Penn State coach James Franklin talks receivers, linemen, more after latest preseason practice: Everything he said
Penn State coach James Franklin spoke with reporters on Tuesday night as his team hit the two-week mark of preseason camp. The Nittany Lions now sit just 17 days away from their Aug. 31 opener at West Virginia. The first question he fielded focused on the number of offensive linemen who could be game-ready for work either against the Mountaineers or at some point early in the season.
“I think we have a chance to have eight guys,” Franklin said. “I think we’ll have more than two tackles play, [and] I think we’ll have at least three guards play. And I think we’ll have two centers play. How much? We’ll see. We still got a ton of work to do between now and then, but I think we probably have a little bit more depth than we’ve had in the past. That’s a good thing.”
The eight would include, at minimum, center Nick Dawkins, tackles Drew Shelton, Anthony Donkoh, and Nolan Rucci, tackle/guard JB Nelson, and interior offensive linemen Vega Ioane, Sal Wormley. The last of the eight would likely be freshman Cooper Cousins, who Franklin fielded a question about next. The Erie native could play guard or center.
“He started out, as you know, typically with young players, you try to keep them at one spot, but he’s done such a nice job this spring and done such a nice job this summer camp that we’re playing him at both right now. I think he can legitimately get in the game at both positions, center and guard.”
Read on to see everything else Franklin said. And, watch the video in the embedded media player above.
On second-year Penn State defensive tackle Alonzo Ford Jr.
James Franklin: “He’s been a real pleasant surprise, he really has. Very good against the run. I think as he continues to gain confidence and get his body back from that amount of time off with his injury, I think he’ll get better and better and better in the pass game. Bur right now, Deion has been very pleased. He’s got a natural understanding of how to play the run. Keys, pad level, hand placement. He’s been good. He’s been a pleasant surprise and nice addition.
“We were excited about hopefully what he would have been able to do last year, but we hadn’t really had a chance to see him a whole lot. So he’s been a nice, pleasant surprise for us for depth inside. And I think as he continues to get back into football shape, I think he could be competing for a starting job.”
On the state of the offense two weeks into camp
JF: “I think it’s good. I think that the biggest thing is, Trey [Wallace] and Liam [Clifford] have really had a nice camp. And, whether it’s the coaches, or whether it’s defensive players, or whether it’s Tom Allen in the team meeting today talking about the receivers’ improvement, but specifically Trey and Liam, I think has been pretty good. I think they’ve been probably the biggest difference.
“Obviously Drew [Allar] and Beau [Pribula] are really doing some good things in year two. And then I think Nick [Singleton] and Kaytron [Allen] are playing with a ton of confidence right now. The third back, we’ve had some bumps and bruises, so we haven’t really had a chance to make any decisions on a third back yet. That’s still a big question mark to be determined. Not really like we’re not sure if we have a third back, it’s just who is it going to be at this point.”
On the progress of Penn State freshman running back Quinton Martin
JF: “Yeah, kind of what I just said that the third backs have had some bumps and bruises, so haven’t had enough really, to evaluate those guys.”
On veteran tight end Khalil Dinkins
JF: “He’s had some bumps and bruises as well and missed some time. But he is a big, strong, fast, aggressive guy. He’s been productive in the amount of reps he’s been able to get, but he’s missed some time. We need to get him back soon because I think he has a chance to be a big part of our offense.”
How does Franklin assess Penn State’s physicality so far?
JF: “I think we’ve always been a physical team, and physical in camp and spring ball. It’s always interesting when we hire new people and they come in, I think they’re always somewhat caught off guard by how physical things are. But I think we’re in a really good place.
“We’ve got a ton of work on short yardage [offense], and four minute, stuff that hard to do without going live and things like that. So it’s been good work. We’ll start to kind of make some modifications as we’re getting closer and closer to the game, and then you’ll really start to kind of get into what we call developmental squads, or scout teams, and things like that here pretty soon. But it’s been a physical camp. The last scrimmage was physical. Even today’s practice has been very physical, even when it’s thud periods.”
What was learned from the team’s most recent scrimmage?
JF: “I think more than anything, we just got a ton of reps, a ton of film, and a ton of situational work covered. Not as clean as you’d like it to be, but really good film to teach off of. I think going into the stadium is going to be important for us. We haven’t done that yet. But I just think we got a lot of things covered and a lot of work. Whether it’s four minute, whether it’s two minute, whether it’s third down, red zone. We just got a ton of work which was valuable, but obviously a bunch of things that we still got to get cleaned up.”
On the field goal kicking competition
JF: “I’ve been really impressed with Coach [Justin] Lustig and what he’s done. But I’ve also been really impressed with our specialists. And when you talk kicking, I think we have three guys that we could win with. The numbers and the statistics are pretty impressive across the board. I think Sander [Sahaydak] and [Ryan] Barker are probably a little bit further ahead, but Chase [Meyer’s] numbers are good too. Those two guys have a little bit stronger legs, but all three of them have been very consistent under tough situations. We put a ton of pressure on them in practice and they’ve been really good.”
On Penn State freshman tight end Luke Reynolds
JF: “He’s going to be a really good palyer here. He’s very similar to Tyler Warren. They both played high school quarterback and transitioned to the position. He has gotten bigger. He put on a good amount of weight early on, and then he’s kind of plateaued off a little bit. We got to continue to chip away at that. But he doesn’t mind sticking his nose in there, makes a ton of plays in the passing game. He’s gonna be a really good player. We got great competition at the tight end position, so he’s gonna be ag uy that’s gonna play this year. Whether it is four games plus postseason or whether it’s just an all-out play is still to be determined.”
Have any red, yellow, or green light decisions been made for the freshmen class?
JF: “No, we haven’t made any decisions, even including him. We haven’t made any decisions yet. Obviously, some guys, we will see how it plays out. But you got the four games to play with. So we’ll see what happens.”
On Penn State football’s Director of Performance Science, Andrew Nelson
JF: “He talks in the staff meeting every single day, giving us information. I usually meet with him one-on-one about the practice plan and some modifications that we need to make. He also meets with all the assistant coaches, because if a certain player’s numbers are higher than they should be, then we can make modifications in individual [drills] and things like that. And then he typically gives a message at the end of practice. He’s done a really good job. Went out and got his PhD, has been an intern here with us in strength and conditioning, and now we were able to bring him back home in this position.
“And I think not only does he have the experience and what he’s learned in school, but I think he’s one of the few sports scientists out there that also actually played major division one college football. So all those things I think are really helpful. We’re excited about getting his family here. You know, his wife is not here yet. We’re very excited about getting her back here in State College.”
On freshman receiver Peter Gonzalez
JF: “Peter has got a long term injury. Not short term, I guess I would describe it. So, he’ll be out for a little bit, just so you guys know and you’re not asking me every week, when you don’t see him out there. He’ll be out for a little bit.”
