Blue and White Roundtable: Any Football Is Good Football
March 27, 2008 by Run Up The Score!
Mike from Black Shoe Diaries quickly pieced together some roundtable questions for the beginning of spring practice. It’s supposed to be posted on Friday, but I got my homework done early.
Let’s start with the ugly news. Chris Baker, Chris Bell, Phil Taylor, Knowledge Timmons, and Navorro Bowman are all sitting out the spring practice sessions. What impact will this have on the 2008 season?
Nobody really seems to know which players will be coming back, if any. To my recollection, Bowman’s a first offender. He should be back for the fall. The others…who honestly knows. Baker and Taylor present the biggest problems from a depth standpoint. We have healthy defensive tackles, we have defensive tackles who aren’t in trouble. We do not have a lot of healthy defensive tackles who aren’t in trouble.
Bell is an interesting case, but relatively insignificant in the grand scheme of things. He’s a #4 wide receiver who hasn’t done anything to deserve playing time other than be highly rated coming out of high school and having size that many of PSU’s other receivers don’t possess. As for Timmons, any hits to the defensive backfield aren’t positive things, but let’s be serious, Penn State isn’t going to suffer this season because Knowledge Timmons is in the doghouse.
Would you move Sean Lee to middle linebacker like Paul Posluszny in 2006 and Dan Connor in 2007?
No. A million times, no. Let Chris Colasanti play middle linebacker for the next three years. Put him in the lineup and forget about him.
If Lee stays on the outside, who would you start at the other outside linebacker assuming Bowman is out of the picture?
Honestly, I’d be mostly comfortable with any number of players, including Tyrell Sales, Bani Gbadyu, or Josh Hull. They can all play.
Which position on the field is our weakest link?
Depends on which of the Magnificent Seven (are we up to seven?) is allowed to come back from Paterno’s maison de chien. Could be defensive tackle, tight end, or safety.
Who is your pony in the quarterback contro…uh, competition?
I’m already afraid for Daryll Clark, who is going to be vilified as soon as he makes one tiny mistake. He deserves a chance, though. Anyone who had to bite his tongue as Anthony Morelli fumbled and threw away games deserves some sort of reward. If he can keep defenses honest with his arm, I like our chances to score points. Still, they’re going to need Pat Devlin at some point this season, so there’s no harm in giving him meaningful minutes during the non-conference games.
Name three players that absolutely have to step up their performance this spring?
Aaron Maybin, A.J. Wallace, and Mickey Shuler.
Lightning Round
Who is your pick to win the Red Worrell award given to the offensive player that shows the most improvement during spring practice?
Mike Lucian or Dennis Landolt.
Who is your pick for the Jim O’Hora award given to the defensive player that shows the most improvement?
Aaron Maybin or Josh Gaines.
Your 2008 team captains are…?
I don’t think there’s any doubt. Sean Lee, A.Q. Shipley, and Derrick Williams.
Wasn’t that fun? Don’t forget to check out the other guys.
Still, they’re going to need Pat Devlin at some point this season, so there’s no harm in giving him meaningful minutes during the non-conference games.
I agree with the sentiment, but other than the Sacca/Collins controversy in 1993 and Thompson/Casey abortion from 1998, when have we done that here? If Morelli didn’t get meaningful snaps in 2005, especially when MRob blew in the first four games, whomever is named starter out of spring practice will see all of the meaningful snaps, in my opinion, barring injury.