2022 Penn State Preview: Offense First

 Stop me if you’ve heard this before- Penn State starts off hot with multiple impressive wins, rises into the top-10, maybe even the top 5, has all the momentum in the country and gets some College Football Playoff hype and then it comes crashing down. I don’t think I need to go over what happened in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021 because it’s the same song and dance. But hey, it is what it is. 

Two of those seasons, 2017 and 2019 saw Penn State reach 7-0 and 8-0 respectively before things went south. The other two, 2018 and 2021 saw the team just 4-0 and 5-0 but the momentum was there, and the confidence was building. In 2021, James Franklin and company were a random Sean Clifford injury away from beating Iowa and being 5-0 and ranked #2 in the country. The Nittany Lions were up 17-7 when Clifford went down, and it was up to the defense to play offense because the likelihood of backup quarterback Ta’Quan Roberson being able to manage that game was slim to none.  

(courtesy: PennLive)

Penn State would go on to lose to Iowa and then have another distraction enter the season; the James Franklin coaching rumors. If there was a head coaching vacancy, Franklin’s name would be mentioned as a replacement. Then the infamous nine overtime loss to Illinois happened and that’s when things really shut down. Even with Ohio State and Michigan on the horizon the season was all but over. To make things worse, no one knew what the injury was that took Sean Clifford out. No one really knew what was going on with James Franklin’s contract. To say the season was suddenly a complete disaster would be an understatement. Again, stop me if you’ve heard this before.  

Now we turn the page to 2022. The expectations are high even with the way the second half of the 2021 season went. And they should be. Not only should the expectations ALWAYS be high at Penn State, but this season has some of the ingredients to get things going again and get back to double digit wins and ultimately compete for a Big Ten title and a trip to the playoffs. Something they’ve been so close to. Let’s look at those ingredients and see what we’re working with.  

As always, we start with the quarterbacks. Sean Clifford is back for his sixth season at Penn State and his fourth as a starter. If you look at his numbers, they aren’t bad; he’s got a 60% completion percentage for his career, 62 touchdowns to 24 interceptions and barring injury will own every school passing record by the end of the season. Clifford is the starter heading into the week one matchup against Purdue despite there being a 5-star, 6’4” 240-pound, freshman quarterback who can make every throw waiting in the wings. Drew Allar, the previously mentioned freshman quarterback, is the future of Penn State at the position, but that future doesn’t seem to be this season. Things can change of course over the next month and a half, but it doesn’t seem likely. I mention Allar being the future, but don’t forget Christian Veilleux. The sophomore stepped in for Clifford against Rutgers and had himself a game going 15/24 for 235 yards with 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. Despite Allar being the focus of the 2022 recruiting class, which I’ll dive into later, Veilleux would be the likely backup to Clifford should he suffer yet another injury. The wild card in all this quarterback talk is another true freshman, Pennsylvania native Beau Pribula. He didn’t have the hype Allar did and is more of an unknown, but sometimes those unknown guys can end up proving themselves over the rest. Don’t sleep on Beau. However, having said all that, I see the depth at quarterback going as such: 

1. Sean Clifford 
2. Christian Veilleux 
3. Drew Allar 
4. Beau Pribula  

I probably should’ve started with the offensive line because it’s the most important group on the field and the one that’s been under the most pressure/scrutiny since Franklin came to Penn State 8 years ago. I don’t know how many times I’ve said this, but I don’t need five All-Americans on the offensive line, I just need/want an offensive line that’s above average and can open holes for our ultra-talented running backs and obviously keep Clifford upright and healthy. One of the biggest things that has been missing that I see other teams having among their offensive linemen is that aggressive and nasty style of play and I saw some of that towards the end of last season. A few guys that I noticed who had that style were tackle Olu Fashanu and guard Landon Tengwall (I think Tengwall has the potential to be a top 10 pick BTW). I was excited about our offensive line last year mainly because it was an ‘about damn time’ type of thing. But it wasn’t. I’m excited this year though because of what/who I saw last season. James Franklin alluded to this in the Spring but the depth at certain positions, offensive line being one of them, is finally strong enough and where it needs to be and the gap between the first and second teams is closer than it has been in the 8 years Franklin has been in State College. There should be some good competition heading into training camp based on what I just mentioned with the depth, and there is some good talent in that offensive line room, but if the season starts tomorrow, here is my starting five:  

