Penn State Football Offense Preview: Drew Allar next step?

welcome back to another episode of the behind thewall podcast today we are going to be taking you guys through an offensive depth chart preview and to handle this correctly I am joined by the boys over at hardcore Penn State football Corey and Sean appreciate you guys joining me today man thanks for having us Landon really excited to be here really excited to talk about Penn State football just say week and a half away now so it's uh a little bit colder in the in the morning here in State College and means football's right around the corner yeah happy to be here Landon crisp mornings I would describe them as they are crisp you can Fe you can almost feel and hear the football noise in the air man I'm excited you're absolutely right game week is pretty much next week so uh we are getting into it and just for you guys that you know that are watching this we're going to do the offensive depth chart on this channel go over there on uh you know we we we'll be posted on state media YouTube channel you know what I think we're only gonna go on audio platforms for the defensive preview okay just GNA be on audio only you want you want to plug that in real quick wherever find the defensive at yeah wherever you get your podcast hardcore PSU FB um there'll be a defensive preview on there awesome all right well I want to get right into this and let's talk about we just had some news the six captains were named and we're just going to talk about the two in this video that are the offensive side we got Drew Aller and Nick Dawkins uh and I think Nick Dawkins you know we talk about that for a second but that is very well deserved we all know what Nick Dawkins means to the community means to the team he is a true uh leader and he is Penn State through and through but I think that we should really dive into Drew Aller and what him being a captain really means to this team if you want to take that away we'll start with you Cory yeah um hopefully it wasn't just a kind of default where hey you're the quarterback you need to be a captain sort of thing um one of the things that Sean and I harp on quite a bit uh especially last year was the lack of leadership and something that they missed from the previous season was that leadership so seeing the quarterback getting a captain position you know Nick Dawkins as well you know friend of State media good sign I think we need to kind of see that play out on the field and see how he leads a team you know after a a bad drive but you know we'll see what happens it's not a bad thing we'll see what happens yeah I think that's a good way to put it that it's not a bad thing I think we'd be all kind of questioning things if Drew especially wasn't named a captain and you know with him I think he's always been a lead by example type of guy but he need that vocal leadership uh Landon played with Sean Clifford he was not shy about being vocal um and that's what you need from your quarterback uh you need you need him to be able to rally the troops when things go bad and last year I just don't think you saw that much with Drew Aller to be honest with you and Nick Dawkins is a guy who's um you know kind of waited his turn he's been behind two really really good centers who are going to be playing who one who's going to be starting I believe with the Houston Texans and then um the other one got drafted so so he's paid his dues and from all accounts he's always been a tremendous leader even when he wasn't playing so yeah this is a guy that really deserves it yeah I think you're right and you you hit the nail on the head there with Sean Clifford being that emotional leader and I think that's something that we really had in 2022 it felt like you know all those guys we had in 2022 we had in 21 it didn't really click but that Rose bow Team I've never been around leadership like that so there was definitely a little bit of a drop off I think we're all willing to admit that when you lose PJ muster Jer Brown Clifford all those guys there's going to be a little bit of a drop off but now it is really on Drew coming into year two you're now a captain you have a full season under your belt you played in some big games it's time to bounce back uh and I Mike porman did a really good article with Drew Aller kind of talking about his mentality uh and you know how he needs to fix that and he wants to be the uh thermometer instead of thermostat and it's a good one go check it out if you're interested but let's kind of really dive into Drew Aller and the first question I want start out with is for us to be considered a success year what does Drew Aller have to do in your guys's eyes and that's not necessarily from a statistic standpoint but what are some of the major things you need to see from Drew Aller to have a successful year for Penn State football yeah I mean it's something that we've harped on quite a bit and he you know he has to go win games uh he did a pretty good job last year of not losing games but at the end of the day he's going to be judged as a five-star quarterback that was supposed to take pens to the next level you're not going to do that by by just not losing games you have to go out there and win games make plays um especially in situations where things break down or or things don't go to the plan can you step up and make a play whether that's with your arm or I think what we'll see more this year with with his legs got to be able to make a couple plays and and keep drives alive even when things don't go to plan and that's something we didn't see a lot of yeah I'm glad that the interceptions were low last year but we've got to see him kind of take that next step and and become a true impact player yeah and I think building off of that um be more confident like when you saw him last year just even his in his body language sometimes he almost looked a little robotic in that he didn't want to make Mist he was more afraid of making mistakes than he was trying to go and be aggressive try to win the game