Penn State special teams breakdown: What is the top question facing each position?
Penn State enters 2023 with more answers than questions on offense and defense. The same cannot be said on special teams. The Nittany Lions are looking for new starters at every key position. It gives coordinator Stacy Collins plenty of work to do ahead of the season.
It’s position week at BWI. We’re breaking down each part of head coach James Franklin’s team from various angles. Today, the special teams units are under the microscope.
Penn State kickers
The top topic for this group is simple: Two starters must be picked. Penn State must find both a placekicker and kickoff specialist with Jake Pinegar now gone.
Gabe Nwosu or Sander Sahaydak will handle kickoffs, in all likelihood. It should be a close battle. The former attempted 18 a year ago. He averaged 63.2 yards and netted seven touchbacks. The latter checked in at 62.3 and four, respectively. Going into camp, we’ll give Nwosu the edge.
At placekicker, it will be Sahaydak opposite walk-on addition Alex Felkins. Sahaydak was 1 of 2 on field goal tries a year ago. Felkins, meanwhile, connected on 11 of 16 field goals and made 28 extra points en route to earning first-team All-Ivy league honors at Columbia. This one is anyone’s guess and will come down to who charts out better in preseason camp in addition to how things unfolded for both during spring practice.
Lions punters
The top topic facing this group is this: Who will replace Barney Amor as the starting Penn State punter?
It brought someone in to compete for this job, too. Australian Riley Thompson is on scholarship with the Lions after a strong year at Florida Atlantic earned him an All-Freshman team nod from The Athletic. He’s old for a second-year college football player at 23, and will battle returner Alex Bacchetta, who was the No. 1 punter in the Class of 2022 according to Kohl’s Kicking, for the first-team spot.
Neither impressed in the Blue-White game, but that doesn’t mean either should be written off as unable to win the job. Just like at kicker, we aren’t going to get a whole lot of insight into who leads until they get in some work in August.
Penn State long snapper
We do not have much of a position battle at this spot, as Tyler Duzansky is expected to beat out Will Patton and Blaise Sokach-Minnick. So, the top topic is this: Is he ready to fill the Mannelly Award sized shoes left behind by Chris Stoll?
The Wheatfield, Ill., native will likely be stepping into a first-team role for the first time in 2023. He’ll be responsible for doing a job that is rarely recognized or discussed unless an error is made. He must be up for the task immediately.
“Tyler has an unbelievable work ethic and he’s extremely competitive,” Collins told BWI earlier this year. “I’m extremely proud of how he’s handled the situations. He competed his tail off against Chris Stoll last year all through camp and Chris Stoll won the Mannelly Award as the best [long snapper in the country].
“Ty models what it is everyday, that work ethic and consistency is exactly the name of the game. Just who he is as a person on the field is exactly who he is off the field too. He’s he’s a cool kid to be around.”
Lions returners
Our theme continues with this group’s top topic: Who will win the first team jobs?
Penn State does not return a single player who fielded a punt last season. Thus, Collins is starting from scratch. The possibilities include veteran cornerback Daequan Hardy, second-year receiver Kaden Saunders, and newcomers Dante Cephas, who is a receiver, safety King Mack, defensive back Zion Tracy, and running back Cam Wallace. Others could emerge, too. As always, the Lions are likely to prioritize ball security over explosiveness if push comes to shove at this spot.
Moving on to kick returner, Penn State must decide if it wants to roll with running backs Nicholas Singleton or Kaytron Allen, as it did for much of last season, or look elsewhere. Transfer addition Trey Potts did some return work at Minnesota. Hardy and Saunders should get a look at this job, too. And, receiver Omari Evans and defensive back Elliot Washington both returned kicks in high school, too.
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