*I’m also including height and weight because these five are collectively bigger than what we’ve had 

    Left Tackle: Olu Fashanu - 6’6” 321 

    Left Guard: Landon Tengwall – 6'6” 332 

    Center: Juice Scruggs – 6'3” 310 

    Right Guard: Hunter Norzad (Cornell transfer) 6’3” 315 

    Right Tackle: Caeden Wallace 6’5” 324 

Our tight end group has the potential to be one of the best, if not the best, in the country. You can say the same about our running backs and wide receivers. The tight end room features three targets who will compete for catches and all three bring different abilities and skills to the table. Theo Johnson is the one who can stretch the field, provide matchup problems with defensive backs and linebackers. He’s 6’6” 250 pounds and can run. Oh yeah, he can block too. Tyler Warren, another 6’6” 250-pound target who can also stretch the field. I’m not sure how often you’ll see him in the wild cat formation but that seemed to work when he did. Brenton Strange is the ‘smallest’ of the group, 6’3” 246 pounds, but he’s got great hands and will get you those short, tough yards. Now I said they all bring different abilities but it’s a group that can do it all and as I mentioned, the potential has been untapped so far. I don’t think there will be an actual depth chart with this group as they’ll all be in and out frequently so it’s a 1a, 1b, 1c type of thing for me. It’s a group that was underused last year, but I think a lot of our offense was underused after the Clifford injury. I fully expect the tight ends to put up big numbers in 2022.  

Another group that has depth and will use that depth is the receiver room. Losing someone like Jahan Dotson is tough no doubt, but the trio of Parker Washington, KeAndre Lamber-Smith, and Western Kentucky transfer Mitchell Tinsley will give fans plenty of things to cheer about. Washington might be the most underrated receiver in the country having been behind Dotson the last two seasons, but this is his time to shine and really make his name. If you paid attention last year, then you know the name Mitchell Tinsley. He was top 10 in the country in both yards and touchdowns. We’re losing one #5 but the next #5 coming in should do just fine. Lambert-Smith is someone who has had some good moments but much like Washington, hasn’t had his time to really show out. If, and we all know it’s a big if, if the offensive line can be what we need, this receiver group could be elite. There are some other names to keep an eye on who should provide some of that previously mentioned depth. Sophomore Malick Meiga provided a spark a few times last year and is expected to have a bigger role this season. A few other names to remember as the season rolls around; Jaden Dottin, Harrison Wallace III, Liam Clifford, and Kaden Saunders.

1. Parker Washington 
2. Mitchell Tinsley 
3. KeAndre Lambert-Smith 
4. Malick Meiga 

I’ve saved what I think is our best group for last. We have five running backs who could all start anywhere else in the country. This is a group, much like the tight ends, who haven’t even come close to reaching their potential. We did lose Noah Cain (LSU transfer) which in any other situation would have been a significant loss, and it’s still a tough loss, but with the depth we have it’s not as big. Keyvone Lee, Caziah Holmes and Devyn Ford all want that #1 next to their name when Purdue comes around, but they have two other names to compete with. Two five-star names in Kaytron Allen and the Gatorade National High School Player of the Year Nicholas Singleton. Those two guys will absolutely have the chance and will most likely see the field early and often. Like every other position on offense, but most importantly for the running backs, if the offensive line can step up this group could be very special. We’ve had some top tier talent at running back under Franklin, but not this much potential.  

1.         Keyvone Lee 
2.         Devyn Ford 
3.         Caziah Holmes 
4.         Nicholas Singleton 
5.         Kaytron Allen 

 

This team from top to bottom is the most talented team James Franklin has had in his time as a college head coach. Like I mentioned about the running backs, but in general with Franklin, we’ve had plenty of top tier college players, but the depth issues have hampered us from having more and more. This year you’ll see that change. You’ll see some second and third team guys make more plays. The 2022 class could prove to be Franklin’s most important over the next 3-4 seasons and ultimately sets the program up for the next 10-15 years. This offense could be one of the best in the country this year and going forward and it’s exciting to think about those possibilities heading into 2022.  

We’ll turn the page to the brand-new Manny Diaz defense next. Stay tuned.