2026 Lineup

B

bdroc

Well-known member
Position & Grade

QB (B) Becht
RB (B) Hansen, Peoples, Martin
OL (B-) Donkoh, Buhr, Riker, Cousins, Sexton
TE (A) Rapp, Brahmer
WR (C) Sowell, Eskildsen, Howard

DE (B) Kematou, Granville
DT (C) Taupaki, Williams
LB (C+) Rojas, Bacon, Ebel, Tasch
DB (B) Dixson, Neal, Collins, Tracy

K (A-) Barker
P (C) Ticye

Overall B on offense and B- on defense. Not great but probably enough for 9 wins against a weak schedule.
 
bdroc said:
Position & Grade

QB (B) Becht
RB (B) Hansen, Peoples, Martin
OL (B-) Donkoh, Buhr, Riker, Cousins, Sexton
TE (A) Rapp, Brahmer
WR (C) Sowell, Eskildsen, Howard

DE (B) Kematou, Granville
DT (C) Taupaki, Williams
LB (C+) Rojas, Bacon, Ebel, Tasch
DB (B) Dixson, Neal, Collins, Tracy

K (A-) Barker
P (C) Ticye

Overall B on offense and B- on defense. Not great but probably enough for 9 wins against a weak schedule.
Click to expand...
I think you have Buhr and Cousins switched. Cousins is probably RG and Buhr LG.
Other than that thanks for the list. Interested to see if LBers, WRs, and the punter up your assessed grades as the season progresses.
 
bdroc said:
Position & Grade

QB (B) Becht
RB (B) Hansen, Peoples, Martin
OL (B-) Donkoh, Buhr, Riker, Cousins, Sexton
TE (A) Rapp, Brahmer
WR (C) Sowell, Eskildsen, Howard

DE (B) Kematou, Granville
DT (C) Taupaki, Williams
LB (C+) Rojas, Bacon, Ebel, Tasch
DB (B) Dixson, Neal, Collins, Tracy

K (A-) Barker
P (C) Ticye

Overall B on offense and B- on defense. Not great but probably enough for 9 wins against a weak schedule.
Click to expand...
Balance and putting players in the best position to succeed. Better situational playcalling and player development (i.e. execution) rest on the coordinators. A way too early grades for coordinators... Offense from C- in 2025 to B. Defense from C+ in 2025 to B. Expect fewer WTF moments.
 
Riker may end up starting but I believe Rulli also has a very good chance to win the starting Center job as well. Rulli has been in PSU's S&C program for 4 years and has competed against B10 competition whereas Riker likely has some work to do to get ready for the jump from Texas State only going into his 3rd season. Riker may be the plan for 2027 and possibly 2028.

There should be a good bit of competition for the OT spot opposite Donkoh between Sexton, Aliciene, Goodman, and possibly the ISU transfer

Blanding seemed to get more playing time as last season went along and in his redshirt Junior 2026 season he should compete for a starting DT spot this off season. Nice to have some experienced big bodies at DT for 2026.

Neil seems to be a starter at Safety, and the other starting Safety may also be an ISU incoming transfer such as Patton or Toure may end up as a starter as he played well in the bowl game.

Dixon and Collins should be the outside CB's with Tracy in the slot where he started last season, with Joseph seemingly competing for significant playing time coming off his freshman season where he played well while preserving his redshirt during the season and showing that he is a talented CB during the bowl game.
 
RickinDayton said:
I think you have Buhr and Cousins switched. Cousins is probably RG and Buhr LG.
Other than that thanks for the list. Interested to see if LBers, WRs, and the punter up your assessed grades as the season progresses.
Click to expand...
IMO LB will depend on if Rojas comes back healthy. I doubt that he'll be an active participant in spring practice. Bacon s/b be a solid. He was the #4 LB in the portal with a 91 rating.

WR depends on Sowell. PSU hasn't had a lot of tall WRs but he's 6'3" and had a 93 rating in the portal. He was rated #18 WR in the portal and his history with Becht should help.

The biggest risk is Becht staying healthy. I think Grunk was a big loss.
 
Getting the top players from any DI program is always good, whether they're from Illinois, GT, BSU, or even ISU. All the portal guys will have improved the team. And if football guy Campbell (vs BGJ) approves of them, then even more so.
 
bdroc said:
Position & Grade

QB (B) Becht
RB (B) Hansen, Peoples, Martin
OL (B-) Donkoh, Buhr, Riker, Cousins, Sexton
TE (A) Rapp, Brahmer
WR (C) Sowell, Eskildsen, Howard

DE (B) Kematou, Granville
DT (C) Taupaki, Williams
LB (C+) Rojas, Bacon, Ebel, Tasch
DB (B) Dixson, Neal, Collins, Tracy

K (A-) Barker
P (C) Ticye

Overall B on offense and B- on defense. Not great but probably enough for 9 wins against a weak schedule.
Click to expand...
Agree with the offense. Defense I would raise DT to a B, just on numbers and size of the new guys. DE I hope they are a B, I could see a bit lower. I think LB is better no matter Rojas's status. Bacon over DeLuca is huge. Agree with the others.
 
Bison13 said:
Agree with the offense. Defense I would raise DT to a B, just on numbers and size of the new guys. DE I hope they are a B, I could see a bit lower. I think LB is better no matter Rojas's status. Bacon over DeLuca is huge. Agree with the others.
Click to expand...
I might be overly optimistic about DE. Kemajou looked good in limited play last year and Granville was a potential start before getting injured. Who knows how healthy he'll be.

Agree with Bacon over Deluca at LB but we also lost Campbell. We'll see how things turn out.
 
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