Penn State's Biggest Trouble Spots for 2011, Part 1

A few big story lines stick out from Penn State's depth chart heading into this summer. The quarterback battle is on everyone's mind, but that's only part of what could possibly make or break the entire 2011 season. The running backs, tight ends and defensive ends are among and handful of trouble spots, though none of them are worrisome for the same reasons or to the same degree. For instance, the running backs aren't necessarily a problem, but the situation is still more unsettled than most other positions.

You know one thing that isn't all that unsettled this summer? The offensive line. Yup, that perennial message board fodder in the trenches is still getting a lot of ink, but almost because it's supposed to be a problem for Penn State practically every year. But it's not rainbows and jellybeans, either. More on that in a minute.

There are four big sections in the off-season: post-bowl (Jan-Feb), pre-spring (Feb-Mar), pre-summer (May-June), and pre-season (Aug). Usually during these inter periods it's a good time to gauge the depth chart situation. That's what I will begin today, though it was something I had originally planned for a week or two ago.

This week and next week, I'll look at a couple positions that are the most troublesome going into the summer and fall camp season. Today starts with the trenches, mainly the defensive ends, tight ends and a very specific look at the right guard position on the offensive line.

Enjoy.

Oversigning and the Big Ten: Walking a Fine Line Between Hypocrisy and Reasonable Solutions

Oversigning. If you're reading this or any sports blog that has even a remote connection to college football, you've heard the word. It refers to the seemingly common practice of some schools and conferences to sign more players in a given recruiting class than there are scholarships available. As outlined in a recent Detroit News story, the most blatant perpetrators come from the Southeastern Conference.

Over the last 10 years, the SEC has averaged 25.2 signed recruits per season among its 12 institutions, according to statistics compiled by The Detroit News from data on Rivals.com.

25.2 per year might not sound like much, but consider the nature of the college football scholarship system. Each player, barring the uncommon sixth year of eligibility, has five years to play four seasons of college football. In 2011, Penn State will have scholarship players ranging from true freshmen to redshirt seniors (and even one likely candidate for a sixth year of eligibility in Pete Massaro). By the current count, Penn State has 87 scholarship players, a topic for a later debate, but transfers and injuries make the 85 scholarship limit easily within reach.

By contrast, with the 25.2 average, each SEC school has, on average, 126 scholarship players! Now we all know that's not true; none of these schools actually have 126 scholarship players. Early departure to the NFL, "medical hardships" and JUCO transfers cause that number to be slightly inflated. But you can see how averaging 25.2 scholarships per year can get a school into hot water quickly. That is, if the NCAA really did anything about these numbers.

PSU Basketball 2011-12: We've Been Here Before

Open your eyes, Tim. Because
it's about to get real, and you're right
in the center of it all next season.
(Photo: CDT)

*This is the last of three posts that will wrap-up the 2010-2011 basketball season and take a look at the state of the program. The 1st/2nd posts can be found here and here. 

---

Penn State does not regularly make the NCAA tournament, as evidenced by their 4 appearances in 46 years. Before this season, the last time this program made it was 10 years ago behind the backs of a group of battered but determined seniors, trying to salvage their careers with an NCAA berth. Everyone uses this fact to be quick to compare this year's team to that 00-01 squad. There are just two similarities between the two teams that I can come up with:

Way Too Early 2011 Depth Chart: Pre-Spring Defense

Today is part two of our look inside the projected spring depth chart.

Part 1: The Offensive Depth Chart

As the Penn State offense struggled to find any sort of consistency in 2010, the defense was surprisingly not as bad as many will remember. There were plenty of breakdowns on a defense that's planted its flag among the elite units in college football the past six to seven years, but the overall production from the unit has some major upside looking back and then realizing what returns for 2011.

Way Too Early 2011 Depth Chart: Pre-Spring Offense

Admit it, you've been already fighting off the football itch, and it's not even letter-of-intent signing day. So as we dive deeper into the worst part of the off season--yes, worse than after spring practice, when at least the preview magazines start rolling out--we're going to roll out a few football posts here and there looking at Penn State's 2011 spring practice. Today, we're starting off with arguably the most entertaining--albeit the most unpredictable--part of any season preview: The Depth Chart.

Outback Bowl '11: Penn State Depth Chart

Updated

Michael Mauti is emerging as the
next great leader at Linebacker U.
(Photo: Mike/LBU)

Not many changes for the Outback Bowl. Michael Mauti returns to full strength, which should be a real boost for the defense.

No commentary this week, due to the fact that there isn't anything do analyze. Mark Wedderburn and Kevin Newsome are no longer on the chart, as they have stayed home, and will likely leave the team this off-season.

