Penn State depth chart vs. Central Michigan: Offense

On3 imageby:Thomas Frank Carr09/23/22

ThomasFrankCarr

Penn State football takes on Central Michigan in the final non-conference game of the 2022 season. With the prospect of upwards of 30 players seeing the field for the Nittany Lions, get ready for the game with the official depth chart from Blue White Illustrated. Here are the offensive players to know.

Quarterback

14 Sean Clifford (Sr.+)
15 Drew Allar (Fr.)
11 Christian Veilleux (R-Fr.)
9 Beau Pirbula (Fr.)

The lowdown: Penn State’s quarterback situation seems crystal clear at this point in the season, so there’s no change in the depth chart. The question this weekend will be if freshman Beau Pribula gets some game action. He has yet to play in a game this year and has four more before he’d have to burn his redshirt. If Penn State can get up big and get the work for Allar they want to be done early, that’s a possibility.

Penn State running backs

10 Nick Singleton (Fr)
13 Kaytron Allen (Fr) OR 24 Keyvone Lee (So.)
28 Devyn Ford (Jr.)
38 Tank Smith (R-Jr.)

The lowdown: Nick Singleton earned the first start of his career last week, but the injury to teammate Keyvone Lee cements that position this week. Franklin didn’t provide an update on his status this week, as usual, so we’ll list him on the second line with Kaytron Allen. If he’s still dealing with a lingering issue, he has no reason to play if he doesn’t have to.

Lions receiver

Wide receiver
KeAndre Lambert-Smith (So.)
Harrison Wallace (R-Fr.)
80 Malick Meiga (So.)

Slot
Parker Washington (So.)
19 Jaden Dottin (R-So)
82 Liam Clifford (R-Fr.) OR 7 Kaden Saunders (Fr.)

Wide receiver
Mitchell Tinsley  (Sr+)
18 Omari Evans (Fr.)

The lowdown: After a brief appearance against Ohio, Jaden Dottin disappeared back into the shadows at receiver. We’ll keep him second behind Parker Washington in the slot in case it was injury related. Franklin mentioned that some players got into the game last week that he wished hadn’t, thanks to injury, which would make sense here if he was referring to Kaden Saunders’ redshirt status.

Penn State tight ends

86 Brenton Strange (R-Jr.)
84 Theo Johnson (Soph.)
44 Tyler Warren (Soph.)
16 Khalil Dinkins (R-Fr.)

The lowdown: Theo Johnson’s return doesn’t mean that Tyler Warren goes to the bench, but it will change how the snaps break down after the game. Johnson played against Auburn but didn’t receive a target. We’ll see if that changes this week against a leaky Central Michigan defense that struggles to cover deep and over the middle.

Lions offensive line

Left tackle
74 Olu Fashanu (Soph.)
66 Drew Shelton (Fr.)
51 Jimmy Christ (R-Soph.)

Left guard
58 Landon Tengwall (R-Fr.) OR
64 Hunter Nourzad (R-Sr.)
55 JB Nelson (R-So.)

Center
70 Juice Scruggs (R-Sr.)
64 Hunter Nourzad (R-Sr.)
66 Nick Dawkins (Soph.)

Right guard
77 Sal Wormley
78 Golden Israel-Achumba (R-So)
71 Vega Ioane (Fr.)

Right tackle
79 Caedan Wallace (R-Jr.)
72 Bryce Effner (R-Sr.)
57 Ibrahim Traore (R-Soph.)

The lowdown: Penn State sixth-man Hunter Nourzad has gotten more work at center over the last several weeks but should be a regular contributor at left guard as well. Beyond that, this game should be about the depth players like Drew Shelton, JB Nelson and Vega Ioane putting on a show later in the game.

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