A Deep Dive Into the 2024 Penn State Nittany Lions

Intro it's a new era for Penn State in a way and it's a good thing in program that has been stuck in the Big 10 East with Ohio State and Michigan now gets a chance play some different competition and that doesn't guarantee success but if you're a Penn State fan you feel really good I'll get getting some relief heading into 2024 today we take a deep dive into the Penn State Indy Lions to see what should we expect from this team in 2024 and how things could be different for this team this season before we do that though make sure you subscribe to the channel like the video share the video it goes a long way in helping this channel this channel has seen tremendous growth since the Deep dive series began but that's not possible without all of you and this has been a fun series to do and as we wrap things up or nearing the end with our final handful of videos here we'll take a deep dive into Penn State and look at should we expect some big things from this team James Franklin's done a good Coaching Staff job of keeping this team near the top of the Big 10 it's hard when while hon and Michigan are in the same division as you I think a lot of teams would love to have the talent that Penn State has it's just that you're playing against two of the best teams in college football in your own division so getting to a big 10 championship game was difficult and finding ways to be in the National conversation more proved challenging because you have the now you know the reigning Champs were're just in your Division and an Ohio State team that is right there with them that's tough to do that's going to be a difficult challenge for anybody to overcome but I think James Franklin has done a good job of keeping them in position and maybe with an expanded college football playoff we'll look at Penn State In a Different Light you bring in a new offensive coordinator I think everybody wanted that to happen Andy C Nikki comes in from Kansas a Kansas team that had a tremendous success under his watch and this is a team that is hoping a new offensive coordinator another new offensive coordinator is going to get the job done now col Nikki is going to have a different approach to this offense and they're hoping that a more efficient approach is going to make them much better much more balanced the defense also gets a new coordinator in Tom Allen I think that was a great hire by James Franklin the former Indiana head coach who got fired is a really good defensive mind and I think that he has a lot of potential tricks up his sleeve to get this defense into very good positions you have new players that are coming into the the picture but also you have returning players that are going to play maybe some different positions now the transfer portal this is a Penn State team that wasn't super active in the transfer portal but you also again with what we talked about before Penn State did a good job of bringing players in that are going to help them win football games from the high school level so if you recruit well enough you don't feel like you need to Transfer Portal add a ton from the transfer portal you might need to add a couple of of depth pieces or maybe you get one or two guys that you feel elevate a certain position and that's kind of what Penn State has been doing they have felt pretty good and they also haven't lost a ton where you feel the need that you have to hammer the transfer portal so you bring in Nolan Ruchi at offensive tackle that's a good depth piece you bring in Corners Jaylen Kimber and AJ Harris from the SEC so you feel pretty good about the corner position uh after last year and then you lose a couple pieces that you need to replace we'll talk more about that group in a little bit but you feel pretty good about where Penn State sits heading into the 2024 season you also obviously get Julian Fleming that was probably the biggest note notable name in the offseason for Penn State we'll talk more about him in a little bit you didn't lose a ton in my opinion I think losing Keandre Lambert Smith wasn't someone that they felt was huge loss you also lost wide receivers Dante cus and Christian driver but again if you're looking at from a Penn State perspective I don't think this coaching staff feels like they lost some Elite guys I don't think that they thought this the floor dropped or that the ceiling was much affected I I think that you're feeling pretty good if you're a Penn State fan about where you sit and again this is going to be a new offense so new guys are going to step up and QB & RB we'll dive into that everyone's paying attention to what Drew aler is going to do 6 foot5 235 pound quarterback has tremendous talent that no one is debating about what he's capable of doing he obviously has the armed talent to make all of the throws the question is can you be more explosive this is a guy that yes threw 25 touchdowns just two interceptions but can you be more explosive part of that is on him and part of that is on the wide receivers we'll dive in that more and just a little bit but Drew Aller is going to be under the spotlight because he plays the most important position in football when you touch the football every single play you are going to have the spotlight on you and I think in Colton Nikki's offense you're going to find that he is going to be very efficient with what he's looking to do offensively where where he's going to get the football when you look at what Kansas did last year that was a group that wasn't uh featuring a really strong armed quarterback Jaylen Daniels and Jason Bean weren't going to be the Gunslingers that were throwing the football all over the field so it's not like Penn State is just going to suddenly become this team that wants to throw the ball 50 times a game that's just not what's going to happen you're going to find ways though where you can take more deep shots you can maybe create some more separation through scheme if you don't necessarily have the separators that wide receiver that's going to be a big thing to keep an eye on what can coltson Nikki do to get his quarterback in better positions to get his wide receivers in better positions and how can they move the ball more efficiently down the field because again