See Penn State newcomers Dani Dennis-Sutton, Keon Wylie, Abdul Carter, Hunter Nourzad, and more at Lions' practice
STATE COLLEGE — Penn State held its first practice of preseason camp on Monday, and Blue-White Illustrated was on hand to capture some of the Lions’ freshmen. It was an overcast but warm afternoon on the program’s outdoor practice fields.
Numerous new Penn State players were going through their first college camp. Check out some of them in our photo gallery below. It’s worth noting, too, that head coach James Franklin believes many of the newcomers will contribute immediately.
“One of the things that probably stands out about our team right now is I love our overall depth,” Franklin said last week. “I think our overall depth is as good as it’s been in a number of years. I think a couple of the things that have factored into that is obviously we had a very well-regarded recruiting class coming in, a combination of some transfer student-athletes, not a lot, and a junior college player.
“In this class, what we’ve been able to evaluate since they’ve been on campus, is there’s probably a larger number of those young men that we feel like are going to be able to impact our program and our organization earlier in their careers than probably normal, in our normal recruiting classes. So we’re excited about that.”
Good vibe to start Penn State football preseason camp
The mood was light at the first Penn State practice of August. While the media was on hand, the team focused on position-specific drills to start the viewing period. Then, the Lions moved onto special teams work. Kicker Jake Pinegar was true on about a handful of extra point tries. From there, the players broke back into their position groups for ball security drills.
Before camp began, head coach James Franklin told reporters at Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis that he was happy with where his program was.
“We’re really pleased with our summer,” Franklin said. “I know every coach in America is saying that right now. But all of our testing numbers and catapult data and things like that have been great. We’ve had a fantastic summer, and we’re excited about going into training camp.
