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Penn State takes lead in chase for team championship

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Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins get another shot at league-leading Hershey Bears

<p>The toughest season, James Franklin said, was going to be 2015. That&#8217;s what he was told upon taking the Penn State coaching job two years ago and it&#8217;s what he and his staff believed was the case because of the depth issues caused by NCAA sanctions.</p><p>If that&#8217;s indeed the case, then this spring should be when the Nittany Lions start to turn the corner.</p><p>With three new assistant coaches beginning their first practice with the team when spring ball opened on Friday, however, it&#8217;s going to take some time. Of particular interest is how quickly offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead can install his new scheme.</p><p>Here&#8217;s a position-by-position look at where the Lions stand this spring.</p><p><strong>QUARTERBACK</strong></p><p>Franklin said Monday that while he&#8217;d prefer to come out of spring ball with his starter decided, <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/sports/penn-state/521634/franklin-preaches-patience-with-penn-states-starting-quarterback-decision" target="_blank">he won&#8217;t rush a decision</a> between Trace McSorley and Tommy Stevens.</p><p>McSorley has the advantage of spending two years as the top backup to Christian Hackenberg and getting to make an extended cameo against a tough Georgia defense in the TaxSlayer Bowl.</p><p>Stevens is a year younger but is four inches taller and can also move pretty well himself.</p><p>While the Lions&#8217; new offense will benefit from having a more mobile quarterback, Franklin said he&#8217;s just as interested in seeing which signal-caller can take command as a leader.</p><p>&#8220;The ones that I have been around that I think have had the most success, that&#8217;s what they&#8217;ve done,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;They have taken ownership of the offense. They have taken ownership of the receivers, and the O-line and watched film and had some discussions and asked really good questions. And right now, I see these guys doing that.&#8221;</p><p><strong>RUNNING BACK</strong></p><p>So what will Saquon Barkley do for an encore after breaking the school&#8217;s freshman rushing record?</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s (about) how can we continue giving him the reps that he needs to grow and develop,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;How can we get the game to slow down for him so he can play aggressive and be decisive in his pass protection and things like that. Anticipate when things are going to come.</p><p>&#8220;And that&#8217;s really when you become more aggressive. That&#8217;s when you become more physical and that&#8217;s when you actually play faster.&#8221;</p><p>Top recruit Miles Sanders won&#8217;t arrive until the summer. Nick Scott has moved to defense. That leaves sophomores Mark Allen and Johnathan Thomas as well as highly rated redshirt freshman Andre Robinson with opportunities to make an impression.</p><p>&#8220;I just texted (Robinson) about there&#8217;s still some things between now and summer camp he needs to continue to work on,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;But this is going to be a very, very important spring for him, and really all of those other running backs, to see how the depth chart is going to figure out.&#8221;</p><p><strong>RECEIVERS</strong></p><p>The wideouts could arguably be the deepest group on the team, with the Blue-White Game being the public&#8217;s first opportunity to see redshirt freshmen Irvin Charles and Juwan Johnson for the first time.</p><p>Coaches expect that both 6-foot-4 targets will push returning starters Chris Godwin and DaeSean Hamilton.</p><p>&#8220;We kind of went back and forth on whether we were going to redshirt (them) or not,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;Those guys, they&#8217;re exciting, and I think they&#8217;re going to create competition for starting jobs and also for two-deep. Those guys jump out at you.&#8221;</p><p>There are far more question marks at tight end.</p><p>Senior Brent Wilkerson has been suspended indefinitely from the team after being charged with indecent assault. Junior Mike Gesicki has as much talent as anyone on the roster but was plagued by drops and mental mistakes last year.</p><p><strong>OFFENSIVE LINE</strong></p><p>&#8220;To me,&#8221; Franklin said, &#8220;there is reason for hope.&#8221;</p><p>That about sums the team&#8217;s frame of mind in the trenches after a very rough few seasons. Though the Lions have recruited very well the last two cycles on the offensive line, it might be another year before some of those blue-chip prospects are ready to start.</p><p>But at the very least, players like Ryan Bates, Steven Gonzalez and Lake-Lehman&#8217;s Connor McGovern can make a run at jobs held by upperclassmen. And that&#8217;s something that didn&#8217;t happen in Franklin&#8217;s first two years because of a serious lack of depth.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think people understand the importance of competition at every single position throughout our program,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;When you&#8217;ve got a guy behind you at every position &#8212; that if you don&#8217;t come to work every single day, has a legitimate chance to take your job &#8212; that changes things.</p><p>&#8220;If you&#8217;re looking behind you and you know the guy behind you has no chance to take your job, it&#8217;s different. It&#8217;s human nature.&#8221;</p><p>Franklin is particularly looking for a surge from left tackle Paris Palmer, the former Lackawanna College transfer whose struggles began last spring and lingered into the fall.</p><p>&#8220;Junior college players make a dramatic improvement in year two,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;Very similar to (freshmen). They make a dramatic improvement from year one to year two.