Now less than two weeks from.opener. Any intel on depth chart?

LudicrousSpeedGO! said:
Really solid work on this Greg. It looks right to me except that I hope Cousins or Shanahan are first in at OC in the case of injury. If they are simply rolling the 2s out, then yes, I think it's Rulli as Cousins and Shanahan may be manning the OG spots.
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Vega is actually the backup center. Rulli is the "2nd string as a whole is in" C, but Vega takes the 2nd string snaps with the 1s if Dawkins is being spelled.
 
Lazy Dave said:
Vega is actually the backup center. Rulli is the "2nd string as a whole is in" C, but Vega takes the 2nd string snaps with the 1s if Dawkins is being spelled.
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That's interesting, as Ioane will more than likely be in the NFL in 2026. So it seems like it would be in the best interest to have at least one of Cousins or Shanahan also taking regular practice snaps at Center looking ahead.
 
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GregInPitt said:
That's interesting, as Loane will more than likely be in the NFL in 2026. So it seems like it would be in the best interest to have at least one of Cousins or Shanahan also taking regular practice snaps at Center looking ahead.
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Greg, your posts are really excellent, proviuding solid information and insight.

Just a minor point: you might consider changing the spelling of Vega's last name from an "L" to an "I" -- Ioane.
 
GregInPitt said:
Was nice that Franklin did make some comments on the progress of some players at a few positions. What I believe is ra ealistic depth chart as of now, without splitting hairs regarding exact positions on who backs up who as for example many times the 3rd DE may come in for whichever DE starter needs a break if he is clearly better than the 4th DE, but if 3rd and 4th are more equal they may sub exclusively for a particular starter.....

1st Team / 2nd Team / 3rd Team / 4th Team
OFFENSE
QB Allar / Grunk / Smolik (at this point that's all we know regarding the backup QB, Frankin may announce before 1st game)
RB Singleton OR Allen / Martin OR Wallace OR Smith - it would not be a surprise to see the 3rd RB job rotate on a game basis. / Hayes OR Coleman
WR Hudson, Pena, Ross / Clifford, Denmark, Howard / Brown, Ivey, Outten
TE Dinkins / Reynolds / Rappleyea / Schlaffer
L-OT Shelton / Williams / Boyer OR Sexton
LG Ioane / Shanahan OR Cousins
C Dawkins / Loane OR Rulli
RG (competition ongoing) Donkoh OR Counsins OR Shanahan / Cousins OR Shanahan
R-OT (competition ongoing) Rucci OR Donkoh / Rucci OR Donkoh / Goodman

DEFENSE
CB - Harris / Washington OR Collins / Dixon
CB - Washington OR Collins / Dixon
Lion - Tracey / Woosley / Mack
Safety - Wheatley / Lane OR Mack OR Belgrave-Shorter / Toure OR Dinkins
Safety - Lane OR Mack OR Belgrave-Shorter / Lane OR Mack OR Belgrave-Shorter / Toure OR Dinkins
LB Rojas / Campbell OR Deluka / Speca / Nelson
LB Campbell OR DeLuka / Wylie /
DE DDS / Harvey / Kemajou / Robinson
DE Fisher / Coleman / Williams / Mayer
DT - Durant / Wafle OR Blanding / Cook OR Adirika OR Andrews
DT - Ford / Gilliam / Artis OR White / Cook OR Adirika OR Andrews

Punt Returner - Tracey / Ross / Denmark
KO Returner - Singleton (for biggest games) / RB3 competitors Martin OR Wallace OR Smith / Will Ross ever get used as the KO returner?

Other issues impacting Depth Chart:
Legal resolution of charges for Lane and Woosley

Let me know if I missed anything. I'll update for new information as the backup QB is announced, for example.
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You've listed all the possibilities.

I'm confident the coaches have determined almost every starter, since it's now game week practice, yet we (fans) are wondering the following:

- who starts opposite Harris @ CB (I like Collins but I think its Washington)
- who starts opposite Durant @ DT (there is talk about Gilliam starting as Ford needs to be eased in)
- who starts opposite Wheatley @ Safety
- who starts @ RG (CJF indicated its still three-way race and all will play - I think Donkoh starts)
- At LBer is it Rojas & Campbell OR Rojas & Deluca as starters. Tough call but I'm going with Rojas & Campbell and Campbell has the green dot calling defense and when he's out it falls to Deluca)
 
LudicrousSpeedGO! said:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/football/the-penn-state-football-2025-season-opening-depth-chart-our-prediction-vs-nevada/
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Thanks for posting. He did make picks at the positions up for grabs.
Wallace over Martin and Smith for RB3.
Gonzalez as a top backup WR, even though I haven't hear a word about him at Fall practice.
Donkoh at RG
Washington over Collins at CB opposite Harris.
Picked White as the top backup behind Durant over Blanding which may be iffy.....
Mack and Lane OR'd as the 2nd starting Safety.
 
