RB3 Battle

We are so thin with experienced LBs that I would not risk Rojas.

How many former starters and multiple year contributors/starters would you expect college teams to have on average at any position?

DeLuka - 5th year former special teams stand out that was a top sub in 2023 and started in 2024, getting better as the season progressed and performing very well in the post season games.
Rojas - True junior that played a good many snaps in 2023 in most games when he burned his redshirt, started in 2024 and played very well down the stretch, especially considering he was playing hurt.
Campbell - True junior that played a good many snaps in 2023 in most games when he burned his redshirt, and started in 2024 at NC.
Wylie - Redshirt Junior that was battling for playing time and a starting job before getting hurt. Has practiced at PSU at LB for 3+ years.
Nelson - Redshirt Junior that moved from Safety over a year ago and was a backup in 2024, playing in 14 games.
Speca - Redshirt Freshman that played in 6 games last season and has gotten positive comments on his development.
Four other true and redshirt freshman in Jackson, Arrington, Tatsch and Smith, and it is not unheard of for freshman to get on the field and play pretty well at LB for PSU.

I agree that it doesn't seem necessary or practical for anyone to expect Rojas to play on offense even though he was a prolific high school RB, as PSU has large athletic skill players on offense that would be as adept or more so regarding short yardage wildcat QB's, and I find it surprising that anyone would suggest that Franklin would consider it.

But with the new PSU defense fielding only 2 LB's for over half the defensive snaps I don't see why some believe the LB room is so short on experience and depth. Losing King to the NFL was what happens in today's college football, and we really don't know if Robinson would have even won as large a big role in the PSU LB rotation as what Campbell seems to have transfered into.
 
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It's not even certain that Robinson will start at USC yet.
And why would PSU fans care what he does at USC? Robinson must have believed he would be sitting had he stayed at PSU this season, or else USC tampered with him and offered him $$$ before he entered the portal.

PSU has plenty of talent at LB now and I'm especially looking forward to seeing some of the younger developing LB's in the OOC games.
 
And why would PSU fans care what he does at USC? Robinson must have believed he would be sitting had he stayed at PSU this season, or else USC tampered with him and offered him $$$ before he entered the portal.

PSU has plenty of talent at LB now and I'm especially looking forward to seeing some of the younger developing LB's in the OOC games.

It's very interesting to me that he left a LB room where he seemed like the #4 option and went to another team to possibly be the 4th option. The initial chatter surrounded things like "they play 3 LBs, Knowles will only play 2" and "he's going there with a guarantee to start". I'm beginning to wonder if he was passed by (Speca, I'm looking at you).

Perspective. That's why a PSU fan cares about what he does at USC.
 
It's very interesting to me that he left a LB room where he seemed like the #4 option and went to another team to possibly be the 4th option. The initial chatter surrounded things like "they play 3 LBs, Knowles will only play 2" and "he's going there with a guarantee to start". I'm beginning to wonder if he was passed by (Speca, I'm looking at you).

Perspective. That's why a PSU fan cares about what he does at USC.
Why do we care unless he plays like an All American and it is clear we missed out on retaining him?

You bring up an interesting point and one we all should care about...did a guy like Speca pass him up and Speca is the real deal poised for a breakout year.
 
Why do we care unless he plays like an All American and it is clear we missed out on retaining him?

You bring up an interesting point and one we all should care about...did a guy like Speca pass him up and Speca is the real deal poised for a breakout year.

We will all still pay attention at some point and monitor what he does. KLS, Cephas, etc.
 
We will all still pay attention at some point and monitor what he does. KLS, Cephas, etc.
Absolutely. I watched KLS, who ended up being our only portal loss that truly impacted the team. KLS performed well vs SEC competition and likely would have helped us beat ND and OSU.
 
Absolutely. I watched KLS, who ended up being our only portal loss that truly impacted the team. KLS performed well vs SEC competition and likely would have helped us beat ND and OSU.

I can't say for certain that he puts us over the top in either of those losses, but I also know that he's instantly an upgrade over what Evans provided in those games. Perhaps a WR group with Wallace, KLS, and Evans could have done a little bit more.
 
I can't say for certain that he puts us over the top in either of those losses, but I also know that he's instantly an upgrade over what Evans provided in those games. Perhaps a WR group with Wallace, KLS, and Evans could have done a little bit more.
Perhaps but did you subtract the locker room cancer that he was? That part is not quantifiable. How much would his attitude have hurt our team and how much did it hurt a bad Auburn team despite his production?
 
Perhaps but did you subtract the locker room cancer that he was? That part is not quantifiable. How much would his attitude have hurt our team and how much did it hurt a bad Auburn team despite his production?

Good question. I did and I didn't, which is why I can't say he would have put us over OSU or ND. Stats alone, best behavior, and great teammate (Tyler Warren is the Ace; you just need to break loose once a game or get a couple first downs) KLS probably does. If we see a repeat of '23 where we took him off the field, absolutely not.

By all accounts, he didn't have any issues at Auburn. His issues at PSU might have been overblown. He didn't leave until April '24. If the whole locker room cancer thing was 100% true, why wasn't he shown the door during the winter window?

Did he perhaps see that under AK, the RBs and Warren were going to be the 1-2-3 punch? It's reported that he took less $ to go to Auburn, yet Auburn was coming off a bottom 15th ranked passing offense in '23 which in no way assures a good season (https://247sports.com/college/aubur...igers-football-penn-state-transfer-231875932/ source).
 
