Here are three takeaways from Penn State football’s 2023 media day
Penn State head coach James Franklin and his coordinators spoke at press conferences Sunday afternoon at the Nittany Lions’ local media day. Here are three takeaways as the team prepares for the 2023 season. .
Evaluating the quarterbacks
Franklin and offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich both declined to put a timeline on the quarterback battle that will be decided during fall camp. Sophomores Drew Allar and Beau Pribula are competing to be the team’s first starting quarterback following four seasons with Sean Clifford at the helm. Allar is the presumed favorite — and rightfully so — after he took over for Clifford when he missed time during the Purdue game last season. The former five-star recruit has been the perceived leader for the job and it seems a matter of when, not if, he’ll be named a starter.
While both sophomores are showing progress early into fall camp, it’s true freshman Jaxon Smolik who has impressed the most so far in August.
“I‘d say Smolik has been kind of the surprise at camp so far, specifically in the quarterback room,” Franklin said. “He’s one of those guys that although he is still learning the nuances of the position and the nuances of the offense in terms of in the meeting, when asked questions, he’s not where Drew and Beau are in terms of being able to answer questions in a meeting, but he’s just got a natural feel for the position on the field.”
Smolik is unlikely to see the field this season, but it never hurts to have added quarterback depth. At the end of the day, however, it’s still far more likely than not that this is Allar’s team and the lack of a declared starter shouldn’t impact the perception of how good this group will be — especially since Franklin didn’t name Clifford the starter until late August each of the last two seasons.
Building depth across the board
The Nittany Lions are in position to contend for a College Football Playoff berth — what would be the program’s first since its inception in 2014 — and a large reason for that is the depth cultivated across the board in the program.
“I just don’t remember us having that (depth) as consistently across the board, and that really even goes to the specialists,” Franklin said. “I think we have more competition at the specialist positions that we’ve had in the past, so I think the stability on the staff, the more depth, those things, those things are good, and I think they typically lead to giving yourself a chance to be successful.”
Franklin said the goal is to have a three-deep at every position, or at least a two-deep plus one more player who can rotate in. The program has been in search of that level of contribution from its wide receivers in recent years, and this year is no different. Franklin said there are eight or nine players already competing for spots. The team is in need of players stepping up to fill the third spot with KeAndre Lambert-Smith and Harrison Wallace III presumably filling the two other starting jobs.
While the team searches for contributors at receiver, it’s doing the same on the other side of the ball at safety, where Franklin said the team only has a two deep right now. He added, though, that the two deep is better than last year’s even if the talent at the top doesn’t rise to the same level.
“I’m not necessarily saying that the starters are going to be better because as we all know, Ji’Ayir Brown was a hell of a player and a ton of production, but I don’t necessarily expect one person to replace his production,” Franklin said.
Depth is going to be a cornerstone of this team, and will be even more important if one of the receivers emerges from the pack to take hold of a starting spot.
Strength in the trenches
The offensive line has been the focal point of fall camp for the length of Franklin’s tenure but for the first time, it seems there is less uncertainty. The Nittany Lions are entering the year with a strong group in the offensive trenches and one that has real depth. It helps that the group is going against a high-level defensive line in practice consistently, another group that Franklin singled out as standing out just a few days into fall camp.
“Yeah, I think depth on the D-line and depth on the O-line, you know, is impressive,” he said. “The amount of bodies, the amount of experience that I think are going to impact the team this year and have really good careers here at Penn State, I think that’s impressive.”
Knowing what it has on the offensive line — and knowing how good it is — should be a major help for the team this season. It enables Yurcich to open the playbook as far as he needs without concern that the line won’t be able to handle its protections. That will only further benefit a young quarterback who doesn’t necessarily have the game experience the offense is used to having over the last four seasons.