this group is going to be really good at running the football once again but can you throw the football a little bit better you finished 79th last year in passing 29th in rushing both both of those numbers improve if the passing attack and Drew Aller can take steps forward in the right direction the rushing attack has no flaws honestly this is a group that is going to be really good and Nick Singleton and KRON Allen are one of the best tandems if not the best tandem in college football 752 yards and eight touchdowns for Singleton 902 and six for Allen that's a tremendous tand tandem that is going to have tremendous success in 2024 and if they can find an offense that features a little bit more balance you're going to see them break off more explosive runs because teams I think at times weren't exactly worried about what the passing attack can do if you're a team that had good defensive backs and you felt good playing man-to-man coverage you didn't necessarily have to worry about what Drew alliv is going to do throwing the football so you can stop a guy like Singleton or Allen because you know that you don't have to worry about getting beat deep that's going to be the biggest thing and that's why you bring in a guy like col col NE you have a coordinator that is very good at what he does he's very efficient the the pace might be a little bit different than what you're expecting if you're a Penn State fan but you feel really good about where this team is headed because of the signal caller and you're feeling good about what this offense could look like now if Aller goes down you probably have some concerns behind him you don't have a ton of experience but you have talent behind them it's just a matter of are they ready for the spot that would be the biggest question and and obviously we just talked about what Kansas was able to do because they had two quarterbacks when Jaylen Daniels went down Jason Bean was able to step up if Drew Aller goes down I think there's questions about what they have behind him but again if if Drew all does not get hurt you don't necessarily have to worry about that the rushing attack behind Singleton and Allen have some really talented players Quinton Martin is a freshman that is hoping to be part of this rotation again finding carries and finding touchers for guys that are not named Nicholas Singleton or KRON Allen might be a little bit difficult but to have this amount of talent when you have Quinton Martin you have Cam Wallace you feel really good about where your team is going when you have that level of talent and you feel good about the rushing attack in 2024 again if you have the passing attack to balance things out you feel pretty good about where this team is headed and this is a team again when you look at the big picture this is a team that expects to compete for a college football playoff spot and I I think if you asked a lot of people you would probably get a lot of responses that say yes we are looking to compete for a National Championship now there are certain things that this team must do in order for that to happen but you feel pretty good about the talent you bring in it's just a matter of what is this offense going to look like this new scheme and who are going to be those guys that step up again Drew Aller show there's a lot of that responsibility but some of that is also on the wide WR & TE receivers and you have Julian Fleming coming in from Ohio State a guy that was sitting third for the most part of his career in terms of the top options for Ohio State but again when you look at what Ohio State's had you've had some really good players at wide receiver there's a reason why this has been a really fun run for Ohio State is because they've had Elite receivers William Fleming wants to be the guy and maybe he's going to be that for for Penn State but we will find out 6'2 206 pounds had 270 yards last year no touchdowns but this staff feels really good about getting him in the campus and finding ways to get him the football probably be a key for this offense now who else is going to step up that's probably the biggest question for pen State and kayen Saunders and Harrison Wallace the third could be two of those guys again the wide receiver POS position has had talent in the past this has been a a team a program that has featured some really good players and NFL talent that for that matter it's just the last couple years have been kind of you know a little bit of a step back so you're trying to find who are going to be those guys that step up Saunders is extremely talented Wallace has a lot of big play ability and Julian flaming like I said comes in so we'll see what happens there behind them Anthony Ivy could be someone that steps up up maybe Omari Evans Liam Clifford is a name that everyone knows just from his uh family career but also just what he's capable of doing I think that he could be an underrated player that steps up for Penn State if they truly do need him the tight end position is kind of along those same lines Tyler Warren has a bright future one that probably will feature him in the NFL 6'6 257 pounds a very good athlete that is capable of catching the football I I think that if the wide receivers can't get the job done maybe Tyler Warren is that guy maybe he is someone that's going to step up and be the pass catcher that this team truly needs because you have plenty of talent at wide receiver but if they can't step up maybe you have to rely on the tight ends theil dinkin comes back 57 yards and two touchdowns and after that though you don't have a ton of experience so you're going to feature some new faces on that passing attack and we'll see what the they're capable of doing but again the passing attack is really going to have to take a step forward and show that it's capable of being better than it was last year OL the offensive line honestly I don't have a ton of concerns there are some uh players that don't have a ton of experience so there's definitely some fresh phases that will be playing bigger roles in 2024 but you feel pretty good about the talent they have coming back Drew chelton has 20 games of experience only six starts but you still feel pretty good about Hima only is another guy 17 games played five starts Nick Dawkins