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Savannah Grace Dorris

<p>It was his first practice at Penn State and Mike Gesicki had a problem.</p><p>After breaking down into position groups, offensive coordinator and tight ends coach John Donovan asked his players to get into a three-point stance.</p><p>&#8220;And I kind of just stood there,&#8221; Gesicki recalled Wednesday. &#8220;I wasn&#8217;t really sure how to get down and get in the specifics of it.</p><p>&#8220;I never really played the position in high school.&#8221;</p><p>That was last summer. A year and change later, he&#8217;s set to open the 2015 season Saturday as the Nittany Lions&#8217; starting tight end.</p><p>Lining up across the field from him at split end will be classmate Chris Godwin. Both have taken huge steps forward to earn first-team reps as true sophomores. And both figure to play prominent roles right from the opening drive when the Lions face Temple in Philadelphia this weekend.</p><p>For Gesicki, the road to this point was tougher because there was more to learn. Like many high-profile tight end recruits &#8212; Gesicki was ranked sixth in the country in the 2014 signing class &#8212; he didn&#8217;t actually play tight end in high school.</p><p>At 6-foot-6 and possessing athletic ability that saw him also excel at basketball, volleyball and track, he was much too valuable to the offense to stay in and block. So he played wide receiver.</p><p>That had to change for him to excel in college. Though he was too talented to keep off the field as a true freshman, the vast majority of his snaps came with him split out wide.</p><p>&#8220;Initially it was obvious I didn&#8217;t adjust well to the whole blocking thing,&#8221; Gesicki said. &#8220;I wasn&#8217;t successful and I didn&#8217;t get the job done. It got to be where the only time I was in there was on passing downs.</p><p>&#8220;After the year ended, I had a chip on my shoulder. If I was going to be the player I wanted to be, I had to accept the blocking part of it and change my mindset toward it. That&#8217;s what I did.&#8221;</p><p>It started with the winter strength program. Gesicki said he ended the 2014 regular season at 232 pounds and is now at 254 for the the 2015 opener.</p><p>And a little motivation from the head coach didn&#8217;t hurt either.</p><p>&#8220;In the spring I felt I was getting better day-in and day-out as a blocker,&#8221; Gesicki said. &#8220;(Lions coach James Franklin) told me that I couldn&#8217;t use the excuse that I never played tight end any more. I had to accept my role. I had to do both. I used that chip from my freshman year to do better and better and not only help out myself and my production but also help out the team.&#8221;</p><p>After getting to take in a full practice during training camp, the Big Ten Network labeled Gesicki as the Lions&#8217; best tight end. Likewise, respected Fox Sports college football reporter Bruce Feldman said Gesicki was &#8220;on the brink of stardom.&#8221;</p><p>As for that coach?</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s put himself in the position physically to change his body,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;So blocking, he&#8217;s able to fulfill a bigger role in that part of the game.</p><p>&#8220;On our team he&#8217;s a veteran, 255 pounds now, and he&#8217;s much more confident in playing and fulfilling the complete role of a tight end.&#8221;</p><p>Gesicki&#8217;s surge may have begun in the spring, but he didn&#8217;t play in Penn State&#8217;s Pinstripe Bowl win over Boston College. By contrast, Godwin announced his presence that night in the Bronx.</p><p>Like Gesicki, Godwin had only a handful of catches during the regular season. But against the Eagles, he lead all Lions players with seven catches for 140 yards, including an impressive 72-yard touchdown in which he cleanly beat his man down the sideline.</p><p dir="ltr">&#8220;That was huge,&#8221; Godwin said. &#8220;To be able to have the kind of game I had and help the team come away with a bowl victory, that was big for my confidence. It let me know I&#8217;m ready to take the next step forward.&#8221;</p><p>But according to both Franklin and receivers coach Josh Gattis, he had impressed internally long before then with his attention to detail and work ethic on and off the field.</p><p>&#8220;I think the thing that probably stands out the most is the things that we see every day that the media and the fans and even our opponents don&#8217;t get to see,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;He is a very, very, very intelligent young man, on the field and off. He&#8217;s a very, very mature young man. That&#8217;s what allowed him to play as a true freshman last year. Not just his physical ability, but his maturity and how he handles himself. I think all those things are showing up even more this year.</p><p>&#8220;If you had a list of characteristics that you were looking for, body type, speed, hands, maturity, intelligence &#8212; all those types of things &#8212; he&#8217;s going to have a checkmark in almost every single one of those boxes. He gets it. He really does.&#8221;</p><p>Gattis predicted that Godwin has the capability to &#8220;take over the Big Ten&#8221; after consistently grading out as the Lions&#8217; best receiver last season despite a lack of eye-popping numbers.</p><p>Godwin has deflected much of the praise that has been heaped on him this summer. But both he and Gesicki said Wednesday that their biggest reason for optimism this fall is their knowledge of the Lions&#8217; system.</p><p>&#8220;I think the main difference from last year for me is just how comfortable I am with the offense this year,&#8221; Godwin said. &#8220;Last year everything was new. Now I&#8217;ve been working with the coaches for a whole year and I&#8217;ve definitely grown as a player.</p><p>&#8220;Now it&#8217;s time to turn that into production.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Making big catches was never a problem for Penn State tight end Mike Gesicki (88), but he&#8217;s had to work hard to hone his blocking skills. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_gesicki-catch1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Making big catches was never a problem for Penn State tight end Mike Gesicki (88), but he&#8217;s had to work hard to hone his blocking skills. </caption0><photoCredit0>Gene J. Puskar | AP file photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_godwin-catch1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Though he didn&#8217;t break out until last December&#8217;s Pinstripe Bowl, Penn State wideout Chris Godwin (12) was getting rave reviews well before then from coaches. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_godwin-catch1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Though he didn&#8217;t break out until last December&#8217;s Pinstripe Bowl, Penn State wideout Chris Godwin (12) was getting rave reviews well before then from coaches. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Kostroun | AP file photo </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Gesicki, Godwin eye big roles in Penn State&#8217;s offense</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Derek Levarse</p><p>dlevarse@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>UP NEXT</strong></p><p>Penn State at Temple</p><p>3:30 p.m., Saturday, ESPN</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Sophomore starters Gesicki, Godwin ready to step up for Penn State