GregInPitt said:
Thanks for posting. He did make picks at the positions up for grabs.
Wallace over Martin and Smith for RB3.
Gonzalez as a top backup WR, even though I haven't hear a word about him at Fall practice.
Donkoh at RG
Washington over Collins at CB opposite Harris.
Picked White as the top backup behind Durant over Blanding which may be iffy.....
Mack and Lane OR'd as the 2nd starting Safety.
Click to expand...
The Gonzalez pick doesn't make sense. So many young guys have been mentioned but not him.....Denmark, Howard, Exinor, Brown not to mention the 3 transfers and Clifford. I would think he is our #9 WR at best. He is barely 3rd string unless only Howard plays of the true freshmen.

There is no way White is our #3 DT or#4 for that matter. He also seems to indicate Artis is ahead of Wafle. Not true either.
 
ryoder1 said:
The Gonzalez pick doesn't make sense. So many young guys have been mentioned but not him.....Denmark, Howard, Exinor, Brown not to mention the 3 transfers and Clifford. I would think he is our #9 WR at best. He is barely 3rd string unless only Howard plays of the true freshmen.

There is no way White is our #3 DT or#4 for that matter. He also seems to indicate Artis is ahead of Wafle. Not true either.
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Yeah, Gonzalez being 2nd team was puzzling. Heard nothing about him during this camp ither than working to recover from injury. CJF indicated Wafle & White were battling for 2nd team reps. We were hearing about Blanding, then he was in "the boot" for a few practices, came back and nothing more. Perhaps trainers still being cautious with him?
 
GregInPitt said:
Thanks for posting. He did make picks at the positions up for grabs.
Wallace over Martin and Smith for RB3.
Gonzalez as a top backup WR, even though I haven't hear a word about him at Fall practice.
Donkoh at RG
Washington over Collins at CB opposite Harris.
Picked White as the top backup behind Durant over Blanding which may be iffy.....
Mack and Lane OR'd as the 2nd starting Safety.
Click to expand...

I thought the same thing about some of those.
 
RickinDayton said:
Yeah, Gonzalez being 2nd team was puzzling. Heard nothing about him during this camp ither than working to recover from injury. CJF indicated Wafle & White were battling for 2nd team reps. We were hearing about Blanding, then he was in "the boot" for a few practices, came back and nothing more. Perhaps trainers still being cautious with him?
Click to expand...
If White is 2nd team and battling for playing time then that is a good thing. I thought he was further down the depth chart with Gilliam, Wafle and Blanding all ahead of him. As you suggest, maybe Blanding's injury means White moved ahead of him.
 
It's also great that the young linemen that may not be starters as they had hoped realize that after this season Shelton, Rucci, Dawkins and Ioane will all likely be gone to the NFL, and possibly Donkoh as well. So they won't have to look elsewhere to get starting jobs. Cousins, Shanahan, and Williams seem like sure 2026 starters at PSU. And the best case for PSU would be if Donkoh comes back and starts his last year at OT. A nice core group of talented olinemen that will be pretty experienced considering they won't be returning starters. It will be interesting to see how this plays out next off season, but Goodman may also be a 2026 starter. Birchmeier, Boyer, Sexton and Harbour will also be competing for 2026 starting jobs if they all stay at PSU. A great group to compete for the starting and key backup OL positions for 2026.
 
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GregInPitt said:
It's also great that the young linemen that may not be starters as they had hoped realize that after this season Shelton, Rucci, Dawkins and Ioane will all likely be gone to the NFL, and possibly Donkoh as well. So they won't have to look elsewhere to get starting jobs. Cousins, Shanahan, and Washington seem like sure 2026 starters at PSU. And the best case for PSU would be if Donkoh comes back and starts his last year at OT. A nice core group of talented olinemen that will be pretty experienced considering they won't be returning starters. It will be interesting to see how this plays out next off season, but Goodman may also be a 2026 starter. Birchmeier, Boyer, Sexton and Harbour will also be competing for 2026 starting jobs if they all stay at PSU. A great group to compete for the starting and key backup OL positions for 2026.
Click to expand...
Who is OL Washington? Did you mean to type Williams?
 
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