While Jake was recruited as a cornerback, he made the switch to free safety before the season began, and remained there throughout the season while taking a redshirt.  He will enter spring practice in that spot.  Going strictly off of last year’s depth chart, Kiley will likely be 3rd string, behind rising senior Malcolm Willis, and run-on junior-to-be Ryan Keiser.  Barring an injury to Willis, he will certainly be the starter, but back-up reps are going to be up for grabs.

The previous staff left the secondary cupboard bare, and Bill O’Brien and the current staff have made secondary recruiting a priority, with 4 of PSU’s 17 commitments playing in the defensive backfield.  It’s probably too early to guess where Neiko Robinson, Kasey Gaines, Anthony Smith, and Jordan Smith ultimately end up, it seems likely that given the overall depth concerns, at least one could end up at free safety as well.  In short, competition is only going to increase, and everyone will need to pick their game up to get on the field.  Kiley’s familiarity with the defense, and working closely with new defensive coordinator John Butler last season should give him a leg up, especially on Gaines and Robinson, who will not enroll until this summer (Both Smiths are on campus now as early enrollees).

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Oct 27, 2012; University Park, PA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions cornerback Adrian Amos (4) breaks up a pass intended for Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Devin Smith (15) during the second quarter at Beaver Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Things did not exactly get off to a great start, as Ohio carved up the Lions defensive backs 324 yards through the air with a quick passing attack that the thin and inexperienced secondary.  In fact, the game swung on Tyler Tettleton pass that deflected off the hands of Obeng-Agyapong as he collided with a teammate, into the hands of Landon Smith who went in for a TD that swung all momentum to Ohio.  The following week in Charlottesville, Virginia QB Michael Rocco hit Jake McGee on a 43 yard pass on 3rd and long to keep what turned out to be the game winning drive alive.  Those big plays would be a problem on and off throughout the season, as opponents were able to convert third downs in obvious passing situations with some consistency.  As alluded to in yesterday’s linebackers post, the insertion of Mike Hull in those situations greatly improved the pass defense.

Adrian Amos’ return will be a huge key in the 2013 season, as Penn State will be forced to replace senior starter Stephon Morris at one corner and Jacob Fagnano at safety.  Da’Quan Davis (CB) and Jordan Lucas (safety) both saw time this year as true freshman, and will likely see expanded roles going forward.  Jake Kiley, another freshman CB who redshirted this season, is a name to file away.  For a myriad of reasons, the secondary recruiting had left significant holes, and O’Brien’s staff has made that a focus of this year’s class, with 4 of the 18 current commitments playing cornerback or safety.  Incoming cornerbacks Jordan Smith and Anthony Smith have enrolled early, which should give them a head start to contribute in the fall.  Florida CB Neiko Robinson and Georgia safety Kasey Gaines should arrive on campus this summer to provide additional depth.

John Butler, who was promoted to defensive coordinator on Wednesday, deserves a ton of credit for managing a difficult situation with the limited depth and experience this past season.  Outgoing coordinator Ted Roof should also be commended for leading the country’s 16th ranked scoring defense with the secondary he was handed.  While the group made significant progress during the year, there were many areas that were still a concern, and depth will be an ongoing issue.  I’ve been called a strict grader, but I can’t give this group more than a B-.

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We’ll look into the QB battle a little more in depth later this week, so don’t think that I forgot.

3. CB
Although the 2011 secondary unit graduated and lost all four starters (Powell, Astorino, Sukay, Lynn), I think it’s safe to assume that Malcolm Willis and Stephen Obeng-Agyapong will be rewarded the safety positions with sophomore Adrian Amos manning one of the corners. The other corner spot is really up for grabs. Stephen Morris, Mike Wallace, and Derrick Thomas are most likely to fight it out but keep an eye on true freshman DaQuan Davis as his press-coverage skills may give him an opportunity to get some early snaps. Thomas may be the most skilled, but he has struggled with off-field issues his entire time at Penn State.

2. OL
Offensive Line is a bit vague, but the staff is charged with replacing 4 of the starters from last years unit. Sr. Matt Stankiewitch should earn back the starting center position but there are questions on either side of him. RS Freshman Donovan Smith has a real shot at locking down the LT spot, but the staff may be hesitant to put a kid with no experience out on the edge. With a new strength program being implemented along with a new position coach, I’m hopeful that former Army All-American tackle Eric Shrive finds his groove and holds down one of the spots. A couple of underclassmen to keep an eye on at the guard spots could be Angelo Mangiro and Khamrone Kolb.