Here is this week's bowl depth chart.

11th Hour Depth Charting: Michigan St at Penn St

Some important injuries this week, though not nearly as destructive as other points this season.

RG John Urschel could start,
depending on Doug Klopacz's status.
 (Photo: Mike/LBU)

The latest depth chart (from what we can tell) for this week's game, with some complementary notes...

-The players marked with an asterisk (*) are only projected to either start or not start, based on how the injury situation plays out at each position.
-The offensive line depends on whether or not Doug Klopacz is ready to go. If not, then Stefen Wisniewski will move to center, as he did against Indiana, while John Urschel will move up to start at RG.
-Michael Mauti could end up playing, but I'll go with Nate Stupar as the starter again this week.
-It's senior day, so Bani Gbadyu will start. But that doesn't mean he'll stay there the full game. Watch for Gerald Hodges to come in early.

11th Hour Depth Charting: Penn State at Indiana (updated)

Will we get "The Scranton Slinger,"
or "McSix" this week?
(Photo: Mike/LBU)

Another week with little change. The latest depth chart (from what we can tell) for this week's game, with some complementary notes...

Offense
-No major changes. Matt McGloin is still the starter.

Defense
-Michael Mauti is out this week with that shoulder injury (dislocation). Nate Stupar should fill in nicely, but there will still be a big leadership void on defense.

Sp. Teams
-Anthony Fera's appendix nearly exploded all over his innards. The surgery will set him back at least the rest of the regular season, if not longer. True frosh Alex Butterworth takes over.

Update: Apologies for not mentioning Sean Stanley or Silas Redd. I believe Redd won't be punished by the team. There's no reason to. He wasn't drunk, and how many of us have done what he did? Sean Stanley, on the other hand, is up in the air. I'm leaving him as the main backup to Pete Massaro on the weak side, but if he doesn't play, it wouldn't shock me. The defensive line is very weak and thin this year, so him playing may happen. Still, Stanley's situation is much different than Redd's, because Stanley was out drinking the night before the Ohio State game. No matter if he got caught or not, what does that say about his commitment to the team? Nothing good, that's what.

The depth chart:

11th Hour Depth Charting: Penn State at Ohio State

Another week with little change. It becomes more clear why Penn State has been able to play so well the last three games--stability! The latest depth chart (from what we can tell) for this week's game, with some complementary notes...

11th Hour Depth Charting: Northwestern at Penn State

There actually isn't much change this week, which could be a good thing for a team that could use a little stability. The latest depth chart (from what we can tell) for this week's game, with some complementary notes...

11th Hour Depth Charting: Michigan at Penn State

The latest depth chart (from what we can tell) for this week's game, with some complementary notes...

11th Hour Depth Charting: Penn State at Minnesota

Gerald Hodges is expected to play this week,
but to what degree is still up in the air.
Hodges was injured on the first kickoff at Alabama.
(Photo: Mike/LBU)

It's a tough one this week, with so many players supposedly returning from injury. Some of them, like Michael Mauti, Bani Gbadyu, and Jordan Hill, are locks to either start or play significant time on Saturday. But then there are guys like Gerald Hodges, Jack Crawford, and even Brandon Beachum (actually listed as "possible" on the PSU injury report), who I'm not really sure are going to go this week, unless they are desperately needed.

The latest depth chart (from what we can tell) for this week's game, with some complementary notes...

11th Hour Depth Charting: Illinois at Penn State



Yet another true freshman could start
for Penn State this season, as Khairi Fortt has been
taking snaps with the first team this week in practice.

 The injury bug has hit hard this season, with some very big names off the projected starters list this week.

The latest depth chart (from what we can tell) for this week's game, with some complementary notes...

-Remember, this isn't the "official" depth chart that Penn State releases each week. I add changes based on what we've seen, not always what is said or released by Penn State.

-Sean Stanley and Derrick Thomas are still off the depth chart, and we may not even see these two the rest of the season. Let's hope that doesn't happen.

-Jack Crawford, Jordan Hill, Michael Mauti, and Bani Gbadyu are all out with minor injuries, but could play. The least likely to play are Crawford and Hill. No matter how underwhelming Crawford has been this year, it will still hurt if he can't go this weekend. Hill is getting over an ankle injury from the Iowa game, but may sit out this week.

-Khairi Fortt and Nate Stupar have taken over the starting OLB spots in our depth chart this week, but they could end up rotating out with Mauti and Gbadyu, depending on how those two guys are feeling.

