I'm a current PSU student, so I have absolutely no bad feelings towards Syracuse - we've hardly played at all in my lifetime. And, I'm much more of a college football fan than a Penn State fan, but since Penn State is where I go to school, it's also who I root for and follow the most.
Anyways, I'll begin with a very long response to what your friend said:
________________________________________________________________________________________
"Him - GLEN CARSON TAKES OVER AS “THE GUY” AT LINEBACKER. WE STILL GO FIVE OR SIX DEEP THERE. WE WILL GET PASSED ON, THOUGH, 3 OUT OF FOUR NEW STARTERS AT DB. GOOD THING IS WE WILL GET TO THE QB, BARNES AND DAQUON JONES ARE SOLID. I’M VERY NERVOUS ABOUT STARTING HACKENBURG,I WOULD HAVE RATHER HE REDSHIRTED, 18 YR OLD KIDS CAN BE FLAKY SOMETIMES. FERGUSON, THE JUCO GUY, IS SOLID IF NOT SPECTACULAR. WE HAVE WEAPONS, PROBABLY THE BEST SET OF OFFENSIVE TIGHT ENDS IN THE COUNTRY, TWO REALLY GOOD WRS, BUT NOT A LOT OF DEPTH AT RB. OL IS SENIOR DOMINATED AND WILL BE A PLUS."
He is 100% wrong that we go "5 or 6 deep" at LB. We have two solid proven starters (Hull and Carson) and another guy who we really think will be good if he stays healthy (injury-redshirt frosh Nyeem Wartman). That's the starters. After that, we only have one scholarship and competent backup, Ben Kline. That's it. We are tissue-paper thin at LBU.
We only have 1-2 new starters at DB. Last year Obeng-Agyapong, Willis and Amos all started, and they're all returning. However, they're all natural safeties, so we might move Amos (who played CB last year) to safety, sit one of the other two, and play converted WRs at CB (we're getting desperate on defense due to the sanctions.)
I disagree on Jones. He has yet to live up to his hype, IMO.
I don't know how Ferguson can be "solid, if not spectacular", considering he has never played.
I agree that we have the best TEs in the country. You asked about them, so here's what I'll say:
Gilliam plays OT and TE, so he's a great blocking TE. But, he also comes out of the backfield as a fullback to catch passes.
Lehman can block as well as a lot of guys, and is a good route runner. I don't know that he is elite at anything, but he's good at everything.
Wilkins is a catch-passing, smaller but very fast TE. He didn't play last year, but figures to see some action this year.
Carter is a tall TE with great blocking skills, but he's used mostly to stretch the field with good speed and elite hands. He has made some of the best grabs I've ever seen a TE make, and will easily be going pro.
James is the other bona fide NFL TE on the roster. He's a 6'7" guys with long arms and good hands. He's quick and runs great routes, but also plays blocking TE fairly often. He and Carter can and will do everything.
Breneman is the guy everybody is excited about. He'll be a true freshman and a receiving TE, and he'll also play some WR. He has tons of speed for a guy his size (6'4"/6'5").
As for his "2 really good WR", I only know of half of them. Allen Robinson was voted as the best WR in the conference last year, and he's a monster of a man. He might not be too quick, but he is very strong and runs great routes.
I agree with his OL assessment.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
So, I'm still not sure what you guys think about your team, but this is what I'm understanding. Feel free to correct/agree/add to it yourselves:
Overall, your defense should be your strength. Your DLine and LBs are experienced and good, and your DBs are at least good enough, even if they may be the weakness in your defense (specifically safeties).
On offense, you'll have a new starting QB but a decent running game with a veteran OL. But, your defense will definitely be the strength?
What kind of offense/defense do you expect the Orange to run? How successful do you expect to be?
I saw one person post that they're expecting 6-7 wins this year. I really hope you're right, because I think we're closer to 7-8 wins.
Last thought for now: It will be interesting to play a defensive team, because we figure to be the complete opposite. We expect a lot of 42-45 games this season. Our offense should put up points with a veteran OL, lots of 3 TE sets, a 1,000 yard bruising rusher returning and the top WR in the conference. But, our defense will struggles with no proven DT or DT depth, no LB depth and converted WRs at CB. Our DE situation is good, though, with lots of depth and experience, and our safeties are good, assuming that's where Amos ends up. Special Teams sucks.