um sometimes I think I would like to see him throw Guys open a little more and sometimes that means throwing with anticipation trusting your guys because not everybody's always going to be you know wide open and you're just go oh okay he's open sometimes you have to anticipate throw with more anticipation um I think you're going to see him run more uh for better for worse um just based on what the guy what uh the reporters have uh said at practice that he's been more in running drills um and I mean Atlanta could probably touch on this too how and how often quarterbacks were in running drills um but I uh he's trimmed down a little bit so I think you're going to see him run more so we'll see what happens there and then that will bring in BO as well to see absolutely I think we're all wondering how much he's gonna factor in yeah no doubt I think yeah there's a couple things with that with the the read option type stuff where Drew is going to be a little bit more involved we've seen I've seen my man T Frank he's got the footage of him doing read option and then having like an orbit motion from the slot wide receiver so he's got the read option pull it orbit motion now he can keep or pitch it so it's somewhat of a triple option they are definitely going to use his legs a little bit more we saw that in Michigan when he randomly turned into a running quarterback uh so that was that was interesting to watch but two other things I want to I want to touch on that you guys talked about is his interceptions and I would go as far to say that I almost want Drew all to have more interceptions than two this year that's how I I mean I know it sounds weird but he needs to start taking those risks everything was an outlet check down we're not you know really trying to stretch the field rip Corey gger our guy we love him not actually but you know not on the beat anymore um you know said the said the famous quote just Chuck it up and uh I think we need to do a little bit of that I if I'm being honest and then Corey you said talking about him being a five star and one stat I want to share is comparing Drew's first year to Sha's first year and I think the expectations were a little bit different but Drew this past year in his first year starting went 2,630 yards 25 touchdowns two interceptions 10 and3 record Sean Clifford's First year starting that 2019 uh cotton bu season he had 2650 50 yards passing 25 touchdowns seven interceptions they went 11- two now I know the one the big differences there is the is the one game and that one game is the bowl game uh in the record but I I feel like there is such a drastic difference in how the fans view Drew all's first year and sea Clifford's First Year and like I said to your point Drew Aller was a festar we finally got the guy and it was like okay now Penn State has the quarterback can they take the next step and it feels like we're still in that almost Elite tier but we're not all the way there so I just think that's interesting do you guys see it that way how the fans them very differently and is that rightfully so yeah AB absolutely I mean I was one of the biggest supporters of Shawn Clifford when everyone else wanted to get rid of him and uh all of a sudden now I feel like fans are finding every possible reason to defend Drew Aller and and blame everybody else so it's complete 180 you know if Sean Clifford was the quarterback last year I promise you they wouldn't have been putting as much blame on the wide receivers or the running backs or the offensive coordinator and and I get it to a certain degree I mean there's a certain level of frustration with Penn State fans too in regards to five-star quarterbacks everybody is waiting for that five-star quarterback to come in and act like a Trevor Lawrence which statistically probably shouldn't be the expectation but pen fans has had a bad run of of Highly talented quarterbacks whether that was Anthony mlli whether that was Paul Jones or Rob Balin even to a certain degree Christian Hackenberg so there seems to be a little bit of a oh here we go again kind of moment and and they want to hold off on that as long as possible so I I think that's probably completely true but the other part of a two Landon is again what Sean harped on the the leadership the passion Sean Clifford still was able to do those things and and have those statistics ran the ball a little bit better as well but showed the emotion showed you know the ability to go out and extend plays and keep drives alive really Drew Aller for for what he's been able to do you know a lot of his touchdowns came in in in garbage time even against Ohio State um or Old Miss and not a lot of it came when he had to make an you know an addition to the play or or extend the play or we didn't see very much of that in fact you could probably argue it was a year ago when we saw the most of it when when we when pen played against West Virginia so I think that's probably the main difference between Shan Clifford and Jer and is it fair probably not yeah definitely and Sean I want to switch over from Drew Aller now we talking about him for a minute I want to talk about how involved Bo Pula can be in this offense and I was watching I just watched The Old Miss Peach Bowl a couple times through this past week and I was you know Drew and then Bo I think Bo might have came in for one play early on then he came in around Midfield 15 yard read option keep and then 40 yard touchdown pass to Nick Singleton he brings this explosive energy to the offense you know can even take another step and somehow be more involved as the backup quarterback in offense and you know make them more explosive where he is not the starter yeah you know I wanted to see more of him last season against Michigan and Ohio State because I don't think he didn't play in either game and I thought that was a big mistake from you know Mike uch in not playing him because we were we felt dead in the water especially against Michigan and it was a touchdown game like we shouldn't feel like it's hopeless and