UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Football season is basically underway, as players buzzed from drill to drill Saturday on Penn State's second day of training camp, the first open to the media.
And yet, there's a long way for the Nittany Lions to go.
"We got a lot of question marks this year," James Franklin told reporters on the program's designated media day at Beaver Stadium. "Probably more than we've had the last two years. And I think we have a very, very challenging schedule. But I'm excited."
Penn State is deep offensively, but the defense is down eight starters from last year's Fiesta Bowl-winning squad and faced with uncertainty at defensive tackle and linebacker. There's a hole at kicker, too, where Tyler Davis graduated and headed to the Buffalo Bills.
"We all know defensive tackle, linebacker, and kicker are our three biggest question marks, we have a lot of other question marks, but they are probably the biggest question marks we have to get resolved," Franklin said.
Let's look at those question marks and how the Nittany Lions can answer them as training camp rolls on:
LINEBACKER
Penn State got good news Saturday with the return of linebacker Manny Bowen, who was dismissed from the team last season. To get back on the roster, Bowen had to follow stipulations set forth by Franklin and the coaching staff. Those stipulations were made so Bowen could not only rejoin the team, but also graduate in December.
"If he lived up to his end of the bargain, he would earn his way back on the roster," Franklin said.
Since rejoining the team, Bowen has become a teacher and mentor for the young linebackers as they continue to work through their position battles in camp.
"He's a student of the game. He's played a good number of snaps for us," defensive coordinator Brent Pry said. "He's coaching the heck out of some of those guys right now, not knowing what his role will be."
All three linebacker positions are up for grabs as well as the opportunity to be in the two-deep rotation once games begin.
Koa Farmer, the starting Sam last season and Cam Brown, the backup Will, will most likely be joined by freshman Micah Parsons on the first unit barring injury or a developmental set back. The plan was for Parson to become the Mike, but with his athleticism it would make more sense for him to play the Will where he can let his athleticism take over and play in space.
Farmer is most likely moving back to Sam with Brown moving to Mike. This gives Pry the opportunity to maximize the athleticism of Farmer and Parsons while also using Brown in a position he could thrive in. Redshirt junior Jan Johnson will see time with the second unit at Mike and some first team reps when one of the backers ahead of him needs a spell.
As for the other guys, freshman Jesse Luketa could see some time on the second unit but could also be a redshirt candidate. Expect Ellis Brooks, Jarvis Miller, and Jake Cooper to compete for second team reps as well with Cooper and Brooks ultimately earning a bulk of the time.
"I know we've got some great candidates. I love the competition right now. I'm going to roll guys through different spots and you know, after a week or two, we'll take a closer look." Pry said.
DEFENSIVE TACKLE
Redshirt junior Kevin Givens will anchor a unit that boasts three true freshmen (Aeneas Hawkins, Judge Culpepper, and P.J. Mustipher), a pair of redshirt freshmen (Evan Presta and Fred Hansard), a redshirt sophomore (Ellison Jordan) and a redshirt junior (Robert Windsor). It's a simple answer as far as Givens is concerned when it comes to why they are considered a question mark.
"He's talking about the young guys and seeing how they can develop." Givens said.
That development is going to determine which guys work their way into the two-deep to three-deep rotation which will take some of the workload away from Givens and Windsor who both appeared in all 13 games last season. It will also allow Givens to play end and tackle, giving Pry another weapon.
"We love that flexibility. I think it was one of the keys to our success last season. Tight ends, it's a handful when they try and block Kevin," Pry said.
KICKER
The kicking game will feature a whole new look as Davis handled kickoff and field goal/extra point duties during his time at Penn State.
Enter a camp competition which sees four freshmen (Rafael Checa, Jake Pinegar, Vlad Hilling and Justin Tobin) battling it out with redshirt freshman Carson Landis. At the end of each practice, Franklin has a kicking competition to add some fun as well as give kickers more reps.
"We had four guys out there who just got on campus a couple weeks ago and made every single field goal, looked great, operation time was right," Franklin said.
Special teams coordinator Phil Galiano and Franklin have developed a system to maximize the reps the kickers are getting in drills by alternating the days they kick on.
