February 26, 2010

Blue-White Countdown 2010: Special Teams

Updated 3/2/10

With less than two months before the 2010 Blue-White Game, what better way to get ramped up about Penn State spring football than to start counting down each week with a position-by-position breakdown? Over the next seven weeks, I'll walk through all the major positions, trying to give the most reasoned explanation of who we could see come out big, and why.

In today's edition, we'll look at the special teams.

Can Colin Wagner (36) build on his strong performance in the Capital One Bowl?
Kickers
Fan confidence in Colin Wagner wasn't exactly sky-high going into the bowl game. But any doubt about the junior kicker was swept away when he drilled all four of his field goal attempts, including the go-ahead game winner. That final kick, aside from being the difference between winning or losing the Capital One Bowl, was snapped from the four yard line and on the right hash--just a bit of pressure.

Behind Wagner, Penn State has two legitimate challengers for the kicker spot--sophomore David Soldner and redshirt frosh Anthony Fera. Fera is the heavily-recruited placekicker out of Texas. He was a real fan favorite going into 2009 to replace departed record-setter Kevin Kelly. But the coaching staff decided to use Fera's redshirt, giving the nod to Wagner. Soldner has actually gotten quite a bit of praise from the coaches, as Joe Paterno has rolled out his usual talking point that every player has a chance to work into the starting lineup. Fera is on scholarship, while Soldner is not. That should give some indication as to which kicker will be the backup. But trust me on this: if Fera doesn't start 2010 as the second-team kicker, Tim will have to roll out another episode of Animated Message Board Squabbling.

At the Blue-White Game, however, it's customary for the coaches to plug in the backup special teamers, allowing them to get as close to real-game experience as possible. Wagner will probably handle the first kickoff and field goal for the Blue Squad, but Fera and Soldner will most likely take over after that.


No.
Name
Pos.
Elig
Ht/Wt
High School
Coach
36 Collin Wagner K rSR 5-9/173 State College, Pa./State College Area Al Wolski
28 David Soldner K rSO 6-1/209 Lititz, Pa./Manheim Township Mike Melnyk
30 Anthony Fera K rFR 6-2/212 Cypress, Texas/St. Pius X Robin Kirk



Ryan Breen (49) has some big shoes to fill, following the departure of Jeremy Boone.
Punters

***Ryan Breen has apparently left the team...***

Penn State has enjoyed a string of fantastic punters, starting with David Royer in 2002 (All-Big Ten honorable mention), Jeremy Kapinos from 2003-2006 (Ray Guy semi-finalist), and Jeremy Boone from 2007-2009 ('07 First Team All-Big Ten). Kapinos is currently the starting punter for the Green Bay Packers, while Boone has a very good chance to get picked up as a free agent this year.

Right now, Penn State only has one scholarship punter on the roster, redshirt junior Ryan Breen has apparently left the team. Breen hasn't seen much action in his two seasons as a Nittany Lion, but has been able to log two kickoffs in each of the last two seasons, to go along with one punt last year for 43 yards that landed inside the 20.

The fact that Breen has been used on kickoffs could give us some indication that the kickoff specialist position might not be locked up by a placekicker in 2010. Wagner hasn't been overly impressive on kickoffs, while Fera hasn't been given much of a chance to show what he can do. Breen would have had has a significant chance to start the season as Penn State's kickoff specialist.

The Nittany Lions don't usually keep more than one scholarship punter on the roster, opting instead to use preferred walk-ons to fill out the depth chart. As spring practice heats up this month, we should know much more about Penn State's punter situation, and whether Breen will get any competition going into the summer and fall return.

This puts an added emphasis on the news that Temple transfer Russell Nye will be on the spring roster. Since the official roster hasn't been released, we can't absolutely confirm this. However, with Colin Wagner and Anthony Fera coming out of high school as accomplished punters as well as place kickers, you should expect one of them to punt in 2010.


No.
Name
Pos.
Elig
Ht/Wt
High School
Coach
49 Ryan Breen P rJR 6-2/237 Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston Kurt Richardson
N/A Russell Nye P rSo 6-0/170 State College, PA/State College Area *Transfered to PSU from Temple* Al Wolski



Who besides Chaz Powell will emerge as a decent return specialist in 2010?
Return Specialists
We can only hope this position will be figured out by the fall. Since Derrick Williams graduated in 2009, Penn State hasn't been able to settle on a return specialist, particularly for punt returns. The kickoff return game was pretty bad in 2009, but that could be chalked up to a combination of things, including poor blocking and injuries to the more experienced return specialists. But the punt return game was so bad that most fans forgot the troubles on kickoff returns.

For kickoffs, it could pretty much come down to three players--Chaz Powell, Stephfon Green, and Devon Smith. Those three were actually the leading kickoff return specialists in 2009, with Powell getting the most opportunities (16) and Green posting the best average (25.5 on four returns). Smith turned some heads early in the season, but had trouble staying out of Paterno's dog house. He could return this year and make a bigger impact, as he's one of the fastest players on the team.

I'm not sure I even want to try to explain what's going on with the punt return game. Four players--Evan Royster, Graham Zug, Justin Brown, and Drew Astorino--fielded all but one punt in 2009. But only Brown was able to field a punt without the crowd holding its collective breath. Royster practically never ran more than two yards after the catch; Zug and Astorino nearly fumbled away the Indiana game; and Brown wasn't given enough opportunities to prove what he could do. However, it was Brown that ended the season as a fan favorite to take over in 2010. I tend to agree.

The only real problem with trying to predict the return specialists, especially for the Blue-White Game, is that punts are not allowed to be returned in the spring scrimmage. We might have to wait until August, or (let's hope not) during the season, to find out who will be the new full-time punt return specialist.

Next week: Defensive backfield

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2 comments:

  1. Hell, Justin Brown not being named the main punt returner will be grounds for some "Animated Message Board Squabbling."

    ReplyDelete
  2. I figure if the coaches are smart, they'll stick Brown back there on punts; Powell and Green will handle kickoffs. I'm sick of this whole "best hands" approach on punt returns. THose "hands" guys didn't exactly make anyone feel more comfortable when the punt was handled.

    ReplyDelete

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