Spring Vacancy: Who replaces Brian Gaia at center?

Although Penn State loses only a handful of starters from its Rose Bowl squad, filling the five starting spots won’t be a quick fix, nor an easy one, as there are fewer vacancies than potential occupants. In some cases, the battles for a few positions will likely extend into preseason.

Even then, some positions might rely on more than one solution. A combination of athletes might make up one replacement; in others, one player might be asked to switch to a different variation of his position in order to distribute the talent across the depth chart. One thing that can be counted on is that the competition will be fierce among both veterans and up-and-comers this spring.

As part of Blue White Illustrated's five-part series, let's look at who will vie for the lineup opening at center after the graduation of Brian Gaia.

DEPARTURE – Brian Gaia

CANDIDATES – Ryan Bates, Connor McGovern, Michal Menet, Mike Miranda, Zach Simpson

VACANCY – Including his brief stint at defensive tackle as a redshirt freshman, Gaia played in 51 games during his Penn State career. The final 14 were played at center, and he improved as the season progressed after moving over from guard. In fact, he was the only staple of a line that had moving pieces at every other position. His steadfastness alone will be difficult to duplicate, because as Gaia showed, it’s not always an easy transition to center no matter how familiar you may be with the offensive line. It’s not something you just pick up, and whoever wins the spot this spring (or summer) will certainly be green.

TO BE OCCUPIED BY – Like the majority of the positions on Penn State’s offensive line, this one will be impacted by Bates’ role. His most natural position is guard, but he was more than a stopgap in the final four games when he started at offensive tackle. This off-season, though, he hasn’t committed to one position. He could move back to guard, especially once Brendan Mahon and/or Andrew Nelson return to full strength, but he’s also said that if needed he will slide over to center, where he practiced most of his true freshman year. If he’s not needed there, it will likely be McGovern or a freshman who takes over center duties. That battle will begin in earnest this spring.

Menet is similar to Bates in that he didn’t play center in high school and might be a more natural fit at guard. But the team’s needs are most acute in the middle, and Menet practiced at center at times during his freshman season. He’ll try it again this spring, and if he continues to settle into the position, Menet at center could help maximize the talent distribution along the OL. But McGovern was one of the best centers in the country a couple years ago in high school, and although he started nine games at right guard in 2016, he gives the coaches another experienced option to try out at Gaia's spot.

While it’s likely that the center spot comes down to a decision between Bates, McGovern and Menet, two others can’t be completely counted out at cracking the two deep.

Although he only arrived in January, Miranda has the opportunity to push for a backup role as a true freshman. He’s as fundamentally sound as any offensive lineman in the latest signing class and he could find himself in the mix during his first spring. The coaches will know almost immediately whether or not that’s a possibility.

Then there’s Simpson. A former walk-on, Simpson was a regular on the kickoff return unit as a redshirt freshman and was listed as Gaia’s backup on the Rose Bowl depth chart. He’ll be aiming for an expanded role as a sophomore.