As Penn State Football begins spring practice, there are three position battles the Nittany Lions must get answered after these 15 practices
The Nittany Lions began spring practice on Monday, a welcomed sight after not participating in spring activities in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
After a disappointing season, and a busy offseason that saw five newcomers make their way to Happy valley via the transfer portal, and the arrival of a new offensive coordinator, spring practice may be more significant to Penn State Football than other schools.
Penn State Football head coach James Franklin met the media Monday, and said spring is mostly about setting and reminding players and staff alike about the standards and expectations of the program, but Franklin will undoubtedly have his eye on a few positions where there should be healthy competition over these couple of weeks.
Everyone will surely be focused on the quarterback situation, and rightfully so, but the battles at safety and along the interior offensive line will be just as important to Penn State Football as Franklin and his staff begin roster construction on the 2021 Nittany Lions.
Let’s take a look at the three biggest position battles for Penn State Football this spring:
3. Who starts at safety opposite Jaquan Brisker?
Safety play was a sore spot for the Nittany Lions last season, and now defensive coordinator Brent Pry needs to replace Lamont Wade who is off to the NFL.
Wade had a disappointing senior campaign, where he started off mostly as a slot corner which was not pretty and then moved into a more true free safety position where his played improved, but he will mostly fairly easy to replace.
The question is, who replaces him.
Penn State Football has options, led by junior Ji’Ayir Brown who saw a lot of playing time last year but is still raw in his abilities with only six total tackles and one pass deflection last season. Brown is a good athlete and fits as a free safety.
The most veteran presence in the room is redshirt junior Jonathan Sutherland, but the Canadian is more of a box safety than the center fielder this defense needs. Sutherland racked up 14 total tackles, two and a half tackles for loss, half a sack, three pass breakups and a forced fumble. Sutherland is a captain and great special teams leader, but has not shown the traits of an every down safety to this point in his career.
The potential x-factor in the room is freshman Enzo Jennings, the former four-star recruit in the 2020 cycle. Jennings played a lot of cornerback in high school and has natural coverage ability, but only appeared in one game last season so he will have along way to go to become a starter next fall.
Right now, the most the most logical guess would be Brown shows up as a starter on the first depth chart this spring.