I think Bo could have given us a spark and I'm anticipating that you'll see more of him this year partly because I think Andy cotal Nikki just looking at his time at Kansas is more comfortable playing two quarterbacks you know the old adages if you have two quarterbacks you don't have one but I don't think that's always true um look at Florida in 2006 or seven whenever they won their National Championship they had Chris leak and they had Tim TBO it really depends now if Drew and Bo were the same type of quarterback well then I I could see why they would say that but they just bring totally different skill sets so yeah I think you're going to see a lot more of him especially if the off if we feel like the offense is in a funk uh you'll see you'll see Bo come in because really just overall and before we move uh little preview to the to the Run game uh this is going to be a running football team this year I fully anticipate that and that's going to mean more Bo poua yeah Sean you know to your point too there is we've HED on this a lot was if you can't stretch a defense vertically you have to be able to stretch them horizontally and that's what boa brought he was able to stretch defenses horizontally keep those def defensive ends and outside linebackers and check and make them respect the outside and that that opened up the Run game a little bit more again if you can't throw it you're going to have to be able to run it in different ways so be interested to see what happens this year if Dera is able to open it up more vertically or if they continue to and we based off of what we've seen with Andy K Nikki's offense we know he's going to stretch defenses horizontally yeah he he is it's going to be more explosive and Sean I know that two quarterbacks you don't have a true starter all too well I'm a d Die Hard Steelers fan uh so well I'm going through I'm going through that situation currently watch that preseason game last night not not good Steelers and the bills are not looking too good uh and then last thing I just want to I just want to mention real quick when we're gonna move on to wide receivers Ethan grunk me I believe he is the future the ball jumps out of his hand he works with the same uh trainer Brad menler as Drew Aller does uh and you'll watch some of the videos and don't like Drew is my guy don't get me wrong but sometimes I'm seeing grunk Meer throw it and the ball like jumps out of his hand and it doesn't even it doesn't jump that hard out of Drews his mechanics are almost seem a little bit more polished from a footwork from a you know making sure his throwing angles are actually correct but that's something you know definitely for the future I don't really think we're going to see him this year in any meaningful uh football games uh but moving on to to the wide receivers and I think this is probably the biggest question mark on the entire team we've been talking about it for a while um for me it's simple we need someone to help Drew Aller out I feel like he hasn't been helped out you know uh Kyle McCord JJ McCarthy last year they both had guys that would go help them out and Roman Wilson and Marvin Harrison Jr you could give them those 5050 balls where it didn't feel like they had to be the ones making the play someone could go make a play for them outside of Tyler Warren and Theo Johnson somewhat but Tyler Warren was really the main guy he was the only dude helping Drew Aller out and every other instance I guess it felt like at least from Drew all's standpoint I have to create the play and we know that he's not the best under that type of pressure so you know we're not really talk we can mix in this offensive coordinator talk in here too I think that's part of it getting guys a little bit more open for Drew Allard to make decisive decisions uh but I think we need wide receivers to simply just step up and be some dudes to help him out yo are you excited for pourman's class this year yeah have you seen the book yet what book we need a book of course we do where'd you get it the student bookstore downtown they have the best prices on pre-owned books and rentals I'm about to go right now hurry down I can't believe I can get all these used books for such a low price at the student bookstore downtown I'm coming here to get all my books for school yeah I'll just say it just straight up they very much missed Trey Wallace last year um he was the only guy that felt that he could go up and make some plays he's you know and go grab those 5050 balls and having him healthy this year we've already heard some things from Camp that he's been able to go win those 50-50 battles I think Drew said the other day that he literally threw it into some tight windows and was just hoping that Trey would be able to come down with it and he was able to so having him back and knock on wood having him back and having him healthy is going to be huge for jaler I mean yeah there were some other wide receivers last year that you know flashed but Trey Wallace after that first game against West Virginia we were like oh great we we have a solid number one number two in Trey Wallace and and Julian Fleming is going to do some good things but he's not likely to stretch the defense vertically as much as Trey Wallace is so having Trey Wallace and having him stay healthy I think is a huge key to the passing success yeah Sean I want to ask you who do you think is going to be your biggest surprise at wide receiver and honestly that the way it's shiing up could be anybody but Trey Wallace really I think could be your answer yeah that's true um you know I'm gonna go onari Evans and I think the reason I'm going to go there is you just see that speed and you can't teach that speed and the quickness uh but it just felt like the last well I mean 2022 he was a true freshman but 2023 it just felt like he just didn't quite put it together yet but there was still something there and thankfully you know stuck around there were a lot of guys to transferred out um but I think he's on the verge of of really breaking