Forgotten in the excitement of the recruiting and transfer portal period are the active players returning to school to continue playing college football.
ESPN recently put out their article on the percentage of production returning to each program across the country.
Penn State clocked in at 56th in the nation with 65 percent of their previous season’s production returning.
The offensive side of the ball will have fresh faces becoming impact players. 55 percent of their offense is returning, ranking 102nd nationally.
This is not too surprising when factoring in the losses of quarterback [autotag]Sean Clifford[/autotag], tight end [autotag]Brenton Strange[/autotag], and receivers [autotag]Parker Washington[/autotag] and [autotag]Mitchell Tinsley[/autotag].
The defense ranks 24th in the country with 75 percent of their production returning.
Considering the losses of cornerback [autotag]Joey Porter Jr.[/autotag], safety [autotag]Ji’Ayir Brown[/autotag] and linement [autotag]PJ Mustipher[/autotag] and [autotag]Nick Tarburton[/autotag], this is great news for the 2023-24 season.
So, where does Penn State rank amongst the other Big Ten schools?
- 5. Michigan (81%)
- 23. Rutgers (73%)
- 27. Wisconsin (72%)
- 39. Nebraska (69%)
- 41. Indiana (69%)
- 45. Michigan State (68%)
- 48. Ohio State (67%)
- 56. Penn State (65%)
- 57. Purdue (65%)
- 65. Maryland (64%)
- 71. Illinois (63%)
- 87. Minnesota (58%)
- 94. Iowa (57%)
- 96. Northwestern (56%)
Offensive Rankings
- 4. Michigan (84%)
- 11. Michigan State (80%)
- 30. Wisconsin (75%)
- 37. Rutgers (72%)
- 45. Nebraska (72%)
- 49. Purdue (71%)
- 63. Indiana (65%)
- 68. Maryland (64%)
- 71. Illinois (64%)
- 72. Iowa (64%)
- 91. Minnesota (59%)
- 97. Ohio State (57%)
- 102. Penn State (55%)
- 115. Northwestern (46%)
Defensive Rankings
- 16. Michigan (78%)
- 20. Ohio State (77%)
- 24. Penn State (75%)
- 31. Rutgers (72%)
- 34. Indiana (72%)
- 48. Wisconsin (68%)
- 51. Nebraska (66%)
- 52. Northwestern (66%)
- 66. Maryland (63%)
- 70. Illinois (62%)
- 76. Purdue (59%)
- 78. Minnesota (57%)
- 83. Michigan State (56%)
- 102. Iowa (49%)
Based on returning production, Penn State’s offense will be the weaker side of the ball.
There will be a new face at quarterback for the first time in four seasons after the graduation of Clifford. Expected starting quarterback, [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag], was a 5-star recruit coming into his freshman year.
Allar appeared in 10 games last season completing 35 passes for 344 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions.
He’ll be joined in the backfield by returning sophomore running backs, [autotag]Nicholas Singleton[/autotag] and [autotag]Kaytron Allen[/autotag], who combined for 1,928 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns.
If Allar can adjust to the college game and live up to his 5-star high school grade, Penn State’s offense will be in good hands this upcoming season.
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