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Winter Workouts and Spring Practice progress and reports thread

B. Smith has moved over the Will LB spot.

It's been discussed a bunch since the end of last season, wondering what other shakeups could happen to LB lineup to help mitigate some major weaknesses.
 
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Before the retired coaches come after me about knowing nothing about football, let me preface this by saying...Franklin has forgotten more football than I will ever know.....Cool? cool

The fact that we have never ever used tempo on offense has been one of the more perplexing things in our offense since Franklin has been here. Always, without any doubt, we get to the line, we get in position, we kind of give window dressing that we may snap the ball quickly.....then our QB looks to the sideline. Every single play without fail. At different points when our offense has been totally bogged down, I have been amazed we don't just have 2 plays called, get to the line once, and just go before looking to the sideline. I get the concept of "check-with me" and determining what the defense is in and where we have numbers, but if you never snap it before the sideline check, the defense will absolutely line up in some alignment then shift after the check with me. If Mike Y does nothing else besides increase tempo, I think we can be a way better offense. I am encouraged by Franklins comment here:

“Tempo is a weapon,” Franklin said. “If you don’t have a true tempo in your offense, it’s hard to get your defense ready for it. And to be honest with you, we’ve never been tempo.”
Not sure why Donovan didn't run tempo, but I think JoMo was of the belief that if he knew what the defense was going to do he could call the "perfect" play every time. So rather than try to catch the defense off guard with tempo, they would adjust and adjust again to try to get that "perfect" play.

However, I agree that tempo can just wear down a defense. Imagine trying to tackle Lee/Cain/Holmes 3 times in less than a minute. Pain.....
 
Not sure why Donovan didn't run tempo, but I think JoMo was of the belief that if he knew what the defense was going to do he could call the "perfect" play every time. So rather than try to catch the defense off guard with tempo, they would adjust and adjust again to try to get that "perfect" play.

However, I agree that tempo can just wear down a defense. Imagine trying to tackle Lee/Cain/Holmes 3 times in less than a minute. Pain.....
OTOH as much as tempo wears down the defense, it also wears your defense down, especially if your offense goes 3 and out too many times. Ask the Eagles of the Chip Kelly years.
 
OTOH as much as tempo wears down the defense, it also wears your defense down, especially if your offense goes 3 and out too many times. Ask the Eagles of the Chip Kelly years.
I'm not saying you should run only tempo. But remember what BOB did with "NASCAR" (hated that name, BTW)? You get on a little bit of a roll and you go fast. You don't go fast all the time. This lessens the toll on the defense (although I'd argue if your defense is good and forces three and outs, this isn't a problem).
 
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B. Smith has moved over the Will LB spot.

It's been discussed a bunch since the end of last season, wondering what other shakeups could happen to LB lineup to help mitigate some major weaknesses.

Looks like the coaches read this board....JK, but sometimes there are some informative posts and suggestions on here and they shouldn’t be insulted when they’re suggested cause “we’re not coaches.”
 
I think the hope is that with B Smith sliding over, Jacobs is primed for a breakout at the OLB spot. He flashed a bit last season in limited opportunities and his speed/athleticism is what is needed in the open field. Luketa/Ellis can't be on the field at the same time, and outside of any huge improvements from either of them, I'm not sure either of them should get a majority of snaps at their respective spots. It will be really interesting to see who steps up from the group not mentioned above: Elsdon, King, Fisher, etc.
 
I think the hope is that with B Smith sliding over, Jacobs is primed for a breakout at the OLB spot. He flashed a bit last season in limited opportunities and his speed/athleticism is what is needed in the open field. Luketa/Ellis can't be on the field at the same time, and outside of any huge improvements from either of them, I'm not sure either of them should get a majority of snaps at their respective spots. It will be really interesting to see who steps up from the group not mentioned above: Elsdon, King, Fisher, etc.
Fisher has been moved to DE this spring. Last I read, he is around 250 lb. Being a RS Fr, he will probably have the time adapt well there.
Buddin should arrive in June and looks to be a SLB.
 
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Sounds like Kobe King came to PSU ready to go, and may get on the field this coming season along with his brother.

The article says that the team came into Spring with just 5 healthy scholarship LB's, but didn't say who was injured, and implied that King was not counted in the 5, i.e. returning scholarship LB's.

Smith, Luketa Brooks, Jacobs, Elsdon. ?? Is Katshir hurt again, or still hurt?


 
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Looks like the coaches read this board....JK, but sometimes there are some informative posts and suggestions on here and they shouldn’t be insulted when they’re suggested cause “we’re not coaches.”
I think it's a guarantee that the PSU coaches spend a lot of time here, learning from the 2 dozen or more accomplished posters....to say nothing about the wealth of wisdom displayed here by folks that have never played the game. I'll bet surgeons would visit here to learn if we had more medical related threads.
 
Sounds like Kobe King came to PSU ready to go, and may get on the field this coming season along with his brother.

The article says that the team came into Spring with just 5 healthy scholarship LB's, but didn't say who was injured, and implied that King was not counted in the 5, i.e. returning scholarship LB's. Smith, Luketa Brooks, Jacobs, Elsdon. ?? Is Katshir hurt again, or still hurt?



