Off Season Artilces Thread

[GregInPitt]

A thread to post any articles on the team that others may find interesting over the remainder of the Summer

An 'Incredibly Impressive' Group of Penn State Freshmen Draws Attention This Summer

Strength coach Chuck Losey says the Nittany Lions have a strong crew of edge rushers in the 2025 class.

www.si.com

 

[GregInPitt]

Penn State Football 2025 Preview: Nittany Lions Stacked Again at Tight End

Penn State turned tight end Tyler Warren into a star in 2024. Who could follow him this season?

www.si.com

Ranking Penn State’s Defensive Units for 2025

What will be the strength of the Nittany Lions defense in 2025?

www.blackshoediaries.com

Where PFF Ranks The Penn State Defense

PFF College ranks Penn State's 2025 defense No. 5 nationally, led by new DC Jim Knowles. Discover how Zane Durant, Dani Dennis-Sutton, and a talented secondary will dominate the competition.

nittanysportsnow.com

 

[TheNewBoss]

Penn State Football 2025 Preview: Nittany Lions Stacked Again at Tight End

Penn State turned tight end Tyler Warren into a star in 2024. Who could follow him this season?

www.si.com

Ranking Penn State’s Defensive Units for 2025

What will be the strength of the Nittany Lions defense in 2025?

www.blackshoediaries.com

Thanks Greg, the TE room will be interesting to watch this year!

 

[GregInPitt]

A popular topic......

Potential passing attack plagues can derail Penn State's overall season

Penn State football's passing attack was of discussion on Zach Seyko's "Locked On Nittany Lions" podcast and, specifically, what could hinder its progress in 20

victorybellrings.com

 

[LudicrousSpeedGO!]

penn-state-football-2025-preview-the-offensive-line-has-a-major-goal

 

[LudicrousSpeedGO!]

penn-state-football-2025-preview-remaking-the-wide-receivers-room

 

[LudicrousSpeedGO!]

https://www.si.com/college/pennstat...allars-return-signals-strength-at-quarterback

 

[LudicrousSpeedGO!]

Penn State Football 2025 Preview: How Penn State Built the Nation's Best Backfield

The Nittany Lions return two of the nation's top backs in Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen. And the talent doesn't stop there.

www.si.com

 

[Lazy Dave]

Duck Dive: Penn State Football 2025 Preview

Going deep with the Nittany Lions’ scheme, returning personnel, and unknowns

www.addictedtoquack.com

Oregon guys preview us. Interesting breakdown. They do film review and deep dive some stats. You can tell on some fronts they don't have any sources to gather from (Safety, for example, they don't have any expectations of Lane nor Toure when Lane seems primed to start by most of us here), but they at least have an outside perspective and go by what is available.

 

[Sherriff Coffee]

Duck Dive: Penn State Football 2025 Preview

Going deep with the Nittany Lions’ scheme, returning personnel, and unknowns

www.addictedtoquack.com

Oregon guys preview us. Interesting breakdown. They do film review and deep dive some stats. You can tell on some fronts they don't have any sources to gather from (Safety, for example, they don't have any expectations of Lane nor Toure when Lane seems primed to start by most of us here), but they at least have an outside perspective and go by what is available.

They aren’t fans of our WR coach!

 

[Lazy Dave]

They aren’t fans of our WR coach!

Who is currently? Lol

 

[bdroc]

Duck Dive: Penn State Football 2025 Preview

Going deep with the Nittany Lions’ scheme, returning personnel, and unknowns

www.addictedtoquack.com

Oregon guys preview us. Interesting breakdown. They do film review and deep dive some stats. You can tell on some fronts they don't have any sources to gather from (Safety, for example, they don't have any expectations of Lane nor Toure when Lane seems primed to start by most of us here), but they at least have an outside perspective and go by what is available.

That's a great analysis. Three things stuck out to me:

1) "Coach Franklin’s preference for a grind-it-out slow pace of play is at odds with optimal game theory since he enjoys a talent and efficiency advantage against nearly every opponent".

I notice this at the end of the half or game. Allar seems much more decisive when we're in a hurry up offense (the last throw vs ND excluded).

2) "So in 2024, the cumulative 2nd and 3rd down rush defense success rate on anything with 6 yards to go or fewer collapsed to just 29.8%, the lowest it’s been for PSU in five years by at least ten points. And the 3rd & short vs 3rd & long pass defense differential, already a weak spot for PSU, became its worst as well, a 45-point gap (35.7% vs 80.7%), indicating a defense that was entirely dependent on the pass rush getting home and a secondary powerless to cover more than about two seconds."

I've always blamed our poor 3rd down defense on strategy. I seems to me that we do a lot of blitzing hoping for explosive plays (sack, fumble, INT) on defense. We seldom play more conservatively where we're willing to give up 3-4 yds and force a punt.

3) #58 DT Artis from the 2022 cycle and #39 DT Blanding from 2023, only came in for a couple of reps deep into mop-up time on Penn State’s blowout wins against totally overmatched teams like Kent State, Purdue, and Washington - notably, they didn’t fill in during the postseason when Ford and Beamon were no longer available to complete the standard four-man rotation, which Andrew and I agreed would seem to indicate the staff doesn’t have much confidence in them going forward.

I have to wonder if a 2 LB defense is smart when you're weak at DT. It seems like a safer bet to play Rojas & Deluca on the outside with Campbell in the middle. Also, it's not like we have a lot of proven depth at safety to feel confident about playing 5 DBs.