Listen to Phil Grosz on the Pa. Sports Network from 10 to 11 AM Saturday. [correct link]Join Phil Gr

[BWI PHIL GROSZ]

Join Phil Grosz and Jed Donahue for "Pa. Sports Saturday" on the Pa. Sports Network from 10 to 11 AM Saturday morning. Phil will be joining the show at 10 AM by phone hookup.

Phil and Jed will talk about Penn State and Big Ten football recruiting, talk about the verbals from 2017 OLB/SS Brelin Faison-Walden, SS Jonathan Sutherland, Ath./FS Derrek Pitts, OLB Brailyn Franklin, WR Cameron Sullivan-Brown, OT Desmond Holmes, WR Mac Hippenhammer, plus 2018 Rivals top 100 WR Justin Shorter and 2018 Rivals' 4-star TE Pat Freiermuth. Plus talk about PSU's preseason practice and answer any questions their listeners might have.

You can reach Phil and Jed with your questions and comments by dialing 1-814-272-9700 or 1-814-272-9253.

Jed Donahue will be hosting the show from 8 AM until 12-noon Saturday morning.

To listen to the show logon to the Listen Live Stream link listed directly below.

Link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/wblf970/pop-out

 

[83wuzme]

Listened to part of it. Big scrimmage today, the second of three allowed preseason scrimmages. Phil thinks it will determine the starting OL makeup for Kent State. Phil has the following predictions :
LT - Mahon
LG - Bates
C- Gaia
RG - Dowrey
RT - Nelson.

RG still somewhat uncertain with McGovern and Menet pushing hard.
Phil thinks PSU should have a very solid OL nucleus with Bates, McGovern and Menet in the future.

 

[bdgan]

Listened to part of it. Big scrimmage today, the second of three allowed preseason scrimmages. Phil thinks it will determine the starting OL makeup for Kent State. Phil has the following predictions :
LT - Mahon
LG - Bates
C- Gaia
RG - Dowrey
RT - Nelson.

RG still somewhat uncertain with McGovern and Menet pushing hard.
Phil thinks PSU should have a very solid OL nucleus with Bates, McGovern and Menet in the future.

I'm surprised with Paris Palmer. He wasn't ready last year but he started anyway. He should be better prepared this year and he's hardly mentioned.

McGovern & Menet are awfully young to be starting OL at this level. That tells me that they are very good prospects, that our current guys aren't so good, or a combination of both.

Did Phil have any predictions about the DL?

 

[83wuzme]

Didn't get the whole show. Didn't really hear anything on the DL.
The big thing was the competition that now exists at many positions, especially the OL. If somebody isn't doing well on the field, there are other options now.
With Palmer, I expect he will play. There's no doubt he has improved over last year, but so has the competition.

 

[T J]

I'm surprised with Paris Palmer. He wasn't ready last year but he started anyway. He should be better prepared this year and he's hardly mentioned.

McGovern & Menet are awfully young to be starting OL at this level. That tells me that they are very good prospects, that our current guys aren't so good, or a combination of both.

Did Phil have any predictions about the DL?

Phil expected Beh and Palmer would be backups for both LT and RT.

We will see. But if there is any OL rotation, breathers or second team action, it looks like one or both will see playing time. This is speculation, of course, pending the staff settling the lineups.

Phil really likes future lines with Bates, McGovern and Menet, when they are all ready. Those three should create a very solid foundation for the OL.

 

[TheGLOV]

The future is now!

Palmer was/is a stop-gap recruit who could not stop or plug the gap of very few on-rushing DL-men!!

 

[drblue1977]

If the starting line includes Dowrey, Gaia and Mahon..........I will be disappointed and will not expect much improvement over the dreadful 2015 season. They better add a lot more toss sweeps to Barkley as the slow developing, half draw into the left A gap will be.....unproductive. Coach L...........say it ain't so!

 

[bdgan]

If the starting line includes Dowrey, Gaia and Mahon..........I will be disappointed and will not expect much improvement over the dreadful 2015 season. They better add a lot more toss sweeps to Barkley as the slow developing, half draw into the left A gap will be.....unproductive. Coach L...........say it ain't so!

The best players are always the ones on the bench.

 

[83wuzme]

If the starting line includes Dowrey, Gaia and Mahon..........I will be disappointed and will not expect much improvement over the dreadful 2015 season. They better add a lot more toss sweeps to Barkley as the slow developing, half draw into the left A gap will be.....unproductive. Coach L...........say it ain't so!

This was Phil's expectation. Not Limegrover's starting unit.
I expect we start with the best five, and if the best five chnages during the season, so will the lineup.
The BTN crew was pretty unanimous in their assessment of the OL being much improved, so I plan to wait and see at this point. Will the unit be even better next season ? It's hard to see how it couldn't be.

