STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Which Penn State position groups are the strongest entering the 2022 season? Earlier this offseason, I broke down the returning production and 247Sports Composite ratings for every position. It’s one way to gauge which positions should be strengths and which ones could be weaknesses.
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On paper, here’s how the offense looks:
Average 247Sports Composite score by position (ranked 1-5)
- Running back: 0.9430
- Quarterback: 0.9177
- Tight end: 0.9023
- Offensive line: 0.8962
- Wide receiver: 0.8903
My more subjective rankings for the offense don’t always align with the recruiting rankings. Ahead of spring practice, here’s how I see these positions, ranked from strongest to weakest:
1. Running back
With a 247Sports Composite average of 0.9430 and a healthy dose of “yeah, but …” in many people’s minds after last season’s poor showing from the offense as a whole, the running backs could rebound in a big way. Adding five-star freshman Nick Singleton, the Gatorade national player of the year, is a major boost, as is the arrival of four-star classmate Kaytron Allen. With five scholarship players who were blue-chip recruits, the group has a chance to be special.
Singleton could emerge as the starter, or it could again be Keyvone Lee, who running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider sees NFL potential in if Lee can be a more punishing runner. Small steps first, though. The Nittany Lions have to get a running back over 100 yards in a game at some point soon or else this position of apparent strength plummets into another year of squandered talent.
2. Wide receiver
The receiving corps is still in a good place even if it’ll look a bit different this season. Taylor Stubblefield helped Jahan Dotson develop into a potential first-round pick, and now Parker Washington looks poised to step into the role as Clifford’s top target. The Nittany Lions added high-end four-star recruit Kaden Saunders and used the transfer portal to bring in Mitchell Tinsley, who adds experience to a relatively young unit after catching 87 passes at Western Kentucky in 2021.
Still, Dotson’s departure means losing the offense’s most consistent and explosive player. There’s no easy way to replace him, though recent history should be on Stubblefield’s side. He gets the benefit of the doubt after the group he inherited three offseasons ago was at the bottom of this list. There’s plenty of talent here, but beyond Washington, KeAndre Lambert-Smith and Tinsley, it’s largely unproven. Lambert-Smith is a prime candidate for a breakout season, while Malick Meiga showed flashes of being the explosive deep threat many inside the program believe he will become.
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3. Quarterback
Sean Clifford is back for a sixth season and will serve as the bridge to the future. For the first time in his collegiate career as a starter, Clifford will have the same offensive coordinator for two years in a row. He’ll need to make a significant jump and play more like his performance in the Auburn game and less like what he showed in the Outback Bowl. The inconsistency here is the biggest question again.
Yes, Penn State has to do a better job protecting him, but the performance has to be better, especially given his experience as a sixth-year player entering his fourth season as the starter. If not, at what point could Penn State turn to Christian Veilleux or five-star freshman Drew Allar? With Allar coming in, this room is in much better shape than it was last year when it knew it had depth issues and was unable to add to it, but lingering questions about a fourth-year starter are why it’s in this weird spot.
Sean Clifford enters 2022 with 7,839 career passing yards. (Raj Mehta / USA Today)
4. Tight end
Everyone returns, and the Nittany Lions added four-star recruit Jerry Cross. Last August, James Franklin described this as the most complete tight end room of his coaching career. On paper, it should be a tremendous group, as it’s overflowing with potential. Theo Johnson especially has one of the highest ceilings of any player on the offense.
But the tight ends were often an afterthought last fall, partially a product of the overall lack of identity and productivity of the offense. According to Pro Football Focus, the tight ends received 15.8 percent of Penn State’s targets (55th in the FBS, 10th in the Big Ten). That’s a significant drop-off from 2020, when the tight ends saw 21.8 percent of the targets (24th in the FBS, fifth in the Big Ten). In 11 of 13 games last season, the tight ends accounted for less than 20 percent of the team’s targets. Penn State had just 10 such games in the previous two seasons combined (22 total games).
It has to get more than stat lines like this: Brenton Strange: 20 receptions, 225 yards, three touchdowns; Johnson: 19 receptions, 213 yards, one touchdown. Tyler Warren had more rushing touchdowns (two) than receiving (one).
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The Lions also have Khalil Dinkins coming off a redshirt season and Cross arriving, giving them five scholarship tight ends. They have to find ways to use this group more consistently. Johnson should be a mismatch for just about every defense. Meanwhile, Strange had a career-high 71 receiving yards against Auburn, but that didn’t become the breakout moment many thought it would be.
5. Offensive line
Another spring, another year of questions about when the offensive line will finally achieve a breakthrough and cease being a liability. You know the drill all too well. There are different ways to divide blame, but Clifford was sacked two or more times in eight games last year. Surrendering seven sacks against Michigan was a lowlight.
Going to gadget plays because there was so little faith in the offense in short-yardage situations was telling. On third- or fourth-and-short (2 yards or fewer to gain), Penn State’s rushers were hit at or behind the line of scrimmage on 18 of 32 carries, according to PFF. That rate was 103rd in the FBS.
Now, Penn State must rebuild the left side of the line, starting with Olu Fashanu at left tackle and Landon Tengwall at left guard. Caedan Wallace will stay at right tackle, with Juice Scruggs at center and transfer portal addition Hunter Nourzad (arrives this summer from Cornell) and Sal Wormley competing at right guard. Seeing more of Tengwall, the headliner of the 2021 class, is a good thing, and Fashanu will be a player to watch this spring entering his third season — the number that’s always pointed to as the time when linemen should be physically ready to make an impact.
It’s on Scruggs and Wallace to lead this group. If Penn State can run block better, perhaps the running backs — the strongest position group in these rankings — can have their own breakthrough season.
(Top photo of Keyvone Lee: Randy Litzinger / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Audrey Snyder has covered Penn State since 2012 for various outlets, including The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Patriot-News and DKPittsburghSports. Snyder is an active member of the Association for Women in Sports Media (AWSM) and is the professional adviser for Penn State’s student chapter. Follow Audrey on Twitter @audsnyder4