-Glenn Carson moved into the second team "Backer" spot, as Mike Yancich has been splitting time between OLB and ILB with the injuries to Stupar and Mauti.

-DeOn'Tae Pannell was taking snaps this week behind Chima Okoli at right guard. Remember that Pannell was the starting right guard for a few games last season, until he was manhandled by Iowa's Adrian Clayborn and Broderick Binns.

-No surprise that true freshman Kevin Haplea will get the start at tight end this week. Former defensive walk-on Jonathan Stewart, and TE Mark Wedderburn will be the backups.

11th Hour Depth Charting: Penn State at Iowa

Chima Okoli gets the nod this week at right tackle
against Adrian Clayborn, Karl Klug
and Broderick Binns.
Good luck, kid...

BIG changes in tonight's edition, as three important defensive players, along with ACL victim Lou Eliades are missing from this week's chart.

The latest depth chart (from what we can tell) for this week's game, with some complementary notes...

-Remember, this isn't the "official" depth chart that Penn State releases each week. I add changes based on what we've seen, not always what is said or released by Penn State.

-Sean Stanley, Derrick Thomas and Brandon Ware are not on this week's depth chart, as it was reported by Ron Musselman tonight that they will miss this game, though no reason was given.

-With Chima Okoli stepping in at RT, Adam Gress is suddenly a play away becoming a first-team tackle.

-Shawney Kersey is back with the team, apparently. But he's likely to miss time (if he plays at all) for a while. The whole not-coming-to-practice thing doesn't go over well with JoePa.

-Not only has Brett Brackett locked up the slot receiver spot, Justin Brown has officially earned the starting role at split end. After his performance the first four games, he deserves it. Graham Zug was ousted from his starting role on the official depth chart.

-Michael Mauti is the new starting Fritz OLB, replacing Nate Stupar. But that doesn't mean much, because both are likely to play equally. These are the two best play-making linebackers on the team.

-Pete Massaro is listed by Penn State as an "OR" starter with Eric Lattimore. But I'm guessing he will get the start again this week.

11th Hour Depth Charting: Temple Edition

The latest depth chart (from what we can tell) for this week's game, with some complementary notes...

11th Hour Depth Charting: Kent State Edition

The latest depth chart (from what we can tell) for this week's game, with some complementary notes...

Gerald Hodges is out for at least the next month, if not more, creating a big hole in the linebacker position.

-Remember, this isn't the "official" depth chart that Penn State releases each week. What would be the point of reprinting that here? I mention this because you'll notice that Michael Mauti is listed as the second team linebacker at all three positions. I put him there because Penn State seems to use a system now that resembles the defensive line rotation that's worked for years. I don't think this will be permanent at the linebacker position, but until they find the best lineup, expect this to be the case. Khairi Fortt and Mike Yancich are the other two next in line to come off the bench.
-Gerald Hodges will miss several weeks with a broken bone in his leg. Some estimates are four weeks, some up to eight weeks or the season. This is a big loss. Hodges was supposedly going to start the Alabama game instead of Bani Gbadyu.
-Johnnie Troutman is the starting left guard. At his presser this week, Joe Paterno said Troutman was doing better than DeOn'tae Pannell.
-Silas Redd is now the official third running back. I wouldn't be surprised to see him get five to seven carries tomorrow.
-I'm not moving Joe Suhey out of the first fullback spot, but Mike Zordich has been getting much more time, especially carrying the ball, than I thought. This could end up similar to the Brian Milne/John Whitman duo in the mid-1990s.
-Devon Smith is now the starting slot receiver.
-Early in the season, we thought Brett Brackett would be a slot receiver, but has since been used in the split end role.

11th Hour Depth Charting: Alabama Edition

Will the steady Bani Gbadyu hold on
to the starting "Sam" OLB spot, with the uber-athletic
Gerald Hodges pushing from behind?

The latest depth chart (from what we can tell) for this week's game, with some complementary notes...

-Barring some catastrophic meltdown tomorrow, Rob Bolden will be Penn State's quarterback for the foreseeable future. Also, Kevin Newsome and Matt McGloin are now apparently the No. 2 and No. 3 QBs, respectively. We'll know more to project the remainder of the season, after this weekend wraps up.

-Glenn Carson is now the No. 3 fullback, behind Mike Zordich. Penn State now has so many great linebackers, even the really frickin' good ones are being pushed to other positions. And who says we're not "Linebacker U"?

-Unless Penn State changed it for this week, there are now dual punt returners--Devon Smith and Justin Brown.

-At left guard, rumors have it that DeOn'tae Pannell and Johnnie Troutman were splitting time this week. But that's what we've heard before. So take that for what it's worth.

