Penn State began spring practices today, and the media got an extended look on Tuesday with a 30-minute window. Here are a handful of takeaways and more from the practice.
All the quarterbacks were out there today and for the start of spring practices, all looked pretty sharp with a nice zip on the ball. The Nittany Lions' depth may be questionable when it comes to experience behind Drew Allar but it certainly is a room with plenty of talent heading into this upcoming season.
When it comes to the order behind Allar, it was Grunkemeyer and then Smolik. It's a big spring for Smolik in particular who missed all of last season with an injury.
All the running backs were accounted for today. Singleton and Allen looked like their usual selves, while Quinton Martin looked strong as he hopes to have a big spring. True freshman Tiqwai Hayes was impressive and has the makings of being a "dude" for the Nittany Lions in the future.
At wide receiver, Kaden Saunders was at practice, a rarity that we saw in the fall. He flashed at times during our time on the field and had a nice catch or two in the process. Did have one notable drop but we'lll chalk that up to rust. My first impressions of Devonte Ross are outstanding. Tremendous burst off the line of scrimmage and was beating guys without any problem whatsoever. Thought Koby Howard was the best of the freshman receivers on hand, Outten and Samuel have the upside but are still quite raw, which is expected. Peter Gonzalez was also back out there which is nice tos ee after his injury last season.
At tight end, it was a mostly unremarkable day, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Luke Reynolds had a fantastic catch while being covered and held by Vaboue Toure. Expectations only continue to rise for the true sophomore. Anytime there was a contested throw on Tuesday night, he made it.
The offensive line is as deep as advertised. No real surprise with that group, though J'Ven Williams was taking snaps at left tackle.
On the defensive line, Not a ton of surprises. Zane Durant and Xavier Gilliam appeared to be the "starting" defensive tackles today. No Alonzo Ford as he continues to recover from an injury suffered against Minnesota last season. Liam Andrews returned to practice after missing basically all of last season as well. Depth at DT is still concerning as of today, but we'll see how that room progresses during this spring and fall camp.
LaVar Arrington II sporting the 'Stix' was out there, and he is already a physical specimen. Just really impressive from that standpoint. It should be a lot of fun to see how he continues to develop this offseason.
At linebacker, Tony Rojas as James Franklin said, was not available today, but we did see Keon Wylie return to practice. The former four-star recruit and Philadelphia native should have a notable role this upcoming fall if he can stay on the field.
The secondary is absolutely loaded with talent. Jim Knowels has to be salivating with what he could potentially do with the corners and safeties this fall. The Elliot Wasinhgton hype train continues. His winter was clearly no fluke. He was all over the place on Tuesday night, and the improvements he made from last season are already clearly evident.
Other than that, it was cool to see Jim Knowles and Stan Drayton both take the field on Tuesday for their first practice with the program. We also saw Trace McSorley's return to the Nittany Lions as he was also on the practice field.
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