Blue White Illustrated

P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L >> will be having an impact on Saturdays this fall. Whether or not it's specifically attrib- utable to the rise of Hamler in the slot, Brandon Polk switched from the H to the Z receiver spot this spring. If that puts him on the field with either Hamler or starter DeAndre Thompkins, it will give the Lions a fleet of speedsters that few, if any, Big Ten defenses will be able to keep up with. The offense is looking OK at wideout, but replacing Gesicki is proving to be a more troublesome matter. Two of the team's top options were limited this spring, which meant that redshirt soph- omore Danny Dalton and early enrollee Zack Kuntz got the majority of the live reps. That was, until Kuntz went down with an injury late in the spring. Dalton has shown flashes mixed in with lapses here and there, while Kuntz had been just what the coaching staff anticipated: a rangy pass-catcher who has a ways to go in his blocking ability/technique. 4 The offensive line is looking like one of Penn State's biggest assets. Entering his third season as starter, junior center Connor McGovern said early in the spring that he expects the line to be the strength of the 2018 of- fense. Offering an outside perspective, punter Blake Gillikin agreed. "I would 100 percent back that up," he said. "I think they'll be a real strength for our team this year, just from what I've seen in live periods." While the line made significant im- provements last season, the tenor changed even more this spring. That was largely because of the backups who pushed for playing time. The right guard position is the only vacant spot on the line, and redshirt sophomore Michal Menet is a primary candidate to take over. By all accounts, Menet's funda- mentals and technique are much im- proved since the end of the 2017 season. "He's probably had, since the end of the season until now, as much improvement as anybody in our program," Franklin said. However, redshirt freshman C.J. Thorpe is giving Menet a run for his money. The scouting report on Thorpe coming out of spring practice is that he gives the offensive front a quality it lacked during Franklin's first few sea- sons at PSU. Said the coach, "He plays with an attitude, he plays with a chip, he tries to finish people [and] he has a nasty streak." Thorpe has the mindset and physical tools to step into the first team. Ad- justing to the college game is what could hold him back. "He's every- thing you want in the run game," Franklin said, "but he's behind in the pass [blocking]. That's got to be his area of focus." Elsewhere, the backup offensive tackles are pushing the returnees. There are three proven options, with Ryan Bates, Will Fries and Chasz Wright all back, but there are only two starting spots. And behind those players are a couple of ris- ers who are making their case as viable Big Ten offensive linemen. Redshirt freshman Des Holmes has starter's abil- ity in pass protection but is still devel- oping his skills as a run blocker. Meanwhile, redshirt sophomore Alex Gellerstedt has turned from a tall and lanky athlete learning the position into a 300-pounder who is almost ready for playing time. As Franklin noted, however, any as- sessment of the offensive line this spring must take into account that the defen- GOOD HANDS Sulli- van-Brown, who had a 24-yard catch in the Blue-White Game, could be one of the redshirt freshman wideouts who sees substan- tial action this fall. Photo by Bill Ander- son

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