Radar Detector: Three players to watch for in spring practice
With spring practice just under a month away, excitement is building over which young Penn State player will begin to make a name for themselves.
While the public will make its judgement largely based on the performances in the end-of-Spring Blue-White scrimmage, there's a ton to be gained in spring practice in the eyes of the Penn State coaches.
We decided to break down three Penn State players who could be in position to have breakout Spring practice performances. For the purpose of the exercise, I did not include any of the class of 2022 recruits that arrived in January.
1. Tre Wallace
Harrison Walllace III, known by his teammates and those around the program as Tre, was an underrated and somewhat late addition to the 2021 class after decommiting from Duke. The Alabama native was rated as just a 5.7 three-star recruit coming out of high school, but his athleticism flashed as soon as he got on campus.
Wallace quickly moved to the forefront of the list of 2021 recruits that impressed in their redshirt season a year ago and eventually earned his way into playing time against Ball State, Villanova and Arkansas.
Wallace has good, not great speed, but where he shines is at high-pointing the football. Similar to DaeSean Hamilton before him, Wallace is aggressive at the catch point and good, strong hands when he goes up to pull the ball down. Penn State's wide receiver group is strong in 2022, led by Parker Washing, Mitchell Tinsley, KeAndre Lambert-Smith and Malick Meiga, but don't be surprised to see Wallace's name continue to pop up in the spring.
2. Hakeem Beamon
Ah yes, the famed mystery man on Penn State's defensive line. After committing to Penn State as a strong side defensive end in the 2019 class, Beamon made his way inside to defensive tackle and appeared in eight games in the 2020 pandemic-shortened season.
Issues away from the field, however, cost Beamon the entirety of his 2021 season. Rather than transfer out, the Virginia native opted to stick with the Penn State program and work through the issues and is expected to be a big re-addition to the defensive tackle room in 2022. At 6-3, 276 pounds, he'll see most of his time at a 3-tech defensive tackle, but could slide outside to strong side defensive end against more run-oriented teams.
Beamon will still have to work his way back into the rotation, with PJ Mustipher, Coziah Izzard and Dvon Ellies all ahead of him with names like Jordan Van den Berg and Fatorma Mulbah in the mix as well, but it's clear the coaches like what he brings to the table at the position and he has the drive to get back onto the field.
3. Saleem Wormley
Lost in the discussion of who starts in the interior of Penn State's offensive line in 2022 seems to be Saleem Wormley. Wormley, like Beamon, missed the entirety of the 2021 season. Though he did so after suffering a foot injury prior to the start of the season.
If not for the injury, Wormley would have started at left guard to begin the season for the Nittany Lions. Actually, it was last spring when 2019 commit actually first broke out. The No. 108 overall recruit in the country has good size, bend and mechanics and if he can get back to 100 percent, would be a huge addition to Phil Trautwein's offensive line room.
Wormley, like Beamon, will have to earn his spot back on the line. He'll be competing with Juice Scruggs, Hunter Nourzad, Landon Tengwall and potentially Caedan Wallace for playing time depending on what Penn State plans to do those four positionally and if they add another tackle via the transfer portal. If he does get back to full health, however, it would be know surprise to see Wormley end Spring ball as a presumed starter at one of the guard spots.
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