Media Day Notebook: Penn State coaches offer roster updates

One week into its preseason camp for 2017, Penn State football held its media day on Saturday. Hosted in the press room of Beaver Stadium, four coaches addressed more than 50 reporters and additional cameramen.

Head coach James Franlkin opened the morning at the dais, before his coordinators – Joe Moorhead (offense), Brent Pry (defense) and Charles Huff (special teams) – took over. What were some of the more noteworthy news items to come from the press conference?

Blue White Illustrated glances through some of the most important topics, here.

One of the more pressing concerns on the mind of head coach James Franklin as he approaches week two of preseason camp is determining which quarterback takes over the third spot on the depth chart.

Starter Trace McSorley is entrenched at the top, while Tommy Stevens is establishing himself as one of the best backups in the league. After those two, however, who takes over at No. 3? That competition is between redshirt freshman Jake Zembiec and true freshman Sean Clifford, who arrived on campus in June.

"Jake and Cliff are battling it out," said offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead. "Both are doing a great job. Jake was dealing with issues last year that he was battling through injury-wise and he's fully healthy now. Sean comes in with a very advanced understanding of offensive football. Obviously, Coach (Steve) Specht at Saint Xavier did a great job with him."

After five days of preseason camp, Clifford has made a case to jump ahead of Zembiec on the depth chart. If that happens, however, that doesn't mean that he'll go without a redshirt for his first year.

"What if Clifford ends up being the No. 3?," Franklin asked. "So if you get in a situation where you get an opportunity to get your No. 3 in a game, we may do what we did with Trace (during his true freshman year), where we actually put the No. 4 guy in the game to maybe be able to redshirt the other guy, depending how that thing plays out."

Senior offensive linemen Brendan Mahon and Andrew Nelson fielded questions from reporters Saturday. They've also been back in pads on the practice field so far this camp. After each missed the final portion of the 2017 season, they're eager to get back in the lineup.

But they're full-time return to the starting OL is not in the immediate offing.

"You don't go from not running at all to running a marathon," Franklin said. "You kind of work your way back into it. That's what those guys are doing."

While they're easing back into action, it's still unclear which position either will play for their final season as a Nittany Lion. Mahon has experience at both of the tackle positions as well as at guard, while Nelson has primarily played tackle at PSU.

As camp continues on, it'll be about configuring the best combination of linemen to maximize the talent of the unit. Age isn't necessarily a determining factor.

"The most important thing is, let's identify the best five and get them on the field," Franklin said.

Which is a task that is easier said than done. From a defensive perspective, Brent Pry said the offensive line as a whole is taking on a different look. Not only are the practices intense between his defensive linemen and the OL, but also within the OL unit itself.

"Two things that stand out to me with the offensive line is the physicality," Pry said. "We've got pretty good (defensive) front guys who are lining up toe-to-toe daily with those guys. Even going back to spring, just the movement and size and power and working together, it's hard to find a weakness.

"Then the second piece is they can roll that second (OL) unit out there, and there's just not (a big gap.) Normally, there's been a guy or two that you kind of feel like, OK, we're going to take advantage here. I don't feel that way right now. Matt (Limegrover) has done a tremendous job with those guys. Couldn't be more excited about that group he's working with."

With defensive ends Garrett Sickels and Evan Schwan, starters for the 2016 season, off to the next level, Penn State is left to replace both spots on the defensive line. Options to do so are aplenty.

"It's a great competition," Pry said. "I couldn't be more thrilled with the guys that are in the battle right there. I think, across the board, both sides. … When you lose some guys like Sickels and Schwan – the year they had, the production, the leadership – that's tough to replace, but we've got great candidates there."

While two of the three Ryan Buchholz, Shareef Miller and Torrence Brown are penciled into be the replacements of Sickels and Schwan, there are up-and-coming options on Sean Spencers' defensive line rotation who are set to make their debuts in 2017.

"There's experience there with (Buchholz, Miller and Brown), and we're very excited about the talent in Shaka, in Daniel Joseph, in Shane Simmons," Pry said. "Now I know he's been talked about a little bit here -- I've seen it all over Twitter -- Yetur Matos. There's good competition there."

After suffering a severe injury in the spring, junior cornerback John Reid isn't on campus for preseason camp. A data sciences major, Reid is in Portland, Ore., for an internship with the technology company Intel. He'll be back at school for the start of fall semester and while it's unclear when he'll return to the field, coaches still have not publicly ruled out an eventual return for Reid this season.

