Offensive Notebook: Penn State receivers going through a gauntlet at open practice
No one comes to a Penn State practice article to hear about the weather, but in this case, it’s a relevant topic for the Nittany Lions and our view of Thursday’s open practice. It was a rainy and overcast day in State College, with dark clouds threatening to push today’s practice inside and limit our view of critical offensive positions in Holuba Hall. Thankfully for head coach James Franklin and his staff, the rain held off, and the team could practice outside on the Lasch Practice fields instead of in the confines of Holuba Hall.
With that in mind, we’ll spend a good chunk of our time today discussing the offensive line and their work during the ten minutes of open practice.
Depth Chart? Good Luck with that
No position gained more from the rule allowing analysts to coach during practice than the offensive line. Instead of working as one unit under the supervision of offensive line coach Phil Trautwein, the group has splintered into multiple groups during practice. While they don’t always do it, the team can now work by actual position instead of the general lumping of “O-line” together. This new system makes it difficult to see a starting five from left to right or understand the depth at any position because the influx of coaches means more players get coaching.
So, instead, we’ll go through each group and what they were working on during individual drills.
Guards
The guards worked on pulling techniques and fundamentals for the individual portion of practice. Each player would line up perpendicular to their target and then open up and attack. The notable faces and names you’d expect went through the drill. Blue White Illustrated has been monitoring JB Nelson’s health to start camp, and he seemed healthy and without restrictions on Thursday. Vega Ioane and Sal Wormley were also working with this group, as expected.
The interesting names aren’t surprising but are informative. Once again, freshman Cooper Cousins worked with the guards and not the centers during practice. If you missed our observations from last week, his practice time has been trending this way for some time.
Redshirt freshman Chimdy Onoh was also with the guards. Onoh has guard/tackle flexibility and has bounced between those positions based on roster health this year. While he was recruited as a tackle, Onoh’s 323-pound frame has exploded since arriving on campus, and he certainly looks more like a guard than a tackle at this point.
Centers
Slightly further away from us were the centers. The most notable aspect of this group is how small it is. From a simplistic standpoint, that’s obvious because there’s only one center and double the amount of every other position. But beyond the numbers, the depth is noticeably thin. Veteran Nick Dawkins was the lone notable lineman among this group. Dawkins and his fellow centers were working on the snap-to-block transition that is specific to their position. But Penn State has been stealing depth from guard this year to cover for a lack of scholarship athletes behind Dawkins.
However, if one player stood out in the brief glimpses we got of practice, it was Dominic Rulli. We got a glimpse of why the staff and his teammates are high on him. He plays with tenacity and tight execution, which got him praise from assistant line coach Frank Leonard. There’s no doubt he’s undersized at 293 pounds, but he could fill a role this fall.
Tackles
Onoh’s presence with the guards is also a signal that the tackle position is at full strength. This group worked behind the centers on the far side of the team’s second practice field, but the team’s top quartet of Drew Shelton, J’ven Williams, Anthony Donkoh, and Nolan Rucci were all present. The tackles worked on double-team blocks by hitting a pad to simulate the contact with a teammate before attacking their target in the drill. Freshmen Eagan Boyer and Garrett Sexton were both present as well. Sexton was limited this spring with an unspecified injury but seemed to be fully participating in the last few practices.
Penn State wide recievers working for it
While the offensive line has undergone a dynamic transformation in practice format, the receivers may benefit the most from additional coaching. Once again, Penn State analyst Mark Dupuis stood out among the new coaches participating in practice. He’s a vocal and energetic coach who gets into the drills with his charges.
The camp plans have been to build upon concepts from the ground up. During our first open practice, the wideouts worked on beating press coverage from coaches wearing cone-shaped pads on their forearms. On Saturday, the receivers worked on their lateral cuts. Today, they put both concepts together. Dupuis fought with receivers through the route stem before they separated and then cut again through contact to catch the football.
Later, they worked through a similar press drill but then ran vertically behind practice dummies and caught the ball either above or between the bags. Former quarterback and position coach Marques Hagans operated as the quarterback for these drills, which allowed him the added bonus of standing back, observing, and correcting.
The biggest takeaway was that Thursday’s gauntlet looked incredibly difficult. The staff challenged the receivers at every point, and Dupuis harrassed players with his practice gloves. Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki emphasized this during Media Day, highlighting where he thought the group improved the most this offseason.
“The ability to dictate the depth and the width of routes to go take the ball, right not have those things dictated to you, not have a defensive back, tell you where the route has to be run and how wide or how deep to push and fight and the physicality that even happens within route running.”
Kotelnicki and Franklin also came over to observe and encourage the group.
Solid isn’t an insult
Franklin called Julian Fleming’s progress and presence as “solid” during his media day press conference. Honestly, there’s no better way to describe the veteran receiver. He went through the drills cleanly, using proper technique (from my amateur observation), and caught the ball cleanly. He executed difficult high points and beat press how you’d expect from a veteran.
Does he move with the power and explosiveness of some of the other players? No. He’s a big-bodied receiver who will find a needed role in this offense. But watching Trey Wallace, who Nate Bauer highlighted in his pre-practice notebook, is different. Wallace is the team’s main hope for an explosive passing attack.
However, the bottom line takeaway is that the team is doing everything it can to get the most out of the rest of the young and unproven players.
Other notes from practice
-Redshirt sophomore tight end Jerry Cross and freshman wide receiver Peter Gonzalez were both absent from the offensive practice field on Thursday.
-The vibes around the offense could not be more different than last season, and Kotelnicki is a big reason for this. Firstly, the entire offensive coaching staff was wearing cutoff t-shirts. When the media arrived on the sidelines, Kotelnicki flexed next to running back Kaytron Allen and said, “Get a shot of some actual definition next to Fatman (Allen’s nickname) here!”
-One major theme of practice so far this season is that Penn State is investing in the run game. The quarterbacks and running backs spend the first portion of open practice working on handoffs. During our time with the team, the offensive line also worked exclusively on run blocking.
-“What does Andy Kotelnicki’s offense look like, really?” is a common question. Hear me when I say that anything and everything is on the table. While we can’t get into the details, veteran tight end Tyler Warren may be part of the run game at some point.
So buckle up, it’s going to be intersting.
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