out and I think Fleming is gonna factor in at that other uh at that at the other wide receiver spot um but in a way we already kind of know what we're going to get with Julian Fleming he's a possession receiver he's going to be able to move the chains but Omari Evans brings that explosion that they've been missing really since Jan doson uh be completely honest you're absolutely right someone that can take the top off the defense and and really stretch it where we can get seven guys you know putting seven guys in the Box eight guys in the Box it's not optimal for a run game and I think that was happening a little bit last year where they felt hey we could put some guys in the box they're not going deep and that then dampers the Run game so I think if we can get one of these Speedy guys to be able to to affect the defense and make them stretch a little bit more that'll be really good excited about taer Denmark we've heard about him young young cat that's really exceeding expectations I've been hearing about him pretty much all summer long uh but I I want to ask you guys we've heard a lot about Trey Wallace the other name we're hearing is Liam Clifford are you buying or are you selling the Liam Clifford preseason hype Sean I'll let you go first all right um I think and you know when when we were doing this I put in my put my notes who I think will be starting I have Liam Clifford in my starting lineup right now at that slot spot um I I I think with a guy like him um James Franklin's going to go with people he trusts especially at a questionable position and right now wide receiver is and I think there's a lot of trust with with Liam Clifford uh kind of like what I said about Julian Fleming in that you know what you're going to be getting he's gonna have good hands he's GNA be able to run the right routes but is there I think you also have to think is Liam Clifford the type of guy that you're going to want on a team team that's trying to compete for a big 10 Championship do you want is is he going to be enough in your starting lineup and I think that's a fair question and frankly I don't know um I want to see if there's if there's been any kind of difference between last year and this year um but we know what he's going to bring to the table at the very least and I think that's something that's very appealing to James Franklin and Maris hains no doubt Cory yeah kayen Saunders isn't able to win that job you know I have I have larger concerns I think Liam Clifford's a fine wide receiver but to Sean's point in Ohio State in Oregon doesn't have Liam Clifford in their starting lineup with just all due respect they just don't and so but Sean also hit on a really good point too because it's something the wide receivers struggled with a lot a lot last year was running the right routes like if you can't run the right right routs and it doesn't matter so consistency is important and if that's what you get with Liam Clifford I have no problem with it but realistically I don't think Penn State is you know feeling great about the slot whether it's Saunders or Clifford right now that they're expecting the X in the Z to kind of hold on to things and then maybe they throw two tight ends out there a lot of the time and honestly two tight ends makes a little bit more sense in probably 70% of the situations because now you're a little bit more threat run the football so and and honestly like would you you know maybe a question for you two is I think I'd rather have khil dinkin out there than than Liam Clifford or Ken Saunders yeah we're gonna get into tight ends in a second but I I was saving the stat for the tight ends but since it's kind of a perfect moment Penn State runs the two tight end set 51% of the time last year so I I think we could see that now You' got Theo Johnson and Tyler Warren but I could see whether it's Rapier whether it's t Dinkins at the tight end two slot like I said we'll get into that shortly uh but I'm kind of excited about that opportunity present you take take someone away similar what we'll get into that on defense later but similar how they kind of took away a linebacker that might have not been a super strength after Abdul moved down and now you're going to run a lot of a 4-2 defense and get that extra safety because you have three star safeties so kind of similar that with the with the tight ends um but I want to move on to the running backs and the biggest question for me for the running backs is can Nick Singleton get back to breaking off those big runs again uh and it was fun especially those early games Ohio try I remember blocking for him it was fun to see him run 70 yards up the sideline uh and I don't think you know is and then I want to talk is there anything specific as to why you think he wasn't succeeding and just to give you a stat I think he was 6.6 yards per carry in 22 went down like 4.2 yards per carry in 20 uh 2023 Sean I think you you mentioned or you you you phrased this the best as far as Nick Singleton's relapse so to speak so I think you'll handle that one yeah I mean I think with with Singleton a lot he missed holes like there were holes that were there and he just wouldn't see them or so I think vision is something that I would like to see him improve on I mean I think there's a question though how much could you improve Vision that's kind of either something you have or you don't but at the same time look at how explosive he was in 2022 so he definitely has that in him but it's more so on the coaches being able to scheme for him and being able to do what he does best and I think after yourich got fired last year you started to see more of that you started to seeing more runs to the outside outside Zone instead of just running up the middle all the time um you saw some more pitches you saw you know I would like to see Singleton come in motion a little bit more maybe from maybe start out on maybe start out slot come in motion on on a Jet Sweep I think there's so many things you could do with him that he does do well and I felt like