Penn State football may have had a fairly peaceful offseason this summer, but that doesn’t mean the Nittany Lions are without storylines or questions heading into the start of August and the opening stages of fall camp.
Penn State coach James Franklin will take the podium on Wednesday for the opening day of Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis, and while there are plenty of questions out there to be asked, here are five storylines to keep in mind.
Abdul Carter/Nick Singleton: Penn State is in a unique situation to have a player that might be able to surpass what Micah Parsons was able to do and another player that could do the same with Saquon Barkley’s records. Both Carter and Singleton will need to prove themselves again this year to live up to the hype, but how does the program handle the possibility of having two different megastars on their hands? That’s a good problem to have, but it is an interesting dynamic when it comes to managing expectations and goals.
Quarterback Situation: There’s no reason to think Penn State’s quarterback race needs to be decided today, but it would be interesting to hear if Franklin will divulge any information on its current status. Is it ongoing because that’s the best way to manage development, or is it ongoing because Drew Allar hasn’t quite separated himself from Beau Pribula just yet? Alternatively, did Pribula do better than anyone really expected during spring practice? Franklin probably won’t give too much insight into things and history suggests it might be a bit longer before this is announced, but until it is, Penn State’s quarterback room is still theoretically an ongoing question.
Leadership: You can have the best players in America, but without leadership talent can only get you so far. How has the leadership on this team developed and where does it still need to go? Young players are exciting to watch, but older guys are often the ones who know how to go from nine wins to 12. There’s no reason to think this will be a weakness of this team, but until Franklin sounds more comfortable with where they’re at on this front, there’s no reason to think leadership is a strength either.
Setting Goals: Penn State is almost certainly going to start the season in the top 10 despite having a new quarterback and a fairly unproven receiver room. That’s not to say the top-10 ranking won’t be well deserved, but this team might have to grow into itself a bit along the way. The schedule is generally favorable for that sort of thing, but learning how to not get caught up in rankings early in the year is a good skill for a younger team to have. The smaller that number gets, the better shot teams will give the Nittany Lions. On a similar note, what exactly is Penn State trying to do this year? There are a lot of expectations for this team, but there isn’t an absence of important questions to answer, too. How high is too high for this team?
Receivers: There’s no reason to think Penn State’s receivers’ room can’t step up to the plate but there’s plenty of reason to think that it still has to prove itself. This group is relying in no small part on the performance of KeAndre Lambert-Smith, who ended last season with a bang but has played his entire career at Penn State with highs and lows. There are worse things than knowing the potential for an elite receiver is within KLS, but the worse thing might not be knowing which KLS you’ll get any given week. The more even keel he can be, the better off this room — and Penn State — will be for it. Of course he can’t do it on his own: enter Kent State transfer Dante Cephas.
