Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/955638
spring practice totally devoid of proven depth and game experience at this posi- tion. Listed on the spring practice roster are redshirt juniors Jonathan Holland and Nick Bowers, redshirt sophomore Danny Dalton and January enrollee Zack Kuntz. The position group will get deeper in the summer when incoming freshman Pat Freiermuth arrives, but experience will still be lacking. Bowers has just one career reception for 15 yards and a touchdown. Injuries caused him to miss the 2015 and '16 sea- sons. Holland had three catches for 16 yards this past season, while Dalton was redshirted as a freshman and did not catch a pass during his 7rst season on the active roster. As a senior at Camp Hill (Pa.) High, Kuntz was rated by Rivals as the No. 4 tight end in the country. He totaled an impressive 2,705 career receiving yards and 26 touchdowns. As that personnel summary indicates, the starting position is wide open this spring. SLOT RECEIVER Hamilton 7nished his career as Penn State's all-time recep- tions leader, totaling 214 catches for 2,842 yards and 18 touchdowns. He av- eraged 13.28 yards per catch during his four seasons with the Nittany Lions. This spring, the battle to replace him will be between redshirt junior Brandon Polk and redshirt freshmen K.J. Hamler and Mac Hippenhammer. It will be very interesting to see what develops here. Josh Gattis, who coached Penn State's wide receivers before leaving for Ala- bama in January, sang the praises of Hamler and Hippenhammer during the 2017 season. "It really excites me when I think about K.J. and Mac," Gattis said. "I think both players have unique traits that they are going to bring to the table. "K.J. obviously has speed. I think he's a di8erence-maker with his speed and his quickness in the short areas and in space. He's a guy who could possibly be our fastest wide receiver on the 7eld. He's a guy with extreme con7dence in his ability to run routes and just separate from people. He's going to be an exciting player. "Hippenhammer is a guy who, once he continues to physically develop, has got a great skill set. He's a very pure wide re- ceiver who reminds me a lot of DeAndre Thompkins in his ability to play inside and outside, but a very 7nessed route runner. Mac is a guy who can run any route that we ask him and work his re- leases." Both Hamler and Hippenhammer re- portedly have sub-4.5 40-yard speed. Polk has 28 catches for 289 yards (10.3 ypg) in his career, with one touchdown catch. He also has sub-4.5 40 speed. RIGHT GUARD The battle for Mahon's spot will most likely feature three play- ers: redshirt sophomore Michal Menet and redshirt freshmen Mike Miranda and C.J. Thorpe. Right now, the compe- tition appears to be wide open. Menet was redshirted as a freshman in 2016, and saw limited action last fall be- cause of nagging injuries. But he did play a lot in the Fiesta Bowl, and Penn State's OFFENSE QB Trace McSorley Tommy Stevens/Sean Cli7ord/ Jake Zembiec RB Miles Sanders Journey Brown/Mark Allen/ Johnathan Thomas WR Brandon Polk K.J. Hamler/Mac Hippenhammer WR Juwan Johnson Mac Hippenhammer/ Cam Sullivan-Brown WR DeAndre Thompkins Mac Hippenhammer/ Cam Sullivan-Brown/K.J. Hamler TE Jonathan Holland Nick Bowers/Danny Dalton/ Zack Kuntz LT Will Fries Alex Gellerstedt/Robbie Martin LG Steven Gonzalez C.J. Thorpe/Mike Miranda C Connor McGovern Zach Simpson/Mike Miranda/ Michal Menet RG Michal Menet Mike Miranda/C.J. Thorpe/ Robbie Martin RT Ryan Bates Chasz Wright/Des Holmes/ Sterling Jenkins DEFENSE DE Shareef Miller Shane Simmons/ Yetur Gross-Matos/Daniel Joseph DT Robert Windsor Antonio Shelton/Fred Hansard/ Corey Bolds DT Kevin Givens Ellison Jordan*/Corey Bolds/ Damion Barber DE Ryan Buchholz Shaka Toney/Shane Simmons/ Torrence Brown* OLB Koa Farmer Jake Cooper/Dae'Lun Darien/ Jesse Luketa MLB Ellis Brooks Micah Parsons/Jan Johnson/ Nick Tarburton OLB Cam Brown Jarvis Miller/Brelin Faison-Walden/ Brailyn Franklin CB John Reid Zech McPhearson/Jabari Butler/ Donovan Johnson FS Nick Scott Lamont Wade/ Jonathan Sutherland SS Ayron Monroe Garrett Taylor/John Petrishen/ Isaiah Humphries CB Amani Oruwariye Tariq Castro-Fields/D.J. Brown/ Trent Gordon PHIL GROSZ'S PROJECTED SPRING DEPTH CHART * Denotes injury; player's availability uncertain for spring practice