Off Season and Pre Season Articles Thread

Dailybuck777 said:
Tough to read. I expect that Sayin is the better passer, but he looks kind of small to me. I would fear that he could turn into a Quinn Ewers. Kleinholtz is a very good athlete, but in the past not that great of a passer. In several competitions, he has thrown the ball better than Sayin. Kleinholtz is one of ten players (not normally a qb) who has won the very difficult iron buckeye award for fitness & gym work. I think it is a real competition between Sayin & Kleinholtz. Thing that concerns me about Kleinholtz is whether he can hit his receivers out of the break and on time. If he could he could be really dangerous.

I think Day intends to relinquish the play calling to Hartline. He views himself in nil age as more of a ceo. Hartline scares me because the last legendary position coach to be appointed as coordinator was Kerry Combs who was an absolute disaster. When Day goes outside of OSU and picks coordinators he is mostly successful. Jeff Hafley, Chip Kelly Jim Knowles. So far I am hearing good things about Matt Patricia. Outside of the defensive tackle position that may turn out to be very weak, the defense is loaded.

I felt very badly for Devin Brown who was an all around good guy and welcomed all competition but whose career at OSU was derailed by two very untimely injuries.
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Thanks for that info.
 
Takeaways from Franklin PC:

-he seems to like the 3 WRs we brought in. Mature, captains, production. Depth exists, so I assume we have a 2 deep he will trust. Essentially a call that we need playmakers on the field (ARon big catch vs Michigan in the 4OT game shout out), but tone wise, I think we've upgraded and developing.

-Knowles further into install than you'd expect. Sounds like less attacking on defense from the front 6. (My interpretation is less gap jumping and more lining up and going straight ahead) LBs more reading responsibilities. Secondary will play less straight man, more zone coverage coming.

-OL depth is huge. Reading between the lines, I think we see Donkoh and Cousins split RG reps early and Rucci at RT until somebody struggles or outplays the other. Mentions the 6 OL sets and ability to play even a 7th (more as a substitute, not a 7 OL formation).

-TE room definitely 3 deep today. Big praise for Dinkins ("severely underrated"). Rapp sounds 100%, bigger, stronger, faster. Reynolds improved as well.

-expected Smolik to return rusty, but he didn't. Pushing QB2 competition all the way through the season and into the spring (coach speak IMO)

-Safeties. Still a battle for the 2nd and 3rd safety. Named Mack, Lane, Belgrave-Shorter, and Toure. Will play the best player at 5th safety spot, be it a CB or Nickel.
 
AK PC:

-more QB2 competition talk. No inclination one way or other.

-WRs brought in are fantastic teammates. No selfishness. Being leaders.

-Rapp is hungry. Have to hold him back, wants all the reps.

-team has maturity and experience. Team responding to adversity very well. Throwing curveballs at them in practice to keep them on their toes.

-Allar mobility is improved further. Trying to get him more involved with the overall thinking process with the coaches.

Knowles PC:

-football is complicated, gotta have answers to everything. He's gotten better at installing his defense. He's charged with being great now. If it's complications, he has to adjust and if not thats his fault.

-very impressed with Rojas. Even more physically developed and his knowledge is impressive already. Jumped out first 3 days. Amare has a lot of natural LB skills. Rare to see with all the converted players these days. Natural instincts is big, Amare has it. (Reading between the lines, Amare is your Mike and green dot)

-really impressive with Ford first 2 days, particularly after he wasn't available during spring. Having DTs who can tackle and not just eat blocks is huge. Changes how you plan your defense.

-corners are IMPRESSED and a real STRENGTH of the defense. Asked about AJ and Washington, Knowles tells them not to forget about Collins and Dixon. Praise for Smith and DB culture. Going to set things up for them to make plays.

Justin Lustig PC:

-Tracy, Pena, Ross, Denmark, Josiah Brown, and Koby Howard all in punt return competition. Really excited about Howard.

-potential for major improvement in special teams. Year 2 for him, year 2 for the returning starters.

-Gabe pushing Riley for punter.