Good question. I did and I didn't, which is why I can't say he would have put us over OSU or ND. Stats alone, best behavior, and great teammate (Tyler Warren is the Ace; you just need to break loose once a game or get a couple first downs) KLS probably does. If we see a repeat of '23 where we took him off the field, absolutely not.

By all accounts, he didn't have any issues at Auburn. His issues at PSU might have been overblown. He didn't leave until April '24. If the whole locker room cancer thing was 100% true, why wasn't he shown the door during the winter window?

Did he perhaps see that under AK, the RBs and Warren were going to be the 1-2-3 punch? It's reported that he took less $ to go to Auburn, yet Auburn was coming off a bottom 15th ranked passing offense in '23 which in no way assures a good season (https://247sports.com/college/aubur...igers-football-penn-state-transfer-231875932/ source).
I'm guessing that he was a locker room issue and we held onto him until it became apparent that he could not be fixed. BTW, I feel like some of his locker room issue was present last year anyway with the 2 who chose to depart. This makes me believe that the WR coach is weak. It's not just that those guys weren't maximizing their on the field performance but they seem like they may have checked out when things were challenging. They may have had some issues, but the room having several issues is the coach IMO. This is a make or break year for him. Either prove that you can improve the room or pack the bags.
 
It's very interesting to me that he left a LB room where he seemed like the #4 option and went to another team to possibly be the 4th option. The initial chatter surrounded things like "they play 3 LBs, Knowles will only play 2" and "he's going there with a guarantee to start". I'm beginning to wonder if he was passed by (Speca, I'm looking at you).

Perspective. That's why a PSU fan cares about what he does at USC.
Not for me. He's gone and not coming back for this season so as a fan I'm concerned about the players that are on PSU's roster now and that are going to the PSU Fall camp competing to get on the field for PSU. USC is not on PSU's schedule this season so there's not even any interest in how Robinson does from an opponent perspective.

Playing time within a 3 LB defense makes some sense, but it's still conjecture, unless someone has heard something factual. Given that there seems to be tampering going on by the big money teams, including USC, my guess would be they went after Robinson with cash.

Robinson had an offer from USC coming out of high school and he committed to USC in April 6 days after he entered the transfer portal in April so it seems there was some relationship between him and USC that was ongoing, but who really knows.
 
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We will all still pay attention at some point and monitor what he does. KLS, Cephas, etc.
I actually will not follow how he does unless he has some unbelievably great season and our LBs are really weak. It's not like I will be searching out USC games and actively following him and looking up his stats.

Also, KLS was not going to help us last season. He disappeared in the OSU game and the Michigan game in 2023 and would have done the same last year. Add to the fact he was a big baby who would have had a temper tantrum once he saw how much of a stud Warren was and that Watren was clearly our #1 receiving weapon with him (KLS) relegated down the pecking order.
 
Not for me. He's gone and not coming back for this season so as a fan I'm concerned about the players that are on PSU's roster now and that are going to the PSU Fall camp competing to get on the field for PSU. USC is not on PSU's schedule this season so there's not even any interest in how Robinson does from an opponent perspective.

Playing time within a 3 LB defense makes some sense, but it's still conjecture, unless someone has heard something factual. Given that there seems to be tampering going on by the big money teams, including USC, my guess would be they went after Robinson with cash.

Robinson had an offer from USC coming out of high school and he committed to USC in April 6 days after he entered the transfer portal in April so it seems there was some relationship between him and USC that was ongoing, but who really knows.
I agree. The only way this guy's play is relevant to us is if we end up playing them and he has turned into one of their best defensive players that we have to account for and scheme for.
 
I'm guessing that he was a locker room issue and we held onto him until it became apparent that he could not be fixed. BTW, I feel like some of his locker room issue was present last year anyway with the 2 who chose to depart. This makes me believe that the WR coach is weak. It's not just that those guys weren't maximizing their on the field performance but they seem like they may have checked out when things were challenging. They may have had some issues, but the room having several issues is the coach IMO. This is a make or break year for him. Either prove that you can improve the room or pack the bags.
Absolutely with the WR coach, is it Hagans? If we suck again at WR I don't see anyway possible he is not gone.
 
KLS had a superb year at Auburn and did well versus Alabama, Georgia, Texas A&M. He also ran a 4.37 at the combine and is impressive at camp for the Chargers currently. He absolutely would’ve helped us win those games this past season.
 
Absolutely with the WR coach, is it Hagans? If we suck again at WR I don't see anyway possible he is not gone.
I think it’s Hagans. I’m sure Allar had some blame as well, but for some reason, he had no issue throwing to Warren. It’s tough to see somebody like KLS leave and have a large amount of success in the SEC.
 
I actually will not follow how he does unless he has some unbelievably great season and our LBs are really weak. It's not like I will be searching out USC games and actively following him and looking up his stats.

Also, KLS was not going to help us last season. He disappeared in the OSU game and the Michigan game in 2023 and would have done the same last year. Add to the fact he was a big baby who would have had a temper tantrum once he saw how much of a stud Warren was and that Watren was clearly our #1 receiving weapon with him (KLS) relegated down the pecking order.
Part of why our WRs disappear against Ohio St is that the Big 10 refs allow them to maul our receivers.
 
KLS had a superb year at Auburn and did well versus Alabama, Georgia, Texas A&M. He also ran a 4.37 at the combine and is impressive at camp for the Chargers currently. He absolutely would’ve helped us win those games this past season.
Disagree. He could not get it done in '23 and wasn't going to be a leader or a difference maker in '24. He was a cancer and needed to go. As I said he is a prima donna and would have been a cancer once it was obvious Warren was our go to guy.
 
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