 

[Tweedbear]

Palmer is a juco recruit. The quality is always more difficult to evaluate. Did the juco qb that hack beat out ever play for any one?

 

[bdgan]

This was Phil's expectation. Not Limegrover's starting unit.
I expect we start with the best five, and if the best five chnages during the season, so will the lineup.
The BTN crew was pretty unanimous in their assessment of the OL being much improved, so I plan to wait and see at this point. Will the unit be even better next season ? It's hard to see how it couldn't be.

People seem to forget that Mahon & Nelson are just now entering their RS junior seasons. A lot of good OL struggle when forced into action early. I'm not sure why so many seem to have given up on them. I don't think players like Dowrey & Gaia have the same potential but they are bound to be somewhat improved as seniors. If not, PSU has some young talent that could replace them as the season progresses.

 

[83wuzme]

Palmer is a juco recruit. The quality is always more difficult to evaluate. Did the juco qb that hack beat out ever play for any one?

When Palmer arrived in 2015, his max bench was around 185. He was skinny, yet had relatively high body fat. That is not the 2016 Paris Palmer, and if the 2016 Palmer is fighting to get on the field after starting almost every game last season, that says something has changed about the OL as a whole.

 

[bxle]

It's nice just to be having a conversation about options.

 

[GregInPitt]

People seem to forget that Mahon & Nelson are just now entering their RS junior seasons. A lot of good OL struggle when forced into action early. I'm not sure why so many seem to have given up on them. I don't think players like Dowrey & Gaia have the same potential but they are bound to be somewhat improved as seniors. If not, PSU has some young talent that could replace them as the season progresses.

Exactly. How many of the linemen that we now look back on, who were very good with some being recognized as AA's, would have looked good if they were pressed into action before they were more physically mature? Not many. Blame the NCAA, not the players. The fact that Mahon and Nelson are more ready to play in their redshirt Junior seasons in not rocket science. And even with Dowrey & Gaia, obviously not top OL recruits, having matured and now being potential contributors to a decent OL is really within the normal maturation and development of college olinemen.

But yes, it's great to have young talent developing and competing for playing time. And when the coaches believe that the young guys have surpassed any of the upper classmen the young guy(s) will be playing. It's amusing that some here believe that they want to win more so than the coaches and that the coaches would not put the players that give the team the best chance to win in the starting lineup.....

 

[Ranger Dan]

McGovern & Menet are awfully young to be starting OL at this level.

I think both Clemson and Alabama started freshmen on the o line last year, and their cupboard's aren't exactly empty.

 

[bdgan]

I think both Clemson and Alabama started freshmen on the o line last year, and their cupboard's aren't exactly empty.

That's the exception, not the rule. How many times did posters on this board talk about MSU's senior linemen last year?

The only PSU recruit with that type of pedigree is Menet and he has a chance to start by mid season. Bates & McGovern also have a chance. Of course that doesn't mean that they are better as freshmen than some of our seniors.

 

[Crusher1950]

These guys stank up the field the last 2 years and they are starting again? And now everybody thinks we are going to win 8 or 9 games? Wow!!!!! Boy are we nieve!!!!!

 

[GregInPitt]

These guys stank up the field the last 2 years and they are starting again? And now everybody thinks we are going to win 8 or 9 games? Wow!!!!! Boy are we nieve!!!!!

It's naive (not nieve) to believe that major college olinemen will not progress at least somewhat as they gain physical maturity and game experience. And that together with an influx of maturing talent (Bates, McGovern, Menet....) the sum of the parts won't result in an overall improved performance.

 

[Lion8286]

These guys stank up the field the last 2 years and they are starting again? And now everybody thinks we are going to win 8 or 9 games? Wow!!!!! Boy are we nieve!!!!!

Flusher, you are naïve.

 

[21Guns]

Wait....so everyone but Bates is a starter from last year?

Like I said Sluggo, I got 4 out of 5 correct. Haha.

I WILL however say, that I believe in Coach Matt...if Dowrey is starting, then I think he actually got better under Limegrover. Most people won't look at it like this, but I say, if Dowrey held off Menet and McGovern, EVEN as true freshmen, then he did, in fact improve. The kid couldn't block a common cold for two years, and BOTH Menet and McGovern are ready to play right now, so, I think he got better. I also think Matt wants experience and continuity to start the season.

Yes, if it all falls apart, and it might do that again, THIS TIME we can actually make a damn change in the starting lineup, unlike the past two years.

 

[21Guns]

These guys stank up the field the last 2 years and they are starting again? And now everybody thinks we are going to win 8 or 9 games? Wow!!!!! Boy are we nieve!!!!!

Nelson did not stink up the field. When the kid was actually healthy, he held his own.

As far as 72, 70, and 53 go, yes, you have a point.

