Penn State Football: will the Nittany Lions be better or worse at each position on offense?

Will we see an improved Penn State Football offense in 2022?

Based on the projected improvements by each and every position group, it seems more than reasonable to assume that the Nittany Lions’ offense will take a step forward in the upcoming season.

Although, there are still a few other factors we need to consider, the first of which is Mike Yurcich.

I tend to believe that Yurcich is a far better play caller than what we saw in 2021, and that he was largely limited by a weak offensive line. Not only did that limit him in the passing game because his quarterback had sub-optimal time in a clean pocket, but it forced him to call a (mostly) one-dimensional offense due to an ineffective running game.

Sure, he made some questionable decisions. Who doesn’t? But with improved personnel to work with, we should see a new and improved Mike Yurcich in 2022.

Speaking of the coordinator and his system, having some stability and consistency in the offensive scheme and playbook should benefit all returning players, especially the quarterbacks.

The biggest question mark on offense is Phil Trautwein. He has the pieces in place to have one of the better offensive lines in the Big Ten, but will he finally get them to that spot? It remains to be seen, but fingers crossed that having more of “his guys” will be beneficial.

Call me overly optimistic, but I firmly believe that Penn State Football will have an objectively better offense in the 2022 campaign than they did in 2021 – mostly because of improved personnel at every position.

Last year, they averaged just 25 points per game (90th in the country), 376.4 yards per game (82nd), only scored in 78.6% of redzone trips (97th), and had just a 38.6% third down conversion rate (75th). Anticipate improvements in all four of those categories in 2022, which should lead to an improvement in the win column as well.