Several Penn State bloggers have decided to put together a round table entering spring practice and I was lucky enough to take part in this one. And this year’s participants are:

Black Shoe Diaries
The Nittany Line
There is No Name on My Jersey
Tangled Up in White and Blue
William F. Yurasko
The Big Eleventh
Nittany Notebook
Run Up The Score
NittanyWhiteOut

Let’s get on with it then.

Let’s start with the ugly news. Chris Baker, Chris Bell, Phil Taylor, Knowledge Timmons, and Navorro Bowman are all sitting out the spring practice sessions. What impact will this have on the 2008 season?

Huge. As much as fans would brush off these players as mere ‘thugs’ since the suspensions, the losses would be huge for Penn State.

Thats a combined 55 starts with Baker, Bell and Taylor playing in all but 1 game last season. These are experienced players we are losing, not a bunch of bench warmers so the impact of their suspensions is bigger than most believe it to be.

Considering that last year’s season was very much the result of a defensive letdown as it was Morelli, further losses to the defense especially experienced defensive players is the last thing Penn State needs to improve on last year’s record. Despite the multitude of defensive personnel on this list, the biggest loss is Chris Bell.

You’re talking about an underclassman receiver who caught 1 ball against Notre Dame, but squeezed 51 yards out of it. Then theres the 37 yard reception against Illinois in his only catch that game. This is was an up and coming wide out for Penn State who can turn greatness out of nothing. He will no doubt be the biggest loss for Penn State if he was suspended indefinitely.

Would you move Sean Lee to middle linebacker like Paul Posluszny in 2006 and Dan Connor in 2007?

Out of all the linebackers deployed in every defense there none is more important than the middle linebacker to the 4-3. Also referred to as the “MIKE backer”, he needs to be the best tackler on the team as well as its most physical player. This is because the 4-3 defense is designed to turn everything back inside towards him. -Scout

Penn State utilizes the 4-3 base defense with 4 defensive linemen and 3 linebackers. There is no linebacker in our current crop that is a better tackler or a more physical player than Sean Lee. The staff did the same with Paul in 2006 and Connor in 2007 for the exact same reason and I see no reason to break tradition. Sean Lee played outside linebacker last year because we had a better Connor playing in the middle position. Repeat that with Connor in 2006 and add in Paul to the mix. So the chain continues and lets hope we will always have strong candidates to plug in the middle for years to come.

If Lee stays on the outside, who would you start at the other outside linebacker assuming Bowman is out of the picture?

We are Penn State. There is never a shortage of linebackers here at Linebacker U, unfortunately for us though, not many of them have the experience we were accustomed to during the era of Paul, Connor and Lee. If the coaches decide to leave Lee on the outside, I could foresee either Josh Hull or Jerome Hayes inserted into the other outside position. This is purely under the assumption that the coaches would put Sales in the middle position as our second strongest linebacker.

I would much prefer Hayes playing opposite Sean Lee, he is a much more instinctive linebacker with good sideline to sideline speed, but unfortunately he went down with an ACL injury last year. If he manages to stay healthy through spring and fall practice, look for him to torture defenses alongside Lee and Sales.

Which position on the field is our weakest link?

Where do I even start. If we’re talking about experience, its quarterback, if we’re talking depth, we’re looking at cornerback. The loss of Chris Baker would have most people claiming defensive tackle as our weakest link seeing, but lets not forget that Abe Koroma is more than capable as a replacement. It was his injuries that kept him from the first team last year, not his ability to play the position.

Its a toss up between quarterback and cornerback. But with two quarterbacks competing for 1 spot, cornerback would be our weakest position due to our lack of depth.

We have two capable cornerbacks in A.J. Wallace and Lydell Sargeant, but if either one of them gets hurt, who’s next? Usually it’s Knowledge Timmons, but he’s busy getting suspended and we have no idea how long it will take him to get out of Joe’s doghouse. Besides Timmons, we have Devin Fentress, Drew Astorino, Willie Harriott and D’Anton Lynn. Who? Exactly.

Two much heralded freshmen, but freshmen nonetheless, and two juniors no ones heard of for a reason. Lion fans should pray for our two cornerbacks and hope they remain injury free and more importantly, out of trouble. Any more losses would make things critical.

Who is your pony in the quarterback contro…uh, competition?

I’ve talked about the quarterback competition in an earlier post. But the only reason we have this controversy is because of the lack of significant playing time by either candidate. Had Clark been given the opportunity to throw the ball a lot more last season, there would be no question about his passing ability. Instead we were treated to draws and running plays by the speedster racking up 78 rushing yards on 12 carries all season including 2 touchdowns. In the Alamo Bowl against Texas A&M he ran the ball 6 times for 50 yards including an 11-yard touchdown alongside Morelli in the shotgun.

So great, we know he can run. But can he hit a billboard with a football?

On the other end of the spectrum, we have Pat Devlin who only threw 1 pass all of last season. An incompletion against Florida International. Since that throw, he was relegated to hand off duty when the game was either lost or well in-hand.

While many will curse the quarterback controversy currently unanswered at Penn State, I whole heartedly embrace it. We can either have a quarterback by default like with Zack Mills or Anthony Morelli simply because they are upperclassmen, or we can actually enjoy the competition and the benefits it brings in pushing both quarterbacks to perform better. Without a clear leader under center, both candidates actually have to perform to earn the job. Morelli won it simply by waiting on his hands for 3 years. I much prefer the competition, don’t you?

But I would expect Daryll Clark to be the main guy under center come September. Pat Devlin is good, but Clark simply brings the intangibles Lion fans haven’t seen since the Robinson season.

Name three players that absolutely have to step up their performance this spring?

Pat Devlin. For all the talk about a two quarterback controversy, Pat has done relatively nothing all last season to even stake a claim for the title. At least Daryll Clark has thrown 9 passes completing 6 of them for 31 yards last season. Pat threw one and it fell incomplete to the turf against Florida International. Daryll has also rushed for 3 touchdowns including an 11-yarder to tie the game against Texas A&M in the Alamo Bowl. Daryll is simply just more accomplished on the field to be challenged by Pat. Pat is Daryll’s off season competitor by default of his heralded status coming out of high school.

Brett Brackett is my number 2 pick. With 3 star receivers on the team next season, it would be odd for a wideout to make this list, but Brett has to have a great spring to become 2009’s star receiver. By 2009 we lose the trio of Williams, Butler and Norwood to graduation and/or draft so a new go to guy has to be found. With Bell’s suspension, Brett is in the best position to be it, but whether or not he gets the title will depend on spring practice.

Stephfon Green. With Evan Royster the clear #1 tailback for the Lions this fall, Green can be lightning to Royster’s thunder. Rumors out of spring practice is that Stephfon Green makes the first team defense look slow. You bet that’s exciting. If he has a great off season, he may see the field as early as this year providing a great one-two punch for the Lions.

Lightning Round

Who is your pick to win the Red Worrell award given to the offensive player that shows the most improvement during spring practice?

Daryll Clark

Who is your pick for the Jim O’Hora award given to the defensive player that shows the most improvement?

Abe Koroma

Your 2008 team captains are…?

Sean Lee and A.Q. Shipley. I was tempted to name Scirrotto on this list, but unlike Connor when he was named captain in 2007 after a bow and arrow incident, Scirrotto has not redeemed himself enough to earn that spot.

Releated Posts:

1. Spring Position Profiles: Linebacker
2. Blue White Roundtable: Blue White Edition
3. Position Profile: Linebacker
4. Spring Position Profile: Defensive Backs
5. Spring Position Profile: Tight Ends

Tweet