1. WR
I’m personally very excited to see how this shakes out. Penn State has recruited some really athletic kids over the past few years and with a clean slate and new staff, truly anything can happen. Justin Brown SEEMS to be a lock as one of the starters, but there’s a chance that O’Brien will move him inside into a hybrid TE?WR role. I look for guys like Curtis Drake, Alex Kenney and Allen Robinson to really benefit from the coaching of Ted Hixon. A couple young guys to look out for are true freshman Eugene Lewis and sure-handed RS freshman Matt Zanalleto.

For all of the latest on the Penn State Nittany Lions, follow VBR Lead Editor Tim Tolley on Twitter.

* indicates incoming freshman

RCB
Adrian Amos (So.)
Mike Wallace (RS Jr.)

Hero
Stephen Obeng-Agyapong (RS Jr.)
Malik Golden (Fr.)*

Free Safety
Malcolm Willis (RS Jr.)
Jordan Lucas (Fr.)*

LCB
Stephon Morris (Sr.)
Derrick Thomas (RS Jr.)

Others
DaQuan Davis (Fr.)*
Tim Buckley (RS Fr.)
Jake Kiley (Fr.)*
Trevor Williams (Fr.)*

Malik Golden was apparently told that he will play WR and Trevor Williams was also recruited as a wideout. The problem is, we have over a dozen WRs and around 6 serviceable defensive backs. Something has to give and I think Golden has the athleticism to contribute early on defense and special teams.

Adrian Amos was our VBR 2011 Freshman of the Year and will be the top CB entering the Spring. Some think his best position may be safety, but that won’t matter until there is some depth in the secondary.

Malcolm Willis started most of the 2010 season after Nick Sukay went down with an injury. he will most likely be the leader of this group. He is very athletic and is a hard-hitting safety but will have to play more disciplined football in Ted Roof’s aggressive scheme.

This is an area of the team where we are almost guaranteed to see some freshmen. Keep an eye on CB Da’Quan Davis. I think he could see the field this year and get some significant snaps. The same could be possible for Jordan Lucas and Jake Kiley as well, as this group is very thin and in need of athleticism.

Check out the projected Defensive Line  and Linebacker depth charts to round out the defense!

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As usual, it wasn’t pretty, but on Saturday afternoon, Penn State pounded their way to their second win of the Big Ten season with a 13-3 victory over Iowa. After being stunned by the Hawkeyes in 2008 and 2009, and then thoroughly trounced last season, it was good for Penn State to finally defeat a team that had been bothering them for so long. However, the win was even more important because it showed State could still play excellent defense even without some key pieces. We also may have gotten a teensy weensy bit closer to just maybe settling on one starting quarterback. Let’s hit it.

Just run it up the middle

I just love writing about which quarterback Penn State should play, but on Saturday that weird situation took a backseat to the rushing offense. The Nittany Lion offensive line of Quinn Barham, Johnnie Troutman, Matt Stankiewitch, DeOn’tae Pannell and Chima Okoli dominated the game while opening up plenty of holes for Silas Redd and Curtis Dukes to run through. Stephfon Green actually saw very limited action in this game as well, but his presence should continue to be mitigated by how well Redd and Dukes are playing. Redd handled most of the action with 28 carries for 142 yards, while Dukes had 60 yards for himself on just nine carries.

On Penn State’s only touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter, they ran the ball for 10 plays in a row before finally cashing in on a play action pass from Matt McGloin to Kevin Haplea. It’s not a stretch to say that PSU imposed their will on Iowa in the second half of this game.

About those quarterbacks

Penn State actually had a chance to take a 10-point lead one possession earlier than they actually did. Late in the third quarter, the Nittany Lions drove all the way from their own 4 yard line to the Iowa 6 before Matt McGloin threw an interception in the corner of the endzone. It was McGloin’s first interception of the season, and it certainly could have been thrown better, but overall McGloin was a positive for the Penn State offense. Iowa had the middle of the field covered well the whole game, save for the time McGloin found Devon Smith on a crossing route for 21 yards. Mostly McGloin had success working the sidelines with Derek Moye and Justin Brown. Brown in particular showed some nice footwork while keeping himself in bounds. On his 19 passes, McGloin completed 12 for 133 yards. That’s not spectacular, but it was just fine for a day in which Penn State’s running game took the reins of the offense. (more…)