-There was a bit of a stir this week, when on the Thursday night radio show, Ron Vanderlinden hinted/suggested/leaned towards the idea that Gerald Hodges would supplant Bani Gbadyu at the "Sam" outside linebacker spot. With all the rotating of linebackers last week, does it even make a difference who starts?

-Michael Mauti was shifting from the "Backer" to the "Fritz" often last week. I figured in my game review that the following would be the order coming off the bench: Mauti, Gerald Hodges (could end up being Gbadyu, if Hodges starts), then Khairi Fortt or Mike Yancich. I was surprised Fortt played; thought he would redshirt.

11th Hour Depth Charting: Youngstown State Edition

Garry Gilliam (89) will be the No. 1 tight end this week.

The latest depth chart for this week's game, with some complementary notes...

-QB Robert Bolden has now been named the starting quarterback, with Newsome and McGloin as the backups.
-TE Andrew Szczerba will be out indefinitely, so Garry Gilliam gets the nod as starting tight end. Kevin Haplea has moved to the No. 2 spot, with Mark Wedderburn the reserve.
-The offensive line hasn't changed since mid-August.
-K/P Anthony Fera is now handling kickoff duties, as well as being named starting punter.
-CB Shelton McCullough returned to the team this summer, so moved into the reserve DB spot previously held by Evan Lewis, who is now listed as a WR on the roster.
-CB/WR Chaz Powell will remain on the defensive depth chart, since Paterno said he could end up back there, depending on the injuries on offense; but for now, he will mostly play WR.

If anything else comes up between now and kickoff, we'll change it here.

Also, here is the most up-to-date roster, which hasn't changed since last week.

Penn State releases Week 1 Depth Chart

Devon Smith has earned a bigger role on both
offense and special teams.

Tony Mancuso of GoPSUSports.com's all-sports blog gave readers an exclusive sneak-peek at the football depth chart for Penn State's opener against Youngstown State.

Here are some highlights:

-The quarterbacks are all listed with an "OR" next to their names, meaning a decision between picking one or even two of the three hasn't been made. Don't read too far into Matt McGloin being listed first. It's probably just by eligibility, which McGloin is a redshirt sophomore.

-Andrew Sczcerba is off the depth chart, due to nagging back problems. Garry Gilliam is the starter, with Kevin Haplea at No. 2. Mark Wedderburn is No. 3. That's two true freshmen, and a sophomore.

-Anthony Fera is the starting punter.

-Devon Smith has apparently earned a kickoff return specialist job. Stephfon Green is bumped to the No. 3 return man spot. It will be Smith and Chaz Powell.

-Smith is also the No. 3 punt return specialist, with Justin Brown at No. 1 and Drew Astorino at No. 2. But that order is non-binding, as that basically means Brown is the normal guy, with Astorino as the "Hands" guy. Smith will probably get time later in the game, if it's under control early.

-Ty Howle will handle short-long snaps (FG/PAT), while Emery Etter will handle long-long snaps (punts).

Check out the full depth chart here.

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Preseason Depth Chart and 2010 Roster Updates

Updated 8/17, 2:00 p.m.

Less than three weeks until kickoff, folks.

With that, I thought a quick update to the roster and depth chart was in order.

I'll do a fall camp update later this week.

Roster

Here are some new weights for some players since preseason practice began: Silas Redd [5-10, 202], Stephfon Green [5-10, 200], Jack Crawford [6-5, 268 to 272], Stephon Morris [5-8 1/2, 186], D'Anton Lynn [6-1, 204], Christian Kuntz [6-5, 215], Sean Stanley [6-1, 243 to 246], Devon Still [6-5, 295], Brandon Ware [6-3, 330], Chima Okoli [6-4, 296], Paul Jones [6-3, 235], Curtis Drake [5-11, 180], Justin Brown [6-3, 213] and Garry Gilliam [6-6, 265].

Update: P Russell Nye and RB Shaine Thompson are no longer with the team. Thompson was declared academically ineligible, but will remain in college and earn his degree. No word on why Nye left, probably no room on the roster. Good luck to them both.

Check out the latest updated version of Penn State's 2010 football roster.

Depth Chart

Projecting a depth chart is fun, but really tough to get right unless you're watching practice every day. But if you read enough of everything, you'll get most of it right.

Here are some notes on it:

Curtis Drake is out for a long time, 6-8 weeks. Don't be shocked if he takes a redshirt season. It does look like Brett Brackett will take over the R receiver position, which to me looks like the slot. But there are some out there saying that true frosh Alex Kenney is gaining traction with the coaching staff, and could see some time behind Brackett.