there was a lot of fitting a square into a round hole Cory knows I always mess that analogy did pretty well there yeah um yeah so I think just focus it's gonna be on the coaches to um you know uh to have him do more what he does well and sometimes I think coaching gets over complicated and it's really not like you have these really good play players you have these athletes use them and you know emphasize what they do well and try not to have them do what they don't do well it's yeah not that hard yeah you're absolutely right and it's you know get nigles ni get Nick Singleton the ball in space like that's that's the key to it all I think we saw that a little bit more we saw the wide receiver screen pass to him where Tyler Warren against Michigan State pancak someone 6070 yards down the field uh and it's just you know if it's not out of the back field like you said mix him around I think Andy coton Nikki has that creativity to be able to do that with Nick Singleton moving on to KRON Allen I honestly don't really have a lot on KRON man kron's gonna be the same dude we we've always known he's going to get he's going to have one of the best Visions out of any running back I've ever seen those cutbacks that he hit sometimes and the holes that he see it is really impressive stuff and he's going to run through your face and not really give a give a crap about it uh so that I mean that's how I see KRON if you guys anything specific you want to touch on but you know I don't think there's much to talk about I think we know what we're getting with KRON Allen this year and it's going to be some good some good hard running of the football yeah I would just say you know the ju position between those two and and the play calling that follows right you can run inside Zone you can run outside Zone with KRON and feel comfortable that he's going to be able to find the correct hole that to me is when you let Nick Singleton get tell Nick Singleton which hole he needs the hit and let him go full speed into that hole design most of the inside and outside zones for Allen because he's a lot better at at picking the correct hole and finding those cut backs I know you can't do that every single play because the tendency is involved but those are the strengths of those two guys and they are different and uh I think they're really going to benefit from two back systems that any coton Nikki likes to use um having Nick Singleton out there to to stretch the outside is just going to open up more holes on the interior for KRON Allen to to to to gash so excited to see what they're able to do with those two yeah no doubt and then I you know I think you know you talked about using two back sets a lot so I do think that means that you're going to use your third down running back your third running back a little bit more we saw Trey pots a decent amount and honestly I think he was a really good running back but I've been hearing a lot of Buzz about cam Wallace out of Camp cam Wallace has really been impressing a lot of people uh so we have him and then Quinton Martin looked really good in the spring game I know a lot of fans were excited about him I guess my main question is do do you guys think we could really get him involved do we want to take that many carries away from Nick and KRON especially for someone that do you want to actually really burn their red shirt when you have two star running backs I think you're gonna see a lot qu Martin and part of the reason I do is he could also play receiver and I think you could see him go uh they could flank him out wide like I said you know kind of do what I said that they could do with Singleton I think Quint Martin um is good I think Quint Martin might be used in that same way um I like what said though uh I thought Trey P was good for us last year every time he got in it felt like positive things happen I thought he should have played more this was something we were banging the table on like put Trey pots in um uh when we were playing Michigan and Ohio State because when we when pen State played uh Northwestern Illinois yeah Trey pots made a difference in those games because those games were kind of touch and go for a little bit and it felt like he helped put us over the top but I do think you're to see quite a bit of qu mar Just because of his versatility yeah summed it up well yeah absolutely um so yeah that kind of rounds out the running backs I think we know uh what we're going to get for the most part from the running backs I just want to see Nick Nick Singleton be a little bit more explosive and I think a big piece of that is on the shoulders of Andy coton Nikki to get him involved uh but I want to move on to tight ends we were talking about them a little bit earlier Theo Johnson uh went to the Giants he's actually I've heard he's going to be the starting tight end for the giant so he's already killing it uh Tyler Warren finally gets the move into that tight end one role uh and I'm really excited about that because he was thinking about leaving decided to come back uh we call him Psycho T man when he comes on the field he is a completely different person and you him and Theo both had seven touchdowns last year I have him for double digit touchdowns this year that's what I feel like he can provide for this offense and be that safety blanket for Drew Aller where you see even when things weren't going that right for Drew all against Old Miss and that's what I mean about making a play for your quarterback quarterback's rolling left decides to throw back into the middle of the field not really a good idea Tyler Warren somehow makes the catch and then rumbles down to the three yard line for like a 60 yard reception that's the type of stuff that we need from our wide receivers but I think Tyler Warren finally being that true number one tight end it's gonna be really big for Drew Aller and this offense you know you talk about stretching defenses vertically of the wide receivers you know Tyler Warren's been able to provide that over the middle seam route threat