J. JOHNSON The young cornerback enjoyed a great spring, a performance he capped by making two tackles for loss and intercepting a pass in the Blue- White Game. SHANE SIMMONS, SHAKA TONEY, DANIEL JOSEPH All three of these defen- sive ends will have a chance to make their mark this fall, Simmons and Toney as third-down pass-rush spe- cialists, and Joseph (provided he can stay healthy) as part of a three-man ro- tation at one of the DE positions be- hind Shareef Miller and Ryan Buchholz. ■ P H I L ' S P R E S E A S O N P I C K S T O P R E D S H I R T F R E S H M E N T O P P O S I T I O N B A T T L E S PUMPING IRON Listed now at 5- foot-11, 207 pounds, Monroe is a contender for the Nittany Lions' starting strong safety spot, which is vacant follow- ing the gradua- tion of Malik Golden. Photo by Nate Bauer

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