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Park this summer. This is a competition that will bear watching, and no matter who comes out ahead in August, it ap- pears as though Penn State will be in good shape at tight end for the next few years. Said Franklin, "I think that's a re- ally good one-two punch there." JUSTIN SHORTER Penn State recruited one of the better wide receiver classes in the country in Justin Shorter, Daniel George and Jahan Dotson. With DaeSean Hamilton, Saeed Blacknall and Irvin Charles gone, there are some vacancies on the two-deep, and the newcomers will likely have a shot at filling them. They'll have to vie with last year's re- ceiver class, which included K.J. Hamler, Mac Hippenhammer and Cam Sullivan- Brown. But this group appears well equipped to lend a hand. The 6-4, 220-pound Shorter, in par- ticular, has garnered praise. His high school coach, Joe George, called him "as talented a receiver as I have coached in 40-plus years and as talented as any I have seen at the high school level." That jibes with Franklin's appraisal. The Nit- tany Lions' head coach said Shorter is "as good a high school wide receiver as I've ever seen on film and in person." Good enough to step into a lineup that must replace Penn State's all-time lead- ing receiver? We'll start to get our an- swers this summer. JAKE PINEGAR When Pinegar arrives on campus in a few months, he'll be com- peting with Carson Landis, Nick DeAn- gelis, Rafael Checa and Vlad Hilling. All four are walk-ons, and all have yet to see game action at the Football Bowl Subdi- vision level, so the competition is wide open. Kicker is a tough position to evaluate, because success depends as much on mental toughness and composure as on W E B S U R V E Y OK, prepare to be shocked: Micah Par- sons. Hah! No one expected that! ptomaselli Parsons IF he can learn the middle linebacker position in the spring, which I think he can. He's an incredible athlete with the instincts needed to play a posi- tion of need for Penn State. He has the size and ridiculous speed for middle linebacker. He'll be a halfback playing linebacker who has the size to play de- fensive end and the nastiness that a great Division I linebacker requires. What's not to like in Parsons at a posi- tion where Penn State needs immediate help this season? SJLuvsLions Parsons and Shorter are no-brainers here. Both are too tremendously gifted to not play – and play a lot – as fresh- men. The sleeper pick is Jake Pinegar. While Blake Gillikin is preparing for the kicking hat trick, Pinegar may be the one who takes the place-kicking and/or kickoff jobs from him. It all de- pends on how quickly Pinegar recovers from his injury, but the kid has a huge leg. Penn State only offers a scholar- ship to the best of the best kickers and punters. I have to believe James Franklin and the staff expect him to come in and compete for the job this summer and fall. NittanyLogan11 If Parsons has the instincts to play linebacker (no one questions his off- the-charts athletic ability), he will be the impact guy, hands down. Cameron/Derek Wake is a prime exam- ple of someone who had off-the-charts athletic ability but didn't have the in- stincts to play linebacker. Once he be- came an edge rusher, it was lights out in the NFL. Since running back and wide receiver tend to be the positions where true freshmen can make the biggest im- pact, if Parsons can't play linebacker, then Justin Shorter. CoastFan Justin Shorter will be in the top three starting receiver lineup Day 1 – and will have a fifth-year senior throwing the rock around with a less-than-normally- used TE. Breeze90 There's zero chance Ricky Slade red- shirts. He gets overshadowed (under- standably) by Parsons and Shorter, but that kid is special and will make an im- pact this fall. dgh34 Tight end is a very important position in Penn State's offense. With the loss of about 60 receptions, 600 yards and 10 TDs because of the loss of Mike Gesicki (with a small contribution from Tom Pancoast), Pat Freiermuth has a golden opportunity to step in and make a big impact. lobo lion Parsons will have biggest impact, whether at MLB or DE. He's just a spe- cial talent. Justin Shorter may be a starter by the Big Ten season. The kid is an absolute beast. lionhrt54 This may be a shock to some or may not be, but I'm going to say Daniel George will make some noise once he re- ports this summer. His film is impres- sive. If there is a flaw, I would say that he is bit of a body catcher at times but is mature physically and could be a guy I see Franklin thinking hard about whether to redshirt. I know that's not instant impact exactly, but I could see him having an impact and not being one of the obvious incoming freshmen to have one. His skill set could be valuable on special teams as well. Sportshunter35 Pinegar. Damn, we need a reliable kicker. gjbankos Which true freshman do you envision having the biggest impact in 2018?

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