that also keeps defenses from playing a lot of cover too you get defenses out of cover too um it opens up a lot more for your wide receivers especially on the outside towards the numbers so him having success very well could lead to the wide receivers having more success um I was a little surprised we talking about the captains kind of surprised that he he wasn't given a captain spot um because I know he means a tremendous amount to this team um but you know again I wouldn't be surprised if if they find other ways to get Warren involved too now if Warren Gets involved in the running game or something like that you might question whether or not the running backs are doing very well but he's too special not to use in different ways whether that's in the slot whether that's um lined in tight whether that's kind of as an h-back he's just too much athleticism to not get him involved and and that's not just by the the end zone or by the Red Zone I mean underrated part of Warren is his run after the catch I I think he is a lot better after the catch than a lot of people give him credit for kind of to your point on that that long uh catch and run in the in the peach bow yeah play a quarterback yeah well that Sean that's what I was gonna say if you guys remember back to 2021 that package with Tyler Warren at quarterback the goal line package that was really good it kind of got replaced by the the three-back set which has been really good for us uh I think we've really taken advantage and teams find it really difficult why not have both you know like someone starts to shut down okay and I have something else that I can go to get him involved allow him to and I think it's the biggest thing as an offensive coordinator let your guys have fun when play when people having fun You' seen Mahomes and the Chiefs when they did that like dance celebration into the lineup and then scored a touchdown it was like they're having fun out there they're inspired they're playing for their coach that's what we need out of Andy coton Nikki I think it'll be good uh this is a discussion I want to talk about for a little while Titan number two um I've heard that you know khil dinkin and and Andrew Raper are fighting for that spot and still the battle is still going on uh those Camp battles are are pretty significant it is a lot I was in one myself with Hunter NORAD my second year uh there's a lot of stress because you know every day it's like you're getting graded out and you know the next day it's going to dictate either what the next day looks like for you and the coaches just go by a day-by-day basis if you have a really bad day you're GNA get some reps cut so in the back of your mind you're like man I cannot mess this up um so they're battling as we speak right now but let me know what you know what do you guys feel what do you guys like I think has shown a lot of promise not only receiving but he's been a really good blocker as of recent as well yeah know Lin um he I think James Franklin said last week that he had some uh bumps and bruises so I do wonder how what's our bumps and bruises count Sean well there's quite a few guys that think have the bumps and bruises so that could mean anything could mean he's out two months could mean he's back by week one I mean who knows um so I don't know so we have to keep that in the back of our heads when we think about this I think um but yeah Raper is I thought he played really well in the blue white game um thought he uh they they kept throwing him the ball just because he was all he was 7-Eleven he was always open so that was really positive to see um and I think what both of them do well is they both block and that's uh so they're both complete tight Benz so I think it's so hard for me to say just because I don't know what dink's status is but he's ready for this uh just from a playing point of view um he'd be better than almost all of than probably all but three or four of the teams in the conference better than all their starters um that's how highly I think of him and partly is and that's partly because he's just kept ground ing even though he was a little behind in the depth chart but he always just played with such high energy when he when he did have the opportunity so I'm really excited for him I think if he's healthy he's tight end too yeah I I agree with that I mean I'm I'm excited about raple I'm also excited about um Luke Reynolds too and just again how much can you I I love this argument with fans all the time is like oh we didn't get Singleton the ball enough or we didn't get Tyler Warren involved enough or we didn't get you know this wide receiver up I'm like well our offense only had 30 to 40 plays because they couldn't move the football so if you can't move the football no one's going to get the ball enough and so trying to find enough pass attempts to this guy or that guy is difficult but you know I would say KH dinkin took full advantage of all the opportunities he got I mean I feel like every time there was a fourth down they converted by going to dinkin whether it was like a fourth and one in the Maryland game whether was a touchdown pass that Aller threw in the Iowa game in the back of the end zone like Lins showed up when it mattered most and so you know and it doesn't hurt that he has a little bit more speed I think that goes back to what we were talking about earlier if you don't feel great about Clifford or Saunders you throw dinkin out there still block and and still have some speed yeah no we we have weapons out the wazu once again with the aces the tight ends and just to give you this stat uh we run a three tight end set actually over 5% of our plays in 2023 so that's not a lot but I mean for a third string tight end to play 5% of the play I mean that's that's pretty significant so even that third string guy I'm excited Luke Reynolds uh looks like he's putting on weight I just saw there was some seen him recently he looks ba you know that was kind of the thought is he ready to go as ex true College tight end Tai how has