Though youth-filled, Lions' roster boasts much-needed experience

Without losing a year of eligibility for any participants of the 2020 season, Penn State’s spring roster has something of an unusual look.

Counting its early-enrollees into the program in January, the Nittany Lions’ true freshman class now numbers 36 players, with another 19 players counting as redshirt freshmen. Among the sophomore, junior, and senior classes combined, Penn State’s 50 other players on the roster are dwarfed by the sheer number of players with, at most, one season of game action.

Accordingly, Penn State head coach James Franklin spent much of the 2020 season lamenting the circumstances in which many of the program’s freshman class found themselves. Noting his desire to get those players, as well as transfers, “to understand what a normal Penn State experience is like,” Franklin noted this week that the impact of the program’s youngest players has already been established.

Speaking with the media Monday afternoon at the start of Penn State’s spring practices, Franklin noted that last season’s freshmen set a program record for the percentage of offensive production generated among the class.

“I think we broke a school record last year, if you take the percentage of offense that was attributed to freshmen… with Parker and KeAndre and Keyvone and Caziah and probably even Theo and a bunch of other guys in there,” Franklin said. “So we got to continue to build on that. There were a lot of things that went into last season that affected that, and obviously, we need to benefit from that experience this year.”

Those efforts were highlighted by the production of Keyvone Lee at running back and Parker Washington at receiver, respectively. Posting 438 yards and four touchdowns on the ground on 89 carries, Lee also added 12 receptions for 66 yards to his tally in nine games, despite needing until week five to ascend into the starting role. Meanwhile, Washington earned a starting nod from the season’s onset in the slot, finishing second on the team in receptions behind Jahan Dotson with 36 catches for 489 yards and six scores, highlighted by his nine catches for 93 yards against Michigan and four catches for 95 yards and two scores against Michigan State.

In addition to Lee and Washington, the Lions’ offensive production was boosted by KeAndre Lambert-Smith’s 15 receptions for 138 yards, tight end Theo Johnson’s four receptions for 56 yards, and the dual-output of running back Caziah Holmes’ 51 carries for 227 yards and two touchdowns and six catches for 37 yards.

Citing the reality that Holmes, Johnson, and Lambert-Smith were among the early enrollees last January, with another seven signees arriving this January and already competing in the program’s spring practices, Franklin painted the picture of a roster backloaded with youth, but also boasting of relative experience. Given those circumstances, Franklin added that the coming days and weeks will be integral to their collective development as the program looks to position itself for a brighter 2021 season. with their contributions an important component to that potential.

“We got a youth-filled roster, but a much more experienced roster that we're depending on this year compared to last year,” Franklin said. “I think it's going to be interesting to watch these guys take the next step this spring ball, and then be able to get feedback from their coaches as well as me about what they need to do over the summer to continue to progress and grow.

“And for us (it’s) figuring out how many of these guys that just got here that came in early or were returning from last year, are going to factor into that discussion. There are gonna be a couple of guys that maybe this spring, are a little bit overwhelmed their first time on campus, but it will still lay a foundation to allow them to compete during summer camp based on going through this experience. So we'll see. It should be interesting, it should be fun, and we look forward to evaluating them.”

*******

• Talk about this article inside The Lions Den

• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue-White Illustrated

• Follow us on Twitter: @BWIonRivals, @NateBauerBWI, @RivalsSnyder, @DavidEckert98

• Follow us on Instagram

• Like us on Facebook