takes over the center position 26 games under his belt but no starts so you have three guys there that don't have a ton of experience but that's where a guy like s warmley comes in and get those guys up to speed he knows what it takes to be successful in the Big 10 and you're going to rely on him to do a lot of good things you have plenty of talent and you do have plenty of experience on this off defensive line you have a g a guy that started eight eight games in his career in JB Nelson that is not going to start this year now he might if things play out in his favor and someone goes down or he just beats another guy out but you have plenty of experience behind some of these starters you have plenty of games played now a lot of that it's going to be on special teams the extra points field goals that kind of stuff but you still have experience these are guys that understand what it takes and they've been around the program long enough to understand what this program wants to do and you're going to rely on this group to potentially take a step forward for this team to be better for this offense I should say to take a step forward and be better because the offense simply must improve the defense was one of the best groups in college football last year and you can't rely on that defense because there are certain games you know the Michigan game Ohio State you also now bring in goty teams like Oregon that's going to be tough and obviously we'll dive into the schedule a little bit later but you have plenty of tough tests awaiting you sometimes you're going to need your offense to step up in a big way and part of that is finding balance and part of that is going to be relying on that passing attack to take a step forward but you feel pretty good about the talent that Penn State has you also feel really good about what this defensive line brings to the table you DL get to see the transition of Abdul Carter from linebacker to defensive end and I think that you're going to be pleasantly surprised or just generally excited Super hyped anything positive towards Abdul Carter in his game applies here this is someone who has a bright future in the NFL and it's just a matter of his transition to his new position last year played standup linebacker this year transitioning to the end you have a couple of players to replace at the defensive end position so Abdul Carter comes in and he is going to step in right away I don't have any concerns about that transition obviously there might be a little bit of of some time that's needed or a couple of hiccups along the way some speed bumps but make no mistake about it there's not really many concerns about Carter's transition and he's an absolute stud he's one of the best players in college football and he's going to show that even at his new position opposite of him probably someone who is almost equally terrifying Danny Dennis Sutton is someone who is going to fly into the radar because everybody's talking about Abdul Carter 6 foot five 272 pounds had 26 tackles last year six tackles for loss he is someone that you need to keep an eye on he is someone who is again going to fly under the radar but he is someone who is equally as terrifying on the edge so you have a great tandem if you are Penn State and that's just on the edge Devon J Thomas is coming back at The Tackle position you're looking at a guy at 61 304 304 pounds who did a lot of good things for Penn State last year and you're expecting bigger things from him in 2024 zanen Durant comes back as well another productive player for Penn State and really the overarching theme with Penn State's defensive line is depth and experience when you look at the guys Behind These players aan van over hakee Bean hosiah is and you have Smith vilbert who missed all of 2023 who ended his season in 2022 on a very high note that is some really good depth F State might have one of the best defensive lines in all of college football and the starters are terrifying but you also don't have a huge drop off if you do have to tap into your depth you have a good group of players that are ready to take a step forward and that's going to help this group continue to be one of the best groups in college football the linebacker position is LB going to look a little bit different this year you're losing ABD Carter to defensive ends so somebody has to step up H King could be that guy very productive player last year 59 tackles six tackles for loss bony Roos is coming into a new position and he could he gets first crack at potentially being that guy Dom Duca is right there though he's going to be part of that rotation now ellon is going to be part of that as well and then you also have Keon Wy that is very productive from last year too so you have a group of five guys that are going to play a key role in the success of this defense so you feel really good about depth it's just a matter of what does the stealing look like this year for this position it's probably lower now that Carter is not playing the position but you feel very good about your options still Tom Allen should feel very good about what the linebackers can do and again with how good the defensive line it's supposed to be for Pence you feel pretty good about these guys just making plays you don't necessarily have to be Superman you don't have to be the hero that's one thing that Penn State's linebackers probably will realize is all I have to do is make the tackle I do not have to go through two blockers and Chase the guy down from the opposite side of the field I just have to make my play I have to be smart make the right decision and everything will be fine from there that's probably the biggest thing for for this group it's going to be a fun group to watch it's going to be a group that is very talented still it's just you they just don't have an Abdul Carter and that's not that's not a bad thing you you just don't have that kind of a talented player in this group but I think that you're going to see that that that is a group that Still Remains successful in 2024 because they have just plenty of depth to utilize and again back to the recruiting James Franklin and this this staff have done a great job of recruiting they have run in the right Talent theyve run in the right players