like four guys that could start uh at at the tight end position and then obviously he has the best one in Tyler Warren so another year of that being a position of strength for Penn State which I think is really going to be helpful uh and now moving on to a position that as of recent has really been a position of strength and you say it to P any fans you know in the 2010 years they would laugh in your face if they they knew we were going to have a good offensive line headed in the 2020s uh but we did lose two Elite offensive tackles Olu fashu and K Wallace both went uh in this past year's NFL Draft the last time we lost two our both our starting tackles to the NFL draft going back to 1996 Keith goon conin and Andre Johnson Andre Johnson went round one Keith went uh round six uh so you know need needless to say you know we have haven't had that Elite offensive line play in a long time uh lost hunter norz that as well was a great leader I think Nick de Dawkins is going to step in there just fine but so that's why I have a little bit more questions at these tackle spots and I would say drew all's main problem is being under pressure that is where he struggles so now you add in the fact of you know let's talk let's see about the W what what the wide receivers are going to do but you add in a younger offensive lineman at both tackles that guys that probably have really never truly started I mean Drew Aller got some good starting time at the end of his freshman year but it's been a while since anybody has truly started of those guys that's going to step in you know is this offensive line going to take a little bit of a step back I mean is that realistic to say 100% I mean it's 100% going to take a step back I mean just because you don't have to worry about the left tackle position for the entire season means they're G to take a step back this year I mean it's just the nature of it um we we were huge kayen Wallace fans as far as how he continued to develop you know throughout his career um sea I thought was a guard at best case in the NFL and the fact that he's still working at tackle um at the next level is pretty phenomenal to me so absolutely gonna take a step back and your point about you know Drew Aller not doing well under pressure is one of my main concerns for this entire football season because they are going to have to get the ball out fast they are going to have to move the pocket they are going to have to get him out in space because you're not going to have as much time and and that's going to be a problem I mean that's going to be something that Jer has to figure out if pen State wants to be successful there's some quarterbacks that are good under pressure and make teams pay we did not really see that from Aller last year so yes absolutely whether you know feel pretty decent about Drew Shelton on that left side um but whether it's Nolan Ruchi or Anthony dunca on the right tackle spot I mean there are going to be pains like they are not going to play perfectly and by perfect I mean U's level it just there there's going to be a step down for sure yeah yeah definitely Sean I want to come to you in one second but I I will say from a you know from a standpoint of the play we've seen Anthony Dona had his first start at the Peach Bowl he actually did really really well I broke down his tape was one of the best offensive linemen in the game and at times you know was pain kicking guys and still looked like he wasn't even fully sure where he was going to go so as he grows he is much bigger now too it looks like he's put on about 25 pounds it's he is really transformed I'm excited for him Drew Shelton did struggle a little bit in the Peach Bowl there was a touchdown to Tyler Warren that was right there on the table for Drew Aller and because Drew Shelton only held his block for about a half a a you know a second and a half he got the Drew Aller wasn't able to make the completion like you said that was not something you had to deal with with Olu fashanu uh Sean I want to come to you now James miky came out and talked about splitting plays at tackle and center now you know I could talk about this a little bit myself I had to do that with Hunter NORAD it sucks you can't get a rhythm you can't get the vibe for the guy across from you you're you're not confident because now you're like can I I can get yanked at any second if I mess up so now you're looking over your shoulder older 247 but to you I mean how how how do you feel about that from there's also that depth standpoint of it too yeah I think this is something that really in James Franklin's whole tenure here and you have to look back to even way way before you back in 2014 2015 where the offensive lineman it was kind of slim pickings there um one thing about him he tends to want to play the best Five Guys um and like you said a lot of that will come with mixing and matching playing guys at different positions that they may not be that they may not feel comfortable playing um so yeah I mean it's it it's something to think about I think when you start looking inside Cooper cousins who's already cross training between guard and Center um I know I know you said I know you said guard and Tackle but like that he's the number one guy that I think of with that because typically you don't play two centers uh that's very very rare so I think if you're going to see him like he's just the first one that comes to mind um you're going to see him at guard which is a position that and granted there a lot of similarities between guard and Center uh but it's something that I think he just started being cross trained at in the summer so it's gonna be so it's kind of a New Concept for him so so yeah I mean it's it's a lot to put on a guy's play and I think you would know better than anybody um because you when you came in you were playing both guard and Tack I remember like you were recruited as you were recruited as a guard right actually I started I played tackle my whole career and then came here I played left tackle the last like three