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S P R I N G P R A C T I C E R E P O R T 10 prospects in the Class of 2018 ac- cording to Rivals, he's playing a position of extreme need for the Nittany Lions, having moved to inside linebacker after winning five-star recognition as a de- fensive end at the high school level. The returning players at the position are Jan Johnson, Ellis Brooks and possibly Jake Cooper, none of whom have seen exten- sive action in the middle of Penn State's defense. Brooks will be a redshirt fresh- man this fall, and he may actually be the leading contender. That is, unless Par- sons is able to make a strong case for himself in the weeks to come. During his first few weeks on campus, the Harrisburg, Pa., prospect garnered positive reviews. Said Frankin, "Parsons is what we thought. He's strong, he's ex- plosive, he's fast." But is he ready to call the signals from the middle of Penn State's defense? That's what the Lions will be looking to find out this spring, and it will go a long way toward deter- mining how the linebacker corps comes together in the fall. Two other linebackers enrolled in Jan- uary, with Nick Tarburton and Jesse Luketa joining Parsons in University Park. Both have the size they would need to play inside as freshmen. In fact, Tar- burton was listed at 260 pounds when he signed in December, indicating that he might be well on his way to a spot on the defensive line. But Franklin said in early February that Tarburton had lost about 15 pounds since arriving on cam- pus. Sure enough, when the new roster was released in mid-February, he was at 243. It's impossible to know at this early stage what the future holds, but for now, at least, he's a linebacker. Tight end Zack Kuntz is also on cam- pus and is looking to help Penn State make up for the graduation of Mike Gesicki. That's a tall order, but Kuntz is a tall guy. In fact, at 6-7, 232 pounds, he might seem more like a supersized wideout than a conventional tight end. But Franklin said he's been impressed with the Camp Hill prospect's strength. "Typically, when you've got a guy who is built like him… it's going to take them a long time to develop the strength and power needed to play," the coach said. "But I already see him packing it on, and he came in stronger than we antici- pated. So he's already put on muscle mass. He's already getting stronger in the weight room. We already knew he ran well, because he ran so well in camp." Kuntz is a four-star prospect, but if he's going to earn playing time this fall, he'll probably have to beat out classmate Pat Freiermuth in preseason practice. The thinking here is that Penn State will want to redshirt one of its incoming tight ends, especially with three schol- arship players – Jonathan Holland, Nick Bowers and Danny Dalton – working out at the position this spring. That said, Kuntz and Freiermuth were both among the top six tight end prospects in the Class of 2018. So if the Lions are even thinner here than is gen- erally supposed, or if injuries hit, or if the newcomers are too good to keep off the field, it wouldn't be a total surprise to see them both in action come Sep- tember. Penn State's other early enrollees are defensive backs Isaiah Humphries and Trent Gordon. Franklin has praised both prospects and has been particularly en- thused about Gordon, calling the 5-11, 181-pounder from Spring, Texas, "a pleasant surprise." "We had high expectations, and his first impression was probably higher than what we expected," Franklin said. "He kind of blew us away in the first morning workout [of the winter] and was really competitive and really MEET THE NEW BOSS Rahne is looking to main- tain the momen- tum that Penn State built during Joe Moorhead's two seasons as offensive coordi- nator. He'll be joined by three new offensive as- sistant coaches this season. Photo by Steve Manuel

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