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s got all the things you&#8217;re looking for but now he has the experience and the size and the strength to go along with it.&#8221;</p><p><strong>DEFENSIVE LINE</strong></p><p>The strength of last year&#8217;s team, the Lions will now have to replace their three best linemen as well as a fourth player from the two-deep.</p><p>Rush end Garrett Sickels is the lone returning starter. The other three spots are very much up in the air, especially at tackle.</p><p>Franklin mentioned sophomore Antoine White and redshirt freshmen Robert Windsor and Kamonte Carter by name as well as Curtis Cothran and Kevin Givens, who are moving from end to tackle.</p><p>&#8220;Antoine White has been a guy that really is the model that you would like,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;A guy that&#8217;s sat behind some veterans and been able to get some game experience and build some confidence as he matured over time.&#8221;</p><p>The Lions also signed a whopping seven defensive linemen in February, including two junior college players, who will join the competition in the summer.</p><p><strong>LINEBACKER</strong></p><p>The most interesting battle here likely won&#8217;t play out until the summer.</p><p>Returning from a torn ACL, Nyeem Wartman-White isn&#8217;t expected to see much work on the field this spring. So it remains to be seen whether he or Jason Cabinda will play middle linebacker &#8212; the other will slot into the weak-side spot.</p><p>&#8220;They both want to be the &#8216;Mike&#8217; linebacker and neither one of them want to give it up, which is great,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;Our &#8216;Mike&#8217; and our &#8216;Will&#8217; linebacker are two box backers. They&#8217;re interchangeable in a lot of ways, so I think that&#8217;s going to be interesting and going to be fun.&#8221;</p><p>Depth continues to be an issue, particularly after Troy Reeder&#8217;s surprise transfer in the offseason. True sophomores Jake Cooper and Manny Bowen could both see extra work with the first team.</p><p><strong>SECONDARY</strong></p><p>Despite having to replace two starters, Lions coaches like where they&#8217;re at in the defensive backfield. Sophomore John Reid would seem to be the early favorite to start opposite Grant Haley at corner, especially if Christian Campbell is still limited from last fall&#8217;s season-ending injury.</p><p>Converted running back Nick Scott will be making his defensive debut as a cornerback.</p><p>&#8220;The corner position was something I thought was important to start him there,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;We feel like safety is probably the position that we have a pretty good amount of depth right now. We have six or so guys that we feel really good about. And at corner, we want to continue to create the depth.&#8221;</p><p>Marcus Allen and Malik Golden finished last season as the starting safeties.</p><p><strong>SPECIAL TEAMS</strong></p><p>The reinforcements &#8212; punter Blake Gillikin and kicker Alex Barbir &#8212; won&#8217;t be coming until the summer. But there&#8217;s still plenty of work to be done this spring.</p><p>The Lions gave up too many big plays in the return game last year and produced far too few. It&#8217;s not unreasonable to say that special teams woes have already cost Penn State four or five wins in two years under Franklin.</p><p>Former NFL special teams coach Frank Novak, whom Franklin worked with during his lone season with the Green Bay Packers, has already made one trip to Happy Valley to consult and is expected to return this spring.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s going to be a huge emphasis this spring, it&#8217;s going to be a huge emphasis this summer,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;Spent a lot of time this offseason studying what we do, studying what the better special teams units in the country are doing and how do those things fit what we are trying to do here at Penn State.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Running back Saquon Barkley (26) dazzled as a freshman and has been one of Penn State&#8217;s top performers in the weight room this winter. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_AP_622304438624.jpg</photo0><caption0>Running back Saquon Barkley (26) dazzled as a freshman and has been one of Penn State&#8217;s top performers in the weight room this winter. </caption0><photoCredit0>Gene J. Puskar | AP file photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_AP_26281864740.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Jason Cabinda (40) will again be starting at linebacker for Penn State &#8212; but will it be in the middle or on the weak-side? </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_AP_26281864740.jpg</photo1><caption1>Jason Cabinda (40) will again be starting at linebacker for Penn State &#8212; but will it be in the middle or on the weak-side? </caption1><photoCredit1>Gene J. Puskar | AP file photo </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_AP_749457320946.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Junior Garrett Sickels (90) will be counted on as the lone returning starter from last year&#8217;s strong defensive line. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_AP_749457320946.jpg</photo2><caption2>Junior Garrett Sickels (90) will be counted on as the lone returning starter from last year&#8217;s strong defensive line. </caption2><photoCredit2>Keith Srakocic | AP file photo </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_AP_893013375769.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Penn State coach James Franklin is hoping that a new offense run by Joe Moorhead helps the Nittany Lions turn the corner in 2016. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_AP_893013375769.jpg</photo3><caption3>Penn State coach James Franklin is hoping that a new offense run by Joe Moorhead helps the Nittany Lions turn the corner in 2016. </caption3><photoCredit3>Gene J. Puskar | AP file photo </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Derek Levarse</p><p>dlevarse@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Penn State spring preview: A position-by-position look at the Nittany Lions