Penn State Practice Notebook: James Franklin talks Spring ball
With offseason practices kicking off last week, the 2022 Nittany Lions are ramping up for what they hope will be a bounce back season.
Following practice on Wednesday, James Franklin met with members of the media to give the rundown on what has gone on within the Penn State program over the past week.
Here are the main points of discussion that Franklin brought up.
FRESHMAN RUNNING BACKS
Heralded quarterback prospect Drew Allar has the buzz of Penn State’s 2022 class, which makes it easy to forget the amount of talent that the Nittany Lions have added at running back.
Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen have created some buzz thus far in camp and it makes sense given what each of them were able to accomplish in high school.
In addition to Jonathan Sutherland and Juice Scruggs praising the young running backs, Franklin was also sure to give a progress report on the two and said that things have been going well thus far.
The two freshmen have been impressive, really since they showed up on campus,” Franklin said. “Kaytron [Allen] is very football smart. I think his experience at IMG has put him ahead in terms of just college level learning, experience, understanding defensive protections and things like that.
While Allen’s thumper style of running game is something that should really help Penn State over the next few seasons, Singleton seems to have it all.
The reviews on the reigning Gatorade High School National Player of the Year have been high so far and Franklin emphasized the fact that they are pleased with his development.
“Nick [Singleton] as you guys have seen in the weightlifting sessions and some of the announcements on social media, he’s pretty impressive,” Franklin said. “He's got tremendous burst, powerful, strong in pass protection. We've been impressed so far.”
OFFENSIVE LINE
There is no question that the Penn State offensive line has to be better in 2022 if Penn State wants to accomplish anything of real significance.
Phil Trautwein’s unit struggled in both the pass and run game last season, but they will see some changes in 2022.
“I think Olu [Fashanu] has been really good. He's been really impressive and Juice [Scruggs] has been really impressive. He looks comfortable and I think his best position is at center.”
Fashanu will presumably be the starting left tackle for Penn State next season while Scruggs makes the full time switch to snapping the football.
But while there are some spots that appear all but set, there is a small issue with depth in the trenches that Franklin says may need to be addressed in the coming weeks before more new arrivals get to Happy Valley.
“We have a bunch of guys that have moved on so our numbers are low,” Franklin said. “We have answers for training camp, but right now there's not a whole lot of answers. Even when we do our run-on tryout, typically you can get most positions except for O-Line, there’s just not a whole lot of those human beings walking around the planet let alone on Penn State's campus.”
MANNY DIAZ
Another adjustment Penn State is having to make this offseason is learning a new scheme on the defensive side of the ball with first-year coordinator Manny Diaz.
Diaz, now with a week of practice under his belt, continues to get used to his personnel which includes a mix of veterans and young players.
With that, there are some adjustments to be made by the players with some mistakes that will likely follow, but that is the reason why there’s spring ball and those type of things get hashed out now.
“Obviously, there are some changes and with [the hire], there's some growing pains and guys not playing as fast as they normally do because they're thinking a little bit more with some of the adjustments that have been made,” Franklin said. “But overall it’s been good.”
Diaz has also found time to connect with his players and fellow coaches so far, an important aspect of the job following the departure of Brent Pry who had a special relationship with many of his former guys.
”He's got tremendous experience, both as a head coach and as a defensive coordinator. I've been really impressed with him and I think he's been really good with the staff and with the guys as well.”
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