-Dixon stands out. Probably will burn his shirt for special teams even with corner being deep. (Didn't explicitly say that, my take between the lines)

-no Intel on kick return. Weekly, game time decision. Sounds like Singleton will still be back there with maybe Matrin and Smith.

-Knowles is very detailed, great teacher. Helped him a lot (he's also outside LB coach) to learn how to coach defense (15 years experience as offensive coach prior he mentioned)
 
One of the interesting notes I took away from Franklin's presser is when he was talking about the receivers he mentioned the RBs and how he wants to get them in space and how they have improved as receivers. His direct quote...."They grew dramatically last year as receivers. I expect them to take another step this year and I want them to get the ball in the space as well."

Utilizing Singleton, Allen and even Martin as receivers can add another dimension for us. Remember Singleton 's TD catch vs USC? More of that.
 
- Injuries:
Off season injured that may be or are ready to play are still listed as "limited" until they go through their first contact practice. Seems that the team is healthier than the current injury listing might indicate.

WR's.
Hudson - previous team captain. Experienced senior
Pena - also previous team captain
Ross - made plays vs Iowa.
Need more WR playmaking. Now more depth.

LB's.
Rojas is ready to play at a very high level.
Franklin complimented Campbell's playmaking while at NC, but immediately mentioned the competition with the other LB's, Deluka, Wylie, Speca, so I read this as Campbell is not now a starter but will for sure play a lot, and that he sees the LB competition that is developing talented depth depth as very good for the defense.

OL, just like in the secondary, it's a battle to get the best 5 players on the field as well as to build depth. In the secondary the 5th best DB may be a Safety or a CB. Better depth than he's had in his 12 years at PSU, for the most part.....
 
GregInPitt said:
I don't believe this was already posted, but Donkoh's situation is explained with some interesting comments.


247sports.com

Back from injury, Penn State offensive lineman Anthony Donkoh competing to start at multiple spots

Penn State redshirt sophomore Anthony Donkoh is back on the field after missing extended time with a November injury. A starter at right tackle for 10 games last season, the Nittany Lions lineman is currently competing at two positions.
247sports.com 247sports.com
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I don't recall PSU ever having an OL this deep.
 
Sherriff Coffee said:
I don't recall PSU ever having an OL this deep.
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It sure looks that way. All the depth may result in some "OR's" in any depth chart discussions at a few OL spots. Cousins and Williams who has also played OT as backups inside, and the 3 very experienced OT's including Donkoh who is also practicing inside, there are lots of possible combinations. I'm hoping to also see some new faces on the OL in the OOC games as after this season the OL will lose Dawkins Rucci, Shelton, likely Loane and possibly even Donkoh. So I'm hoping to see some of players such as OT's Boyer and Sexton and possibly Goodman at OT, and Birchmeier, Onoh, Harbour and Brewer in addition to Cousins, Williams and Shanahan inside.

It seems that the anticipated big losses to graduation/NFL on the OL after this upcoming season are what kept all the young olinemen from entering the portal and got Shanahan to transfer in. Lots of candidates to play in 2026 and Trautwein will surely be working through that all he can in practices whenever those players get snaps, but maybe us fans will get to see some of it on the field at times this season as well.
 
GregInPitt said:
It sure looks that way. All the depth may result in some "OR's" in any depth chart discussions at a few OL spots. Cousins and Williams who has also played OT as backups inside, and the 3 very experienced OT's including Donkoh who is also practicing inside, there are lots of possible combinations. I'm hoping to also see some new faces on the OL in the OOC games as after this season the OL will lose Dawkins Rucci, Shelton, likely Loane and possibly even Donkoh. So I'm hoping to see some of players such as OT's Boyer and Sexton and possibly Goodman at OT, and Birchmeier, Onoh, Harbour and Brewer in addition to Cousins, Williams and Shanahan inside.

It seems that the anticipated big losses to graduation/NFL on the OL after this upcoming season are what kept all the young olinemen from entering the portal and got Shanahan to transfer in. Lots of candidates to play in 2026 and Trautwein will surely be working through that all he can in practices whenever those players get snaps, but maybe us fans will get to see some of it on the field at times this season as well.
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I wonder, if Donkoh is that "smart", if Center may be in his future. I can see him calling out coverages and assignments.
 
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