I REALLY BELIEVE Limegrover is making these kids into better football players though, for the first time.

 

[bdgan]

Nelson did not stink up the field. When the kid was actually healthy, he held his own.

As far as 72, 70, and 53 go, yes, you have a point.

I REALLY BELIEVE Limegrover is making these kids into better football players though, for the first time.

What inside info fo you have that Linmegrover is making a material difference? I hope you're correct.

 

[Ian]

Nelson is the only serviceable one out of last years bunch. No doubt Bates is in. Palmer, Dowery, Gaia, Laurent, and Mahon are capable backups, at best. But...

Clearly the young guns, McGovern and Menet, are pushing the interior for time and should get it by year end although they might just redshirt them if they aren't needed.

I will also be interested to watch how Beh and Jenkins develop on the outside. Those two along with Bates, McGovern, and Menet are the future, IMHO... Nevertheless, when was the last time we were talking about 11 OL bidding for time?

 

[21Guns]

This also underscores the point I have been making for two years: O'Brien failed to recruit the position.

 

[Ian]

Wonder why Billy recruited that way? Did he think OL grow on trees?

 

[Lion8286]

Wonder why Billy recruited that way? Did he think OL grow on trees?

Um, sanctions ring a bell??

 

[bdgan]

Um, sanctions ring a bell??

Sanctions were certainly the issue but why skill position players instead of linemen? IMO he prioritized players/positions that he thought could help the team win immediately. I don't think he was thinking long term.

 

[Lion8286]

Sanctions were certainly the issue but why skill position players instead of linemen? IMO he prioritized players/positions that he thought could help the team win immediately. I don't think he was thinking long term.

O'Brien really own had one class that was his alone, the 2013 class. Out of 16 slots, he had commits from 3 OL. I'd say about 20% of the class being OL is not abnormal. Also, keep in mind, that top end OL recruits weren't exactly beating down Penn State's door in that class.

 

[83wuzme]

Our OL woes are not going to be fixed in one year. We are not going to go from the bottom to the top in one year. Average would be great, but we will still be on the low side of average this year. Next year, I expect a different story.
A different type of offense, QB mobility and proven playmakers at skill poisitions should also help our cause. I have to think with all of the BTN guys saying the OL is much improved, we'll at least be closer to average.

 

[21Guns]

Sanctions were certainly the issue but why skill position players instead of linemen? IMO he prioritized players/positions that he thought could help the team win immediately. I don't think he was thinking long term.

He didn't know how important the offensive line is to college football. He made the wrong decision and it cost this program two years.

 

[bdgan]

Our OL woes are not going to be fixed in one year. We are not going to go from the bottom to the top in one year. Average would be great, but we will still be on the low side of average this year. Next year, I expect a different story.
A different type of offense, QB mobility and proven playmakers at skill poisitions should also help our cause. I have to think with all of the BTN guys saying the OL is much improved, we'll at least be closer to average.

I expect to be on the high side of average.

1. Certainly should improve with only 1 player graduating.
2. Mahon & Nelson should hit their stride as RS juniors.
3. I'm cautiously optimistic about Bates.
4. Anything we get from Menet & McGovern is a bonus.
5. A mobile QB and an spread offense should also help.

It's silly to think we'll be on par with the top teams but there's no reason to think that our talent is in the bottom half of the B1G.

 

[bdgan]

O'Brien really own had one class that was his alone, the 2013 class. Out of 16 slots, he had commits from 3 OL. I'd say about 20% of the class being OL is not abnormal. Also, keep in mind, that top end OL recruits weren't exactly beating down Penn State's door in that class.

You could argue that skill position players weren't beating down Penn State's door either.

 

[Lion8286]

You could argue that skill position players weren't beating down Penn State's door either.

Am not sure of your point.

 

[grinagrin]

I expect to be on the high side of average.

1. Certainly should improve with only 1 player graduating.
2. Mahon & Nelson should hit their stride as RS sophomores.
3. I'm cautiously optimistic about Bates.
4. Anything we get from Menet & McGovern is a bonus.
5. A mobile QB and an spread offense should also help.

It's silly to think we'll be on par with the top teams but there's no reason to think that our talent is in the bottom half of the B1G.

Mahon and Nelson are RS juniors.

 

[bdgan]

Mahon and Nelson are RS juniors.

Thanks, I corrected it. My point is that it's not surprising that they struggled as underclassmen. I expect them to improve. Nelson has already shown some good things. And remember, Mahon had offers from Michigan & Florida.

 

[jerrycalpal]

Wonder why Billy recruited that way? Did he think OL grow on trees?

He was polishing his resume. He rarely recruited or left state college.
Same withe the asst.s . 80 percent of the job is recruiting.
( per D1 coaches) it wasn't his thing kissing 17 rear ends.
I still like him, but he plus sanctions left us a mess.