where you feel good about the depth pieces you have returning and coming back and even if you lose a talent like Abdul Carter you still feel really good about what's going to happen especially a group that finished first against the run last year then you go to the Secondary secondary the secondary is going to gain a lot of steam specifically the safety position and this is a group that finished seventh against the pass last year dalen Reed KJ Winston and Saki Wheatley are three guys that are going to have a ton of success in 2024 Jaylen Reid and KJ Winston have Bright Futures after what we saw last year a key Wheatley is kind of stepping in to a newer role with this defense so you're gonna see a fresh face into that safety rotation uh KJ Winston is phenomenal I think that we're not talking a ton about him right now 6'2 200 5 pounds good near the line of scrimmage and cover deep as well you feel really good about him Jaylen Reed is a veteran who's been playing really good football for a long time for Penn State so you feel really good about what he brings back to the table the two new faces are AJ Harris and Jaylen Kimber they're also gonna have to hold off guys like cam Miller he is gonna play a big role in that defense as well so we'll see who's going to be that the starter AJ Harris has done a really good job so far and since his arrival on campus the Georgia transfer has plenty of talent to be able to keep one of those starting spots uh you look at Jaylen Kimber this is a guy who comes from Florida uh and I think that a lot of people expected him to have a better career so far has plenty of talent it's just a matter of putting it all together on the field and with the safety positions feeling like they're locked up right now you feel pretty good about getting these guys up to speed because you have them vetan players like Reed and Winston coming back Wheatley feels like a really good player to have returning as well so this is a passing defense that should have uh just as much success as they did last year and part of that also has to do with the fact that they are going to have a dominant group up front and that part of that is getting to the quarterback and limiting how much time the opposing offense has to throw the football so if you're able to get home and create some sacks create some disruptions the secondary does not have to cover for as much they don't have to do as many things for as long because your front group is getting to the quarterback and making life miserable for the guys that are trying to block them so that's part of that as well but again Tom Allen has a lot to work with has a lot of rcks up his sleeve and knows what he's capable of doing and that's going to help a team that has a a pretty decent schedule Schedule honestly the over under is set at 10 and a half wins as of right now we will see how this plays out and the biggest question is what is a realistic finish for this team that maybe feels good to the fan base you start things off at West Virginia now West Virginia is a team that drived off of a relatively easy schedule in 2023 so that's going to be a team that's playing with a ton of momentum with a success that they had last year but Penn State's the better team even on the road that's a tough place to play in Morgantown I think Penn State gets the job done Bowling Green Kent State Illinois all should be three wins so a 4-0 start is not unrealistic at all you head in into October UCLA should be a win I know that they're going through a change with their coaching staff and they feel good about what the Bruins are going to be but pen state is definitely the better team and that game's also at home then you go to USC now we will find out what USC is going to be pretty quick at this point so if that's a team that can compete that might be a tough game on the road uh but you also feel better about where Penn State's at right now than USC then you get two weeks off before you head to Wisconsin the Badgers should be a much better team that'll be a tough game hosting Ohio State right after that is going to make things difficult to focus for Wisconsin but also that's a tough game to beat a team that expects to be competing for the National Championship in the Buckey Washington at home after that we'll see what Washington is this year they lost a ton of talent that is a brand new roster essentially so we'll see what happens there at Purdue that could be a tricky game uh but again Purdue feels like they're just in a much different place Minnesota's a team that might be surprising this year but Penn State's definitely the better team and then Maryland's kind of the same situation where Penn State is the better team so to me honestly I see the ceiling is 11- one if you want to argue 12-0 you're very confident that that Penn State can definitely beat Ohio State and I just don't know if I can say that right now with the passing attack having some questions the two cornerback positions are kind of up in the air right now so we will see the floor though this is everything's bottoming out eight and four I do not think that Penn State loses a ton of games eight and four almost feels just bad but when you look at the West Virginia game that's a tough one right off the bat USC could be a better team Wisconsin Ohio State those are four losable games I don't would call any of them gimmies on the losing side but I think that you're still looking at very tough tests K State's about the only game where if you said that's a for sure loss you probably wouldn't get a ton of arguments outside of Penn State so that's probably the the one thing there is this team again uh this team is going to be really good this year and if they can find a way to upset Ohio State 12-0 is definitely possible but that's going to be a tough challenge but again the goal is to get to the college football playoffs so you don't need to go 12-0 you can go 11 and one and find yourself in position to compete for a big 10 championship and then also playing the college football playoff that's going to be the goal for this team this year and again there's certain things that they must do but you still feel pretty good about where this program is where James Franklin has them going and what they're capable of doing in 2024