The Penn State Nittany Lions' football program finished up their spring practices on Saturday afternoon at Beaver Stadium with their annual Blue-White Spring game. It was a quality crowd at Beaver Stadium that filled in as the game progressed early on but the weather with wind gusts of up to 35 mph certainly kept some fans away.
That being said, on the field, fans and the media alike got glimpses of what the Nittany Lions offense and defense could look like this upcoming fall.
Below, we go over some takeaways, notes, and thoughts regarding the Nittany Lions offense.
JOIN TODAY AND GET 30 DAYS FREE! | THE LIONS DEN FORUM | PENN STATE FOOTBALL 2025 RECRUITING CLASS | PENN STATE BASKETBALL RECRUITING
Before diving into specifics, let's start with the hot topic. Redshirt senior wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith was not present for Saturday's spring game. He was not in uniform and he was not seen on the sidelines in street clothes either.
As of Saturday afternoon, the expectation is that Lambert-Smith will enter the transfer portal when it officially reopens this week. The possibility of Lambert-Smith entering the portal was first reported inside The Lion's Den on Tuesday evening before being reported by other outlets on Friday afternoon.
Also not available for the offense on Saturday was quarterback Jaxon Smolik, running back Kaytron Allen, offensive linemen Drew Shelton and JB Nelson, and wide receivers Mehki Flowers and Josiah Brown.
Of those five players, the only players that seem likely to be out for most of, if not all of the 2024 season are Jaxon Smolik and Josiah Brown. Smolik suffered a serious injury earlier this spring while Brown tore his ACL during his high school senior season.
QUARTERBACKS
First, it's worth stating that everything within a spring game should be taken with a grain of salt. We're watching rather vanilla offensive work, which is to be expected. That being said, the quarterback play on Saturday was rather forgettable. Drew Allar looked solid, he made the right decisions more often than not and showed quality accuracy. He has hampered a bit by his wide receiver room which we'll get to soon.
Beau Pribula had a tough day at the office. He completed 4-of-8 passing attempts for 18 yards while throwing one interception. There were also several times in the game that he would've likely been sacked or taken a tackle for loss. Several throws as well that should've been intercepted and his one interception in the game looked like it potentially came on miscommunication between him and Julian Fleming.
This summer and fall will be important for Pribula and his future. The Nittany Lions are very high on the potential of true freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer and if Drew Allar were to leave for the NFl following the 2024 season, Grunkemeyer would very much be a contender to be the program's starting quarterback in 2025. That being said, that's a long way away and will depend entirely on what Drew Allar's future looks like following this upcoming season.
Talking about Ethan Grunkemeyer, he wasn't perfect. He had mistakes of his own but you can see the talent and potential in the Ohio native. He gets the ball out quickly and has a nice touch on his throws. He should provide strong competition for Pribula and push the York native going forward.
RUNNING BACKS
Penn State has an embarrassment of riches at running back. There's no other way around it. Both Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton didn't play on Saturday and the rushing attack was just fine in their absence.
Both Cam Wallace and Quinton Martin were smooth with the ball in their hands and were as advertised this spring. The battle for the No.3 spot on the depth chart should be an intriguing one to watch this upcoming fall. Both have the potential to be key pieces of the Nittany Lions’ offense in the future.
London Montgomery also saw his fair share of time and showed flashes of his own. His day didn't start out well with a poor effort on fielding a kickoff which James Franklin was unhappy with but Montgomery recovered well. That being said, Montgomery's weight is going to remain a potential issue going forward in his development as he is still just 186 pounds, something that James Franklin mentioned at the beginning of spring practices as something that they would likely to see higher at this point in time. With three running backs set to come in as part of the 2025 recruiting class, the remainder of 2024 is going to be big for Montgomery and where he ultimately is going to stand in the running back pecking order beyond this fall.
WIDE RECEIVER
The wide receiver room continues to be a work in progress for Penn State. On Saturday, no one truly stood out. Harrison (Tre) Wallace continues to look solid when healthy and he's going to have the chance to have a big season if he can stay on the field. But as the Nittany Lions search for a No.1 wide receiver, Wallace made a strong early impression with his spring game performance.
Kaden Saunders was targeted seven times in the game, the second most of any receiver throughout the game but only had two receptions for 27 yards. He also had one drop. Some of those incompletions were not his fault but overall, the former high four-star prospect still hasn't shown that next step on the field that you would've liked to see as he enters year three.
If there are positives for the room as a whole, they would begin that the miscommunications between Allar and the wide receivers appeared to be at a low. There appeared to be one early between beau Pribula and Julian Fleming that resulted in an interception. The route running also looked to be a bit crisper than we saw last year as well. Overall, the Penn State wide receiver room didn't really answer any of the questions that surroudned the room heading into the spring, those questions will remain heading into the fall.
TIGHT ENDS
All in all, it was a quiet day for Penn State's tight end. We'll have to back and watch this one closer to get a better idea of how each tight end performed in a run blocking perspective. In the passing game, Joey Schlaffer was an early favorite target of Beau Pribula with three receptions in the first half.
Andrew Rapplyea, who looks the part from a physical standpoint also had a quality performance including a late touchdown. That being said, Khalil Dinkins still likely holds the lead on the depth chart for the No. 2 role at tight end but Rapplyea should get plenty of opportunities this fall no matter if he's the No. 2 or No. 3 tight end for the Nittany Lions.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Much like the tight ends, we're going to have to go back and watch the replay of the spring game to get a better idea of who were the top performers on the offensive line and which offensive lineman struggled.
That being said, true freshman Cooper Cousins remains the big talking point. The true freshman offensive lineman has put together a very good spring for the Nittany Lions and has shown his versatility both at center and right guard. While he may not start come week one for the Nittany Lions, it's going to be hard for James Franklin and Phil Trautwein to keep Cousins off the field. Here at HVI, we’ve been vocal in our belief that he has the single highest floor and ceiling of any prospect the Nittany Lions signed in 2024 and we continue to believe that coming out of the spring. The reviews so far have been very strong on the Erie native. His development into the summer and fall will be fun to watch.
The Nittany Lions were missing three projected starters in the spring game with Drew Shelton, JB Nelson, and Sal Wormley all out of action. All three should be healthy entering fall camp.
Overall, both offensive lines had their ups-and-downs in the game but that was expected entring Saturday considering the injuries that the offensive line sustained over the course of the last ew months and the infusion of younger and less experienced talent. Ultimately, the Nittany Lions offensvie line in 2024 should still be a strength for the program though there are certaintly going to be a handful of players who are going to be under a spotlight including J'ven Williams, Nick Dawkins, Nolan Rucci, Anthony Donkoh, and Cooper Cousins.
--------------------------------------------------------------
• Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