games uh and then in the Outback Bowl I ended up playing both guards and then I just kind of became a guard it's definitely difficult to be switching back and forth I will say that like that is that is a struggle and you sorry if I said guard I think I meant Center saying that's where that's you know where he said there there might be uh people interchanging which that's start to get a little worrisome there it's like if you want Cooper to play some Center because our guards were pretty deep at guard it's like that's cool but making Drew all snap to two different people I don't or you know get snaap two by two different people I don't know if I really like that that is something you don't really want to play around with especially if Nick Dawkins is playing at a high level I I don't know if I really mess up that chemistry because they're also the one calling it out for the offensive line they're iding they're switching the ID based on what they're seeing so like there is a lot of communication that depends on a center and I'm going be honest like as much as I love Cooper cousins that is the future you know if you do you want to go from a fifth year guy that knows the everything like the back of his hand versus a a freshman that's going to ma he's going to have misassignments that's how it works when you're a freshman so I think there's that piece of it talking about guys that are swinging back and forth that can play Everything coach came out and said JB Nelson is a Swiss army knife that's what uh coach James Franklin said sounds like VGA is probably gonna be the starter at left guard so it's gonna be vanga and sa I think the good news is sa's a sixe guy they're gonna try to take as many reps off of him as possible I got a little banged up in the spring and so I think there's going to almost be a three-man rotation where JB can come in at left guard a little bit vanger could bump over he's played a lot of Right Guard in his career kind of mixing around which is like I said is really good for depth um so I know they're going to get jbn because I've had NFL agents tell me they're excited about JB so it's hard for them you know NFL agents to be excited and you're not even a starter you got to get him a little bit involved something I want to talk about Javin Williams was just kind of announced by the media he's going to be with the guards what is your guys take on that personally I love it if you remember the tape of Jin Williams he used to be a pulling guard for his high school and just obliterate people let's get him back pulling that's my take on it but what do you guys got yeah I'll just say one last thing there about JB I kind of feel bad for JB Nelson because um he kind of he kind of got punished for being able to play both tackle and guard a little bit if he would have just came in as a guard he might have been able to just get more reps at guard and he might have been even starting but because he was able to play tackle they bumped him out there when they needed him to and in a way kind of fell down the guard depth chart a little bit um which again no knock to him because he's able to play both but it it did kind of stin as far as playing time goes um Javin Williams kind of in a similar Camp though I mean they tried tried him out a tackle there um you know as I think this is a really good example of setting correct expectations for offensive lineman Jain Williams athletic freak probably one of the best athletes Penn States ever recruited at offensive line it just goes to show how hard it is sometimes to develop offensive lineman and Anthony dunca is kind of weird that he was able to play right away especially given that a lot of people really weren't expecting him to crack the depth chart anytime soon but Javin Williams is like the more prototypical thing to expect with offensive linean it's going to take a year or two maybe even three to develop and see the field and and that's typically okay I mean a lot I remember back like in the 2000s like every single offensive line starter was a red shirt Junior a red shirt senior like that that's just how it was and so I think Jam Williams is better at guard I I didn't really like the tackle idea I think also part of that was due to they didn't have that much tackle depth of the time and I think they feel better about it now um so I think it's a good transition back and I also would just like to say it's okay that he isn't there yet yeah yeah absolutely um I think you could say the same thing about Alex burme because he's another guy that gets mentioned a lot I know yeah I know with the uh big podcast the blue white Illustrated of the world a common question is where's Alex birm and I think they talked about this a little bit ago like well he's developing he's coming along and I think there's a similar thing with Jain Williams I think he's a little bit ahead birm and it's a more of a natural position for him to play at guard because of that physicality he reminds me a little bit I think he's a little I think he's going to I think he could be a little bit more polished um kind of like CJ Thorp who played a few years back watching his high school film reminded me a little bit of that but I think he has more natural gifts than CJ did as well yeah no I think you're right I have heard the name Alex birm Flo around a lot where is he at not everybody comes in and can play right away like Cooper cousins it especially as something as physical as offensive line it is a big change from high school to college uh but look that wraps it up I appreciate you guys joining me today one more time where can they find all your guys' content yeah hardcore psfb hardcore Penn State football search that you'll find us again on all audio podcast platforms uh we also have some of our content on state media where our live show will be twice a week during the season awesome I appreciate it guys we are going to do the defensive depth chart breakdown on their channel so let's go check that out after you're done with this like comment subscribe peace