Brandon Beachum is on this depth chart, even though ACL recoveries don't usually get a green light by the doctors until after a full year has passed. But for now, it looks like Beachum wants to get back on the field, right now.

Sophomore receiver Justin Brown (19) should see a ton of time this fall, on both offense and special teams.

A nice corps of receivers are developing behind the "Big 2" of Derek Moye and Graham Zug. But the loss of The Drake still stings a big. I'm very excited to see Shawney Kersey and Justin Brown have a bigger role this year.

At tight end, with the emergence of Garry Gilliam as a potential candidate to "co-start" with Andrew Sczcerba, I'm not expecting Kevin Haplea to make the depth chart this year. That's not saying he's not good enough. But as long as Mark Wedderburn is around, I don't see the staff wasting a season of eligibility on Haplea in 2010.

The linebackers are a muddled mess right now, but in a good way, I swear. There are just waaayyy too many great players at this position. The starters are set, and I'm comfortable with them. But I do expect Mike Mauti to get back into the swing of things by the Big Ten opener. The other guy I'm really looking forward to seeing is Gerald Hodges, but who isn't? Basically, that entire second string could start for any BCS automatic qualifier, and be considered a strength of the defense. They're all that good.

Let's hope the special teams are settling down a bit. I like the idea of Brown fielding punts. And if Anthony Fera is really, finally keeping his head about him, I like him to take over punting duties. Then again, who knows anything definite about Penn State's special teams?

So here we go, what I think is a logical projection of the 2010 Penn State football depth chart going into the season:

OFF	First Team	Second Team	Reserves
QB	#12 Kevin Newsome	#11 Matt McGloin	#10 Paul Jones; #1 Robert Bolden
RB	#22 Evan Royster	#21 Stephfon Green	#3 Brandon Beachum; #26 Curtis Dukes
FB	#37 Joe Suhey	#9 Mike Zordich	#33 Andre Dupree
X	#6 Derek Moye	#19 Justin Brown	#8 Brandon Moesby-Felder
Z	#5 Graham Zug	#20 Devon Smith	#4 Shawney Kersey
R	#83 Brett Brackett	#18 Alex Kenney	--
TE	#80 Andrew Szczerba	#89 Garry Gilliam	#13 Mark Wedderburn
LT	#67 Quinn Barham	#78 Mike Farrell	#58 Adam Gress
LG	#50 De'OnTae Pannell	#54 Matt Stankiewitch	#74 Johnnie Troutman
C	#68 Doug Klopacz	#53 Ty Howle
RG	#61 Stefen Wisniewski	#64 John Urschel	#77 Lou Eliades
RT	#77 Lou Eliades	#52 Chimaeze Okoli	#75 Eric Shrive
LS	#53 Jon Rohrbaugh	--	--
K	#36 Collin Wagner	#30 Anthony Fera	#28 David Soldner
KR	#2 Chaz Powell	#8 Brandon Moseby-Felder	--
KR	#21 Stephfon Green	#20 Devon Smith	--
Hold	#83 Brett Brackett	--	--
DEF	First Team	Second Team	Reserves
DE	#81 Jack Crawford	#44 Kevion Katham	#90 Sean Stanley
DT	#71 Devon Still	#47 Jordan Hill	#75 Evan Hailes
DT	#85 Ollie Ogbu	#72 James Terry	#99 Brandon Ware
DE	#56 Eric Latimore	#59 Pete Massaro	#84 Kyle Baublitz
OLB	#15 Bani Gbadyu	#42 Mike Mauti	#51 James Van Fleet
MLB	#48 Chris Colasanti	#33 Mike Yancich	#40 Glenn Carson
OLB	#34 Nate Stupar	#6 Gerald Hodges	#11 Khairi Fortt; #40 Glen Carson
CB	#12 Stephfon Morris	#2 Chaz Powell	#5 Derrick Thomas
Hero	#1 Nick Sukay	#23 Stephen Obeng-Agyapong	#27 Jacob Fagnano
FS	#28 Drew Astorino	#13 Andrew Dailey	#10 Malcolm Willis
CB	#8 D'Anton Lynn	#4 Evan Lewis	#14 Mike Wallace
PS	#95 Russell Nye	#30 Anthony Fera	#5 Graham Zug
PR	#19 Justin Brown	#5 Graham Zug	#8 Brandon Moseby-Felder

I'm sure I won't have to ask for your own thoughts on that chart, so just let'em rip. (remember: no anonymous comments, please) But this seems pretty safe, considering there's so much uncertainty.

I think that's it for now. Start correcting me...

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