Blue and White Roundtable: Thank God For Content Spring Roster Edition!

Thanks to Mike at BSD for putting together a very good set of questions for this edition of the BWRT. First your exam materials: Spring Practice Roster and FOS Analysis.

And if you haven't already hit these guys up this morning:

Black Shoe Diaries
Run Up The Score
The Nittany Line
There Is No Name On My Jersey
William F. Yurasko
The Nittany Notebook
Tangled Up In White and Blue


Let’s start with the ugly news. Chris Baker, Chris Bell, Phil Taylor, Knowledge Timmons, and Navorro Bowman are all sitting out the spring practice sessions. What impact will this have on the 2008 season?

Well, of course, not good. What is bothering me the most is how talented Baker and Bowman are. Bell also. I don't see Andrew Quarless on your list, and to some extent he's been a disappointment, but his name is also one I'd rather see on the roster. From a pure football perspective, losing several key guys is going to hurt us, period. Many will probably still make heavy contributions, but you'd like to see the full team work together in the spring, especially with what I think will be a dangerous Oregon State team week two of the season.

But I want to take the other side on this, too. For starters, there is actually some punishment being handed out and it appears as though the team needs this. Secondly, after two years of stagnant play, maybe a little shuffling will do the team some good. All these guys may end up starting again during the season, but they will at least have to prove to everyone they are in fact deserving of the spot.

Would you move Sean Lee to middle linebacker like Paul Posluszny in 2006 and Dan Connor in 2007?

This is a difficult question because you really want to make sure you are truly taking advantage of how good Sean Lee is. And lets not joke around, he will probably end up being the best of the three. Paul will be known for his leadership, and Connor ended up a little better statistically, but Lee brings both aspects to the table and I can't help but get excited about it. Also, there is this:



And especially this (near 1:00):



Anyway, back to the question, no. Why? I know the middle is important from a leadership standpoint, but it's a different position and unless the circumstances demand it (which I don't think is the case), I say leave Lee where he is.

If Lee stays on the outside, who would you start at the other outside linebacker assuming Bowman is out of the picture?

Tyrell Sales.

Which position on the field is our weakest link?

Just like last year, I am most concerned about our secondary. King would get burned on faceguards, but he could run with any receiver in the nation. Timmons will have a hard time getting on the field. So we are a bit thin. The saving grace here was the pickup of D'Anton Lynn. I think he gets on the field right away.

Who is your pony in the quarterback contro…uh, competition?

I think the smart money is on Dyarll Clark here. Besides having a year-up on Devlin, there was this quote from last week:

Center A.Q. Shipley doesn't have any doubt that Clark will be a leader on and off the field.

"He's champing at the bit right now," Shipley said. "He realizes this is his shot. You could tell throughout the whole winter conditioning program that he wants to make the most of it. He realizes it's his job.

"He has mobility. He can run a little bit. When he gets in the huddle, he commands respect, and that's what you want in your quarterback. He can throw the ball better than people think." [emphasis mine]

Now I understand that doesn't mean the job is already filled, just that it sounds like A.Q. thinks it's Clark's to lose.

Name three players that absolutely have to step up their performance this spring?

A.J. Wallace, Lydell Sargeant, and Kevin Kelly.

Lightning Round

Who is your pick to win the Red Worrell award given to the offensive player that shows the most improvement during spring practice?

OL Mike Lucian

Who is your pick for the Jim O’Hora award given to the defensive player that shows the most improvement?

LB Josh Hull

Your 2008 team captains are…?

Sean Lee, A.Q. Shipley, Derrick Williams

Blue and White Round Table?

After reading several of my posts involving extreme bias and unnecessary cursing, the highly regarded BWRT has invited me to add my two cents.

Yes, it's very class

If you are reading this blog you've probably been to most of these places already, but as a sign of gratitude and in what appears to be the custom, make sure to check out the following for their takes:

Black Shoe Diaries
Run Up The Score
The Nittany Line
There Is No Name On My Jersey
William F. Yurasko
The Nittany Notebook
Tangled Up In White and Blue


How well did Penn State address their needs with this recruiting class?

Well, with so few scholarships to give it changes the game a little bit. Our needs were obviously wide receiver and defensive back. We bombed here except for Lynn and Price. We did pick up some "meat and potatoes", as all the experts like to say. The four linebackers we brought in are, of course, solid. (I'm very much looking forward to the first time I hear "that's Yancich and Zordich on the sack!") In addition, you can never haven enough linemen and the three we picked up appear to be nice additions. To answer the question, not that great. But I'm not as pessimistic as some appear to be. Pryor is still on the table and we still have one more year at these need positions before it's panic time.

Who was the big fish that got away? The kid you really really wish we had landed?

Well everyone is going to be talking about Shaw here, and he probably qualifies. There aren't very many fish as big as Pryor, so we'll wait and see on that one. My answer is Deion Walker.

You’re NCAA President Miles Brand. Take a break from counting your BCS cash for a minute. What would you do to improve the recruiting process?

This is a rip off of an idea I read a couple of weeks ago. I'll post a link if and when I remember where the hell it came from [edit: from IBFC, thanks to RUTS for helping me out], but for now here is the deal: Every recruit registers with the NCAA. Instead of a verbal commitment, the recruit will have the option to 'declare', or notify the NCAA in a non-binding way that they intend to sign with school XSU. Once the NCAA gets this notification, they publish said intention on some kind of database that all schools have access to. Once declared, no one but XSU will be allowed to contact said recruit. The recruit would also not be allowed to take any visits to other programs. If the recruit has second thoughts about his decision, he can simply remove his declaration from the data base, at which time he is fair game for all programs again.

The two benefits: (1) if a kid wants to stop being harassed via text message by 45 year old men, he can simply declare, (2) the schools get some kind of idea how committed a player really is.

Now you’re Joe Paterno. So I guess prepare to dodge the question. What would you change about Penn State’s recruiting strategy?

This is really simple: If I'm Joe Paterno I need to get the hell out of the house every once in a while. I understand he was sick close to signing day, which warrants staying home that week, but what about before that? Pryor, the number one recruit in the nation, is the only player to get an in-house visit from Paterno, and look what happened! Had Joe visited all of our targets, who knows what this class could have looked like.

Lightning Round!

Where will Terrelle Pryor go to school? Or should he just live off the hype for the next few years and directly enter the NFL draft in 2010?

What hype?

Ok, seriously: I really have no idea, I tried following this thing during December and January and ended up utterly confused, so I gave up.

I'm going to say PSU simply because I'm a huge homer, but if you put a gun to my head I'd insist its 50/50 between us and OSU.

Which member of this class stands the best chance to make an immediate impact?

I like Lynn here. Our secondary is suspect at best, and besides that DB is not a position that requires a lot of bulking up. I'm still waiting for someone to tell me how a kid recruited by USC, Ohio State and Florida ends up a three star on Rivals. I'm obviously guessing here but I would bet he's a lot better than that.