Comparing to pre season expectations
QB: Close to what was expected. Allar has managed the game well and hasn't thrown any INTs but he's also been inconsistent at times.
OL: Worse than expected. This was supposed to be PSU's best OL in some time but that hasn't seemed to be the case. I think they've only allowed 3 sacks but they also haven't been able to create much running room for our RBs against relatively weak opponents.
RB: Worse than expected. Allen continues to grind out 4 yards per carry but very few explosive runs. How much is the RBs and how much is the OL?
TE: Close to expectations. Warren & Johnson have been good for 4 catches per game which is good but not as spectacular as hoped. I've seen some good blocking and some missed blocks.
WR: Slightly below expectations. This was a concern entering the season and it remains a concern. Lambert Smith looks very good but I'm not sure he can get deep and win 50/50 balls. Wallace looked good on underneath routes but hasn't played the last two weeks. Cephas looks good but nowhere near the star performer we hoped for. Clifford is a decent possession receiver. I was impressed with McClain early on but has since dropped a couple of passes and appears to be benched. Overall decent but no threat like Dotson or Hamler.
DL: Above expectations. There was concern about DT but Durant & Izzard have helped. DE has been solid.
LB: I seriously don't know how to evaluate this so I'll say as expected. I'm used to LBs making a lot of tackles and out top tackler is Jacobs with 18 through 5 games. Carter only has 12 tackles. That used to be a good single game number. But Diaz moves these guys all over the place instead of keeping them in the running lanes. King has done a nice job. I was hoping for Rojas to have the quick impact but that was probably not realistic.
DB: Above expectations. I was optimistic about CB but there were questions about S. Reed, Wheatley, Winston, & Ellis have been very good.
ST: About as expected. Felkins has been solid making 7 of 9 FG attempts and all of his XPs. Nwosu has been OK on kickoffs. Thompson has been average at best as punter. I don't expect any booming 55 yd punts to change field position. Punt returns and KO returns haven't been great.
QB: Close to what was expected. Allar has managed the game well and hasn't thrown any INTs but he's also been inconsistent at times.
OL: Worse than expected. This was supposed to be PSU's best OL in some time but that hasn't seemed to be the case. I think they've only allowed 3 sacks but they also haven't been able to create much running room for our RBs against relatively weak opponents.
RB: Worse than expected. Allen continues to grind out 4 yards per carry but very few explosive runs. How much is the RBs and how much is the OL?
TE: Close to expectations. Warren & Johnson have been good for 4 catches per game which is good but not as spectacular as hoped. I've seen some good blocking and some missed blocks.
WR: Slightly below expectations. This was a concern entering the season and it remains a concern. Lambert Smith looks very good but I'm not sure he can get deep and win 50/50 balls. Wallace looked good on underneath routes but hasn't played the last two weeks. Cephas looks good but nowhere near the star performer we hoped for. Clifford is a decent possession receiver. I was impressed with McClain early on but has since dropped a couple of passes and appears to be benched. Overall decent but no threat like Dotson or Hamler.
DL: Above expectations. There was concern about DT but Durant & Izzard have helped. DE has been solid.
LB: I seriously don't know how to evaluate this so I'll say as expected. I'm used to LBs making a lot of tackles and out top tackler is Jacobs with 18 through 5 games. Carter only has 12 tackles. That used to be a good single game number. But Diaz moves these guys all over the place instead of keeping them in the running lanes. King has done a nice job. I was hoping for Rojas to have the quick impact but that was probably not realistic.
DB: Above expectations. I was optimistic about CB but there were questions about S. Reed, Wheatley, Winston, & Ellis have been very good.
ST: About as expected. Felkins has been solid making 7 of 9 FG attempts and all of his XPs. Nwosu has been OK on kickoffs. Thompson has been average at best as punter. I don't expect any booming 55 yd punts to change field position. Punt returns and KO returns haven't been great.