They are, however, preparing for the season as if they will go on without him. That means young CBs, including Zech McPhearson, Lamont Wade and Tariq Castro-Fields are seeing an increase of practice reps behind returning veterans Christian Campbell, Grant Haley and Amani Oruwariye.

At safety, PSU is left to replace the strong safety position vacated by Malik Golden's graduation. Troy Apke is the frontrunner to take over, while junior Nick Scott and sophomore Ayron Monroe also continue to make their case for an increase of playing time.

"A guy that I think is going to have a huge year for us is Apke," Franklin said. "He has played a bunch of football for us, hasn't really been the guy yet, and has a chance to kind of step into that role. Ayron Monroe has done a nice job as well and is fighting for time and for reps and for a more significant role. Nick Scott is doing the same thing. So we're starting to get into a better situation there for depth. And there's a bunch of other guys I could name, but those four guys for right now."

Two incoming freshmen in particular who arrived on Penn State this summer were singled out on multiple occasions by the coaching staff Saturday. They are defensive back Tariq Castro-Fields and defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos.

Franklin said that "Castro-Fields is probably a guy that there's as much buzz about as any of the newcomers right now," adding how "he's a guy that, of the freshmen, I think right away is kind of making an argument that he's going to have to factor in."

Gross-Matos, meanwhile, has made a case to supplement the defensive line rotation with occasional duty. "We're going to need to find a way for him to have a role for us this year," Franklin added.

Pry concurred that two of his young pupils have the ability to push for early playing time on his defense, something that Franklin said they are willing to do with true freshmen.

"Yetur and Tariq, those are two guys with a very high skill set, great work ethic, very good motors," Pry added. "They don't allow their mind to tie up their feet right now. They may not be sure about some things, but they go hard as heck and play fast."

Special teams coordinator Charles Huff is in no rush to decide on his return men, even if he has a good idea of who the options are.

"I would say we would hope to settle probably closer to the game because that means we've got really good competition," he said.

With Reid sidelined punt return is the more open battle between the two return spots. Huff said the candidates to take over that role is between wide receivers DeAndre Thompkins and Brandon Polk and running backs Mark Allen and Josh McPhearson. Freshmen Mac Hippenhammer and KJ Hamler are two other names Huff mentioned as possibilities.

At kick return, Miles Sanders is back after averaging almost 21 yards per kickoff return last season. He's the favorite to do it again, but Huff said that Polk, Hamler and Scott are other options to consider.

Tyler Davis is currently the most accurate place kicker in Penn State history and one of the best in the country. In 2017, it appears he'll be handling kickoff duties as well.

With Joey Julius recently leaving the team, it opens up a need on the kickoff unit and Davis is the front runner to be that guy.

"Tyler Davis also was kicking off all year in the event that something happened, just like any backup quarterback or anything," Huff said. "Tyler Davis has been preparing all summer. He is such a mature kid. If you watch the way he works, if you watch the way he warms up, it's almost like meticulous. It's like Phil Mickelson. He goes out and does the same routine every single day. It's almost like Groundhog Day. But because of that, he's so consistent and he's so reliable, and he's done that this summer with kickoffs and field goals."

Of the 21 recruits who signed with Penn State in February, all but one arrived on campus in time for summer session in June. Defensive end Damion Barber was the only one who didn't enroll on time, as he had to clear a couple last-minute academic hurdles in order to start his college career.

While at one point it was uncertain when or if he'd arrive at PSU, Franklin said the native of Harrisburg, Pa., is on track to be part of the team this fall.

"We're confident that Damion's going to be here," he said. "We got some great feedback this week. So we're really confident that Damion will be here."

Due to roster size limitations imposed by the NCAA, however, it's unlikely that Barber joins the Nittany Lions for camp. With the 105-man roster already set for the preseason, if Barber is to qualify, he likely won't join the team until after classes Aug. 21 and the roster expands.

"The problem is, once you set your 105 by the NCAA rule, it's not like you can pull a guy off of it and sub a guy in," Franklin explained. "It's not like the NFL where you're getting on the waiver wires and changing guys. So we have some challenges when it comes to that, but the most important thing is: Will he be here before school starts? We're pretty confident that that will happen."