Blue White Illustrated

F A S T F O R W A R D >> A N E A R L Y L O O K and has already gotten some Heisman Trophy buzz. But the 2018 season will be his first without Saquon Barkley in the backfield, and opposing defenses won't be quite so preoccupied with stopping the run. Also, three of Penn State's top four pass-catchers are de- parting, so McSorley's numbers will be predicated on the Lions' success at grooming a stable of promising but young wideouts. Stevens attempted only 27 passes dur- ing his redshirt sophomore season, com- pleting 14 for 158 yards and three touchdowns. He had a bigger impact as a wideout in Penn State's red zone offense – big enough to earn a spot on the depth chart as the starter at a new position dubbed the "Lion." The coaching staff likes his potential and has found uncon- ventional ways of incorporating him into its game plans, but if Stevens is going to be a starting quarterback, his only op- tions are to continue showing patience at Penn State or go somewhere else. He will only have one year remaining at PSU after McSorley departs, but if he were to pick up his diploma in May, he could en- roll as a graduate transfer at a school where the QB spot is open and have two years of eligibility left, beginning imme- diately. Stay tuned. Clifford redshirted this past year and will have freshman eligibility heading into the 2018 season. He's leapfrogged Zembiec on the depth chart, so his future appears bright. Levis, a three-star prospect from Madison, Conn., is a sure bet to redshirt in 2018. RUNNING BACK KEY RETURNEES Mark Allen, Journey Brown, Miles Sanders, Johnathan Thomas KEY LOSSES Saquon Barkley, Andre Robinson NEWCOMER Ricky Slade OUTLOOK The post-Barkley era offi- cially began on Dec. 31 when the junior running back announced that he will forgo his final season at Penn State to enter the NFL Draft. Whenever a depart- ing player's tenure can be described as an "era," it tells you something about how big the change will be. During his junior season, Barkley ac- counted for 48.1 percent of Penn State's 451 carries and 57.5 percent of its 2,212 rushing yards. He also was a huge factor in the passing game and on special teams, but we'll get to that later. Playing behind an of- fensive line that still hadn't fully recovered from the NCAA sanctions that decimated the unit in Franklin's first two seasons, he still managed to become the second-lead- ing rusher in school history with 3,843 ca- reer yards in only three seasons. So, how does Penn State begin to make up for his loss? Perhaps by taking an en- tirely different approach. Instead of rely- ing on one do-it-all player, Franklin has said the Lions may look to spread the car- ries around. "We're not sure how the model is going to look," he said. "I think [the returning running backs] all assume it's going to be just like it was this past year. But we had an unusual situation, whereas I think we could be in a situation [in 2018] where we have a little bit more rotation than we had this year. It will probably be more like how we did it the first couple years." Someone has to start, though, and that player is likely to be Sanders. He averaged 6.2 yards on his 31 carries this past sea- son, and he appears to have addressed the ball-security issues that hindered his progress as a freshman. Allen and Thomas will both be seniors, but they've totaled only 76 career carries between them, 65 of them by Allen. Brown redshirted this past fall and will likely be one of the more heavily scrutinized players when he makes his Penn State debut in the Blue-White Game in April. RECEIVER KEY RETURNEES TE: Nick Bowers, Danny Dalton, Jonathan Holland; WR: Dae'Lun Darien, K.J. Hamler, Mac Hip- penhammer, Juwan Johnson, Brandon Polk, Cam Sullivan-Brown, DeAndre Thompkins KEY LOSSES TE: Mike Gesicki, Tom Pancoast; WR: Saeed Blacknall, Irvin Charles, DaeSean Hamilton NEWCOMERS TE: Patrick Freiermuth, Zack Kuntz; WR: Shaquon Anderson- Butts, Jahan Dotson, Daniel George, Justin Shorter OUTLOOK These position groups will need a substantial rebuild in 2018. Gesicki and Hamilton combined to make 110 catches for 1,410 yards and 18 touch- downs this past season, and they aren't the only key pass-catchers who are slated to depart. The Lions are also los- ing Barkley, who finished third on the team with 54 catches for 632 yards in 2017. That makes Thompkins and Johnson the top returnees in the receiver corps, and by a wide margin. Thompkins has had a steady career, catching 27 passes as a sophomore and 28 as a junior. He fin- ished fifth on the team this past year with 443 receiving yards. Johnson has 56 career receptions, in- cluding 54 for 701 yards during a breakout redshirt sophomore season. And to hear Franklin tell it, he's only scratched the surface of his potential. "I think he's just going to continue to get better. You're really starting to see him play with his size right now. You're talking about a wideout who's 6-4, 230 pounds," Franklin said. "He can run, and now he's breaking tackles and making one-handed catches. His catch radius is unbelievable. He's a guy you can depend on. He's another great teammate. … I couldn't be more excited about Juwan and his future, and that's in every way possible. We knew he had a great off-sea- son. We were expecting him to have a big year, and I think we're going to go back and go through the cut-ups when the season is over and realize that he probably had a better year than everybody real- izes." After those two players, the Lions have very little experience. At tight end, Hol- land, Bowers and Dalton played spar- ingly behind Gesicki. Holland, a 6-4, 248-pound rising junior, appears to be in line for a promotion to the starting lineup, but if Bowers has put his injury problems behind him, he, too, could be a factor. The situation is similar at wideout. Of

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