Inside the Den: NFL Draft Prep, Luketa's 'Neatest' Workout, QB Situations

By request, Penn State strength coordinator Dwight Galt met with three media members Friday for an extended interview via Zoom web conferencing.

Describing the impact of being away from the Nittany Lion players this spring as “brutal,” the veteran coach went in-depth about the challenges they’re facing, some of the possible remedies, and more.

Let’s take a look at some of the more pertinent points from the conversation, here:

1) From a logistical standpoint, Galt laid out the biggest challenge as being one of equipment availability.

Having dispersed for spring break the week of March 9, the team’s intended return for the start of spring practice March 16 never happened. As a result, players stayed at home and, at that point, still had access to high school gyms and training facilities.

In the time since, the COVID-19 pandemic has upended those norms, leaving most of Penn State’s players without access to public facilities.

“So we've been really, really challenged to try to come up with programming that doesn't have equipment and programming that does, and then the ability to really find situations where they have equipment,” Galt said. “The guys have been phenomenal. I mean, you wouldn't believe with some of the setups they've come up with. A lot of guys have purchased things.”

Of the 108 players on campus training with the team this spring, including 11 early enrollees, Galt estimated that 67 have “pretty much full weight-training equipment to lift.”

2) And for those who don’t, the ingenuity has been something Galt has watched with fascination.

Cautioning against too much of “the car push thing” in which players like C.J. Thorpe posted video of themselves pushing a Jeep to social media, Galt discussed the “backpack” training being used in which players load bags with 50 pounds of sand or bricks or rocks, as well as running hills for those with access to them.

“We’re pushing hills, we're pushing backpacks or book bags on hills, we're pushing a lot of different work out there,” Galt said. “I think one of the neatest ones that I'm working with right now is Jesse Luketa. Jesse is in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada right now. Now, if you want to look at a map and see where that is, it's up there and in the middle of nowhere. He's done a tremendous job. He's running in snow.

“Some of the things he's told me about have just been incredible. He's done a really, really good job of finding a way. And it's cold up there too. So he bundles up and he goes out there and he's got a couple of really long hills. He's got one hill, it's a 50-yard hill, and I've seen him run that with two inches of snow on the ground with cleats. It is incredible. He's got some stairs that he goes and kind of sweeps them off sometimes and he'll run up stairs, as well. So he's a guy that has done a really good job with the elements there.”

On the flip side, Galt lamented one of the growing challenges from a speed and training standpoint given the fact that public access to fields is dwindling.

“We had a lot of what we call fence jumpers, guys getting into high school fields, and the security in the local area is getting a lot more stringent with that way,” Galt said. “I'm telling my guys, don't break the law getting into high school fields. So I think some of our field situations have been very creative. There are some parks and there's a lot of things going on, what guys use for cones, because they don't really have cones... just water bottles and plastic cups. So there's been a lot of creativity and it's probably going to get even more so as we progress here.”

3) The standard of creativity is applicable for all positions, but Penn State’s quarterbacks have presented their own unique challenges from a training aspect.

Praising their lifts, noting that Sean Clifford and Will Levis have “full access” to weight equipment while Ta’Quan Roberson has some “mild” weight equipment available to him, the challenge has been that of throwing within the constructs of “social distancing.

Naturally, Clifford has access to brother and Penn State Class of 2021 wide receiver commitment Liam. Johnson and Levis also have players to throw to, Galt said.

Michael Johnson, however, has been tougher to accommodate.

Originally one of the few dozen athletes to remain on Penn State’s campus, Johnson left for Mississippi with his parents two weeks ago.

“He's got some dumbbells down there with his dad's equipment and stuff. And we're currently trying to find somebody for him to throw to down there. So he's the one guy, I've been kind of working on that,” Galt said. “His dad's been catching for him a little bit.”

The issue, Galt continued, is the crucial time to build the chemistry that’s being lost with Penn State’s receiving corps for the 2020 season.

“They're throwing a bunch, at least two to three times a week. The problem is, they're not going to the guys that are going to be catching the ball, hopefully in September,” Galt said. “So that's the problem, but they are staying sharp from their skill set. And you guys know quarterbacks. Coach Ciarrocca has done a great job. He's only been here for about three, four months now, but they really believe in him. He's done a really good job with them. And those four guys are really joys for us to train. They're gonna do everything they can to be prepared.”

4) The same is true of Penn State’s NFL prospects.

Meeting with the program’s draft-eligible players last week, Galt, the strength staff, and the program at large are all working “to supply as much support to these guys as possible,” in the midst of a tough situation.

Still preparing for an NFL Draft that is slated for April 23-25, Galt said they’re “fielding a lot of calls from GMs” hoping for evaluations of K.J. Hamler and Yetur Gross-Matos, in particular.

“The good thing about Penn State and my situation is, with my longevity, I've really had the good fortune being able to establish some really good relationships with most scouts that have come through the East Coast. Andy Frank does a great job of this initiative, we've always tried to be very transparent in our relationships with the scouts,” Galt said. “Certainly we want to promote our players, we want to put them in every position possible to be successful up there. But we also want to be transparent. So the scouts will believe in the things we tell them.”

Those things include the testing numbers that Penn State’s players were unable to supply scouts due to the cancellation of pro day in March.

For Hamler, Galt said the speedy receiver ran a best time of 4.27 seconds in the 40 during his Penn State career and would be projected to run between a high 4.2 and 4.30 “at worst.”

Additionally, Galt said Hamler was at a 4.15 and 4.11 in the pro shuttle last summer and increased his weight from 159 pounds upon his arrival to an apex of 180-81 momentarily and the high 170s last season. “He gained 20 pounds of good weight and got faster and got quicker,” Galt said. “So that's obviously a testament to his work ethic, but that's always kind of what you're looking for.”

Gross-Matos, meanwhile, is up to 266 pounds and improved his speed from a 4.78 upon his arrival to Penn State to 4.64 last year.

“I think the NFL is expecting a 265 to 270-pound D-end and in the mid (4.6) 40-range and I think most of them pretty much accept that that's really where he is,” Galt said. “Yetur has got some really good explosive numbers that are really going to help him. He's got a 35-inch vertical jump. He's got a 10-foot broad jump. For a big D-end, he's done really well and strength-wise, he's got a 340 bench, 370 clean and then almost a 500 squat. These are all numbers that the scouts have and that the NFL is using as part of the evaluation process. So we feel really good about both of those guys and their preparation and where they are.”

5) Penn State’s Class of 2020 is in and on campus.

Well, virtually, anyway.

With their letters of intent all signed and submitted, and the remaining 16 members of the 27-man class learning remotely from high school just like Penn State students, the program brought everyone into the strength side of things.

“They're not school either, so we decided two weeks ago, that they're basically doing the exact same thing we're doing now. They're doing classes at home, they're training on their own, so we pulled them into this,” Galt said. “So it's really 108 plus 16. 124. So we've really got 124 guys right now that we're supplying that to, and those guys have been great. So they're kind of part of the family.

“They have access to all the videos, they've got all the programming, we're contacting them every week. Those guys actually have some pretty good equipment availability right now. So we're actually having a little bit better success with those 16 guys.”

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