Good stuff. Obviously you're a PSU fan but not a brainwashed, homer like my buddy is. I think having a strong hatred in the PSU v Syracuse rivalry requires being of a certain vintage beyond my years. Recent iterations involved the worst Syracuse teams possibly ever and when we were pretty good in the 90's we never played.
Kind of odd that "linebacker U" has more depth at TE than at LB. Did you lose some recruits there when the duke hit the fan?
Best case, our defense will be a big strength. Worst case, our defense will simply be slighlty above average.
Our DT's are big kids with the smallest, Jay Bromley 6'4 293, also being the best. Zian Jones had the other spot in the Spring and did very well there by all accounts and is a house at 6'4 as well although down to a svelte 303lbs. Behind them is Iowa transfer Jon Raymon (6'5 319) who may also get some run at DE, Eric Crume (6'0 325) who's played well in a limited role but sat out the Spring and Ryan Sloan (6'2 330) who has shown signs of life in the Spring game after being quiet prior. If you want to run up the middle you're going to have a bad time.
LB spots are a bit undecided yet but more due to so many options vs lack thereof. Spruill played MLB in the Spring after starting at OLB last year after starting at MLB the year prior. He's good wherever he plays and was penciled in at MLB after our starter last year graduated but he's got 2 or 3 guys pushing him and if someone steps up he may move back outside. We have 2 JUCO's, and return 2 other LB's that played significant minutes last year and played them well. They can all run but are on the smaller side (220ish) sans a JUCO that is 245 which is more like you're used to in the B1G.
We return 3 CB's that have started games for us. Keon Lyn, and Brandon Reddish are the 2 best cover corners IMO but Rishard Anderson is a capable vet and actually was ahead of Reddish in the Spring. Lyn is 6'1 200lbs and will likely play on Sundays. He tackles well and can also hit:
Allen Robinson is solid but after seeing Marquise Lee, DJ Woods, Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey, and others last year our corners won't be awestruck by his talent or physical abilities.
At safety we lost Shamarko Thomas (one of my all time favorites) to the Steelers so those will be tough shoes to fill. We've got physically capable guys but at his point I'm not sure which will separate and earn the starters roles. We've got 4 or 5 guys that could all do well there but are green for the most part.
DE will likely be by committee. We have couple of upperclassmen, Welsh and Robinson, that looked good in Spring with some young guys pressing behind them. IF we can get a solid pass rush off the edges our defense could be great, if not that's when the average part comes into play. This spot is the key IMHO and could struggle vs a veteran Oline like yours.
On offense our running backs will be our strength if our oline allows as much. We've got high level talent at RB and we've got a lot of it. Jerome Smith ran for 1171 yards last year, is solid in every facet of the game and is a big dude. Your front 7 better be ready for him. Behind him is Prince Tyson Gulley who is the lightening to Smith's thunder. He ran for 883, had 282 receiving, multiple plays of 50+ yards and was last seen lighting up WVU for 262 yards and 3 td's. Behind him is Adonis Ameen Moore who is our short yardage back at 5'11 240, George Morris who redshirted last year but was electric in the Spring, and Devante Macfarlane who had a very good Spring as well. In short, there is more talent at RB then spots to play them. We may run the ball 50 times if your dline isn't up the the task and I expect 2 or 3 of these guys on the field at the same time a fair amount.
At WR names to watch are Jarrod West (big, good routes, good hands) as the clear cut #1, and Jeremiah Kobena has game breaker speed among others.
The wild card you may see anywhere on the field is Ashton Broyld a 6'4 225lb athlete that came in as a qb but is big/fast/strong enough to play rb/te/wr/?. He doesn't have a set position to call home at the moment but he's a play maker and will be on the field and probably at multiple spots on it.
At TE we've got a solid returning starter in Beckett Wales, along with Ron Thompson and Josh Parris who both look the part but both redshirted last year. Thompson looked great last Spring as a true frosh but got injured and Parris had a really solid Spring this year. Wales is the smallest at 6'3 240 but also the most established with 35 catches last year. Thompson is a man child at 6'4 256 and can run well, and really go get the ball. Parris isn't far behind at 6'2 252 and was one of our new OC's favorites in the Spring.
Needless to say I feel good about our players and overall talent level. Not sure what, if any hiccups we'll have given the coaching staff turnover but the new guys haven't seemed to skip a beat from those that left for the NFL. Obviously the Penn State game is huge and will go a long way towards shaping our season but we should be in a bowl at the very least and capable of a high level bowl.
.