Luketa has been in a sling all winter/spring. He also has put on 15lbs while being out.

My guess is that he'll eventually land at DE, because after last season's performance, the last thing he needed was to add that amount of weight.
 
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Luketa has been in a sling all winter/spring. He also has put on 15lbs while being out.

My guess is that he'll eventually land at DE, because after last season's performance, the last thing he needed was to add that amount of weight.

Yep, I was hoping that Luketa would be moved to DE going into this Spring's workouts, instead of Fisher. He's just too slow in space to be a great LB.

Would have been interesting to see Fisher get a chance at LB given his H.S. film, but the coaches have seen him grow in the S&C program and see his potential at DE. I'm just looking forward to seeing if Fisher will be the thumper tackler, quick to the ball, that his H.S. film showed......

But if Luketa does move to DE due to his increased weight that would leave LB pretty thin (no pun intended). When Buddin comes on board this Summer he would become the 6th scholarship LB. Smith, Brooks, Jacobs, Elsdon, Katshir (if healthy), King and Buddin. LB is a position where the starters don't seem to get liberally substituted for, but just over a 2 deep seems pretty slim numbers wise.
 
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Sounds like Kobe King came to PSU ready to go, and may get on the field this coming season along with his brother.

The article says that the team came into Spring with just 5 healthy scholarship LB's, but didn't say who was injured, and implied that King was not counted in the 5, i.e. returning scholarship LB's.

Smith, Luketa Brooks, Jacobs, Elsdon. ?? Is Katshir hurt again, or still hurt?



I think both Luketa and Katshir had "issues" cleaned up in winter and are either being held out or limited in what they can do.
 
I think it's a guarantee that the PSU coaches spend a lot of time here, learning from the 2 dozen or more accomplished posters....to say nothing about the wealth of wisdom displayed here by folks that have never played the game. I'll bet surgeons would visit here to learn if we had more medical related threads.

That's really all you have to "think" about?
 
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But aren't you the self proclaimed "expert"....?

That's what your condescending comments seem to imply.
o_O

You might be a better fit on the actual PSU coaches idea board.
I'm just a piker compared to the more than 2 dozen accomplished coaches who brandish their wisdom here....be it player evaluations or coaching critiques.
 
Apparently Luketa has been hurt and limited in participation - probably why he packed on pounds. Not a good thing either, as I can't see added weight boosting his play from last year.

Really interested to see what happens at LB because both Ellis/Luketa were pretty terrible. I'm hoping Smith/Jacobs lock down two spots and one of Katshir, Elsdon, King surprise this spring/fall and can be key contributors.

Any of the football experts on the board have insights/opinions on Smith playing in the middle? Does that make sense, or is he more suited on the outside? Ellis/Luketa struggle in traffic, but they also lack speed/quickness to keep up/wrap up in the open field...I'm not sure I can watch another season of those two.
Rewatched the Michigan and MSU games. Luketa was definitely not the player he was in 2019. Perhaps he was already dealing with an injury. He didn’t tackle well. He also appeared out of position at times.
I think he is better than this, but I don’t know if he will be, especially with the extra weight. JF has a decision to make, but it looks like he already wants more ability on the field, which seems to mean Smith and Jacobs at the same time.. The middle looks like Brooks, Luketa and Elsdon.
 
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Do they still have a middle linebacker? I have not actually seen anything about who may play the position or if the position is still an actual position?
 
Do they still have a middle linebacker? I have not actually seen anything about who may play the position or if the position is still an actual position?

Ellis is probably penciled in at MLB as of right now. There is some buzz around the freshman King, but it might be a stretch to assume the youngster would be an upgrade. My guess is that Pry will want the senior with experience there to start. The staff might give Luketa a shot in the middle if he’s healthy. Haven’t heard much about Elsdon this spring.
 
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DL Coach Scott had a really good PC yesterday, worth watching for everyone here. Couple of worthy notes IMO:

DTs Brevard and Mulbah are trending in the right direction.

The transfers have fit in nicely, both seem like quiet guys. Let their play/work speak loudly.

Tarburton is healthy and taking on a leadership role.

Coach is most excited about DE Vilbert, taking his game to another level this spring.
 
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DL Coach Scott had a really good PC yesterday, worth watching for everyone here. Couple of worthy notes IMO:

DTs Brevard and Mulbah are trending in the right direction.

The transfers have fit in nicely, both seem like quiet guys. Let their play/work speak loudly.

Tarburton is healthy and taking on a leadership role.

Coach is most excited about DE Vilbert, taking his game to another level this spring.

I believe this is it. Great to see and hear Coach Scott, as I can't remember seeing him in a PC before this. An impressive, personable guy that seems like a great addition to Franklin's staff.

 
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Nice review of the TE players, although a little proof reading for sentence structure and spelling would help Clay look more like a legit PSU grad.......

 
Nice review of the TE players, although a little proof reading for sentence structure and spelling would help Clay look more like a legit PSU grad.......

I think many regular posters on this board could have written a better article on the 2021 TE’s. Strange and Johnson will probably be the best TE duo we have had at PSU since Tony Stewart and John Gilmore. I just hope Yurcich can figure out a way to utilize their abilities both in the pass and run games.
 
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