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P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L >> Wide receiver. And I could just as easily say tight end, because in our offense, the two go hand-in-hand. Juwan Johnson, because of our youth at the position, is going to get a whole lot of attention. Mike Gesicki really opened it up for just about every one of our wide receivers last year, and there's really no good reason to ex- pect that whoever replaces him is going to provide even half of what he did to the passing game. And, since it can be argued that the passing game was primarily what made us 11-2 last season, a step back in that area could be, if not catastrophic, highly damag- ing. Boy, do I ever hope there is a tight end on the roster who is right now flying under the radar, percolating away, and ready to step up and shock us all. But in that unlikely (OK, un- known) event, wide receiver is going to be a position of extreme impor- tance in 2018. Lion10 I will be watching the battles at linebacker and safety more than any others. Those two positions will be the keys to the defense performing like we want or costing us games or gray hairs. psuken Backup quarterback. If Tommy Stevens is still in the mix, I will breathe a huge sigh of relief. WeARE Running back. I don't believe that Miles Sanders should automatically be given the starting job. After that, LB, DT, TE. wible4psu Linebacker, defensive back and running back, actually. I want to see who will be in the mix with Miles Sanders. AngryOtter Kicker. If you've got one, it changes the game. We'll need one in two or three close games. jerrycalpal Linebacker: I, too, want to know who plays in the box. Wide receiver: I'm huge on K.J. Hamler, he can fly. Also, how quick can they can work Justin Shorter in? Shorter and Juwan Johnson are a scary duo. Tight end: Any chance that Zack Kuntz or Pat Freiermuth play? Mike Gesicki was only 225 pounds when he started. gorki11 I'm curious to see who emerges as Koa Farmer's backup at Sam. I believe it to be between Jarvis Miller and Bre- lin Faison-Walden. Hoping to read about a healthy BFW for the spring and beyond. PoquosonLion announce its choice. It was because Rahne's promotion "allows us to con- tinue to build what we're building here," Franklin said. "I also thought it was the right thing to do for Trace and Tommy [Stevens] and the rest of our quarterbacks, because they are very comfortable and confident in this system right now. And then also there's the fact that Ricky recruited every quarterback in that room. I think it just allows us to continue to keep build- ing." But Moorhead's exit was only the first of three key departures, as position coaches Charles Huff and Josh Gattis left for Mississippi State and Alabama, respectively. So in addition to a new offensive coordinator, the Lions also have a new running backs coach in Ja'Juan Seider and a new receivers coach in David Corley. They also have a new tight ends coach, as Tyler Bowen was hired to fill Rahne's former posi- tion, and a new special teams coordi- nator, with Phil Galiano taking over for Huff. That's a chunk of change, and some of it happened only weeks after Franklin vowed to "fight like hell to keep this staff together." While it may be a sign of respect when other schools poach your assistant coaches, those moves do create chal- lenges. For now, at least, Penn State fans are going to have to take it on faith that Franklin is as good at identifying coach- ing talent as he is at finding players. He did that at Vanderbilt, which is where most of Penn State's current staff was originally assembled. And Moorhead was a home run hire, too, so Franklin's track record inspires confidence. 3 Are any of the early en- rollees ready to push for immediate playing time? The Lions welcomed six Class of 2018 signees when the spring semester began in January. That's the most in school history, so the odds are pretty good that at least one or two of those players will appear on the depth chart when Penn State opens its season Sept. 1 against Appalachian State. The most obvious candidate for early playing time is Micah Parsons. Not only was the 6-3, 241-pounder one of the top W E B S U R V E Y Which position battle will you be watching most closely this spring?

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