Penn State officially opened spring football practices on Tuesday with a full staff now put in place. The Nittany Lions are looking to build off the rejuvenated momentum of the 2022 season that ended with a 10-2 regular season record and a victory over Utah in the Rose Bowl, and there will be a number of key positions to pay attention to this spring. But head coach James Franklin outlined what he is looking to improve on all parts of the roster beginning this spring.
Franklin noted a number of areas to improve on offense, including getting more out of the running game, increasing the toughness, and getting more explosiveness out of the offense on the ground and through the air. But perhaps the more pressing issue on offense is finding new leaders on the offense. After losing veteran and experienced starting quarterback Sean Clifford, two NFL wide receivers in Parker Washington and Mitchell Tinsley, and tight end Brenton Strange, the Nittany Lions have some big shoes and a good chunk of offensive production to replace in 2023.
Penn State will open the spring with [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] expected to be the successor to Clifford in his sophomore season. Allar was given a number of opportunities to get some playing time last season in relief of Clifford. Allar will have some new targets to get in sync with the return of [autotag]KeAndre Lambert-Smith[/autotag] and the transfer portal addition of [autotag]Malik McClain[/autotag] from Florida State this spring. The tight ends will be anchored by returning vets [autotag]Theo Johnson[/autotag] and [autotag]Tyler Warren[/autotag].
The passing game does begin the spring with more questions than any other facet on the offense, it would seem. Such is bound to happen with a young quarterback set to take over and after losing the top three receivers on the roster from the previous season.
“That room, we think there’s the talent in that room to go where we want to go,” Franklin said in a press conference on Tuesday. “I think we have to be tougher and we have to be more consistent. If you look at college football and if you look at the NFL, probably the area where you can change games the fastest in college football and the NFL right now, is at wide receiver.”
Franklin’s mentioning of the running game was interesting considering the strength of its young running back duo last season. [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag] and [autotag]Kaytron Allen[/autotag] each exceeded the former freshman rushing touchdown record for the program last season. Penn State had the Big Ten’s fourth-best rushing offense last season with an average of 181 rushing yards per game.
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