The Lineup That Penn State Will Roll Out in Matt Campbell's Debut vs. Marshall

0:00This is the Lockdown Podcast Network celebrating 10 years of your team every day. The Mac Campbell era is finally here and this is the lineup that I'm expecting him to roll out on Saturday against Marshall. You are a Lockdown Nitenly Lions. You're daily podcast on the Penn State Nitenly Lions part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day. My name is Zach Seiko. Your host is always and thank you so much for being here Penn State versus Marshall Mac Campbell era officially upon us. And I'm going to go through the depth chart. The two deep depth chart that I think Penn State is going to roll out there against Marshall offense, defense, special teams and stick around to the end because we're going to talk about some injuries, players that are unavailable and could when they could return to the lineup.

1:01So we will start with the offense and begin at quarterback here, a Rocco backed on question QB1 here. The debate going into the preseason and into training camp was who will be QB2, right? Is it is it going to be I had the understanding that hey, Alex Manske is probably going to be the guy so long as he's healthy. Well, he's healthy. And and Connor Barry will be QB3 who transferred in from D3. But Alex Manske is your backup quarterback here after an impressive training camp over it running back Carson Hanson's going to be the starter. And I think that Carson Hanson has to prove some doubters wrong that oh, he's he's an okay back or he's just good. He's not great. He's been one of the focal points for Matt Campbell and the Iowa state offense previously. So I think that's going to carry over here. But he will be in a committee that this is going to be a running back by committee. It's just a matter of what percentage of the time share do you have?

2:03So if I had to nominate a starter, I'm expecting Carson Hanson to be RB1 and to be the guy who's going to take a majority of the workload. But that might very weak to weak. James Peoples had a very impressive training camp and so did Quentin Martin so much so that we're to the point in the conversation that it's it's not about who plays and who's the starter and what does the depth chart look like? But these guys are so good that you can't keep them off the football field. I'd include Cam Wallace in this. But for the sake of the if I had to make you a too deep depth chart, I believe that Carson Hanson is the guy with James Peoples and Quentin Martin essentially being co back up running backs. They are co RB twos at this point. They will split reps after Carson Hanson over to wide receiver offensive coordinator Taylor Mauser talked about how there are six potentially seven guys that he trusts at the wide receiver

3:03spot. If we're going off of a two deep depth chart, the X wide receiver would most likely be Chase Soel and Keith Jones Jr. Or Quran Brookings that that's that seventh player and it's because he was missing from preseason camp early on that it's just about getting him acclimated and everything. So before we know it, it will kind of be an or situation where you'll see on a depth chart, kind of like people's and Quentin Martin, it's Carson Hanson James Peoples or Quentin Martin. That eventually will happen here with Chase Soel, Keith Jones or Quran Brookings at the Z wide receiver spot. This is the guy that's going to stretch the field, take the top off the defense. That'll be Brett Eskelsson and then Amarion Jackson, the freshman at the Z wide receiver spot. Eskelsson runs a sub four for this guy can fly and Amarion Jackson has has a nice build that you want for a receiver with some speed, not that quite not quite as fast as Eskelsson, but a guy that can still give defense his fits over the top and then he's he's six foot

4:08two, right? So he can go up and make a play when he needs to in the slot. You will see Kobe Howard and Z Robinson. Kobe Howard's going to be the starter in three wide receiver looks now Penn State's going to vary. They're going to have 12 personnel. They might have 13 personnel. Primarily, they will operate out of two time and formations. But when we do see three wide receiver formations, Kobe Howard will be that slot receiver and then Z Robinson will be his backup Iowa State transfer. We go to tight end tight end. We'll see how much 12 and 13 personnel we get early on in the season because right now that's one of the position groups and we'll talk about this later with with injuries to watch for. There are this the tight end depth is not as strong as I would like it to be at this point in time. So your co starters, they're not tight ends one and two. Their co starters at this point, Ben Braemer and Andrew Rapplier and eventually Gabe Berkel will be in that rotation. But if I had to give you a two deep depth chart for the Marshall game, Braemer's tight end

5:10one tight end one a Andrew Rapplier would be tight end one B and then Finn Fermanek would be tight the the next tight end in the rotation there. And that's where the the tight end depth gets gets a little questionable, right? As Gabe Berkel hasn't been available and some other guys have been missing from practice as well. Could we see Peyton Falzone who just converted from quarterback to tight end play potentially if they need him to if they would need him to step up. So primarily I could see Penn State, even though the 12 personnel is going to be the main main part of this offense, depending on who's available, they might have to run some more wide receivers in this situation. So because you want to keep Braemer and Rapplier healthy early on. And then we got the starting offensive line confirmed. So this isn't so much of a projection. This is what this is a fact of the matter from left to right Malachai Goodman Trevor Burr, Brock Riker, Cooper Cousins, Anthony Donco on the line of scrimmage.

6:13Now if we're talking backups, I believe that the backup left tackle would be Anthony Donco that they would move Donco over to the left side of Goodman had to come out for a play or for a series. And then depending on that, right, if it's a play, probably Garrett Sexton or Owen Alicini would plug in. But if it's for a series or for an extended amount of time, I could see Donco kicking over to left tackle. And then they put in Garrett Sexton or Owen Alicini at that other tackle spot there. So that's good to have that kind of depth at your at your tackle spot as far as the backup guards go. And this is interchangeable. Baya Ica cola would be one of the backup guards as well as Will Tompkins. Your backup center would be Dom Ruley, the veteran that stayed at Penn State started in the Penn striped bulls. So good offensive line depth at the at the moment. So long as everyone stays healthy and available. Now we flip it over to the defense. And this is where it's going to get interesting because they move guys like Kayla Bacon to

7:16defensive end. What does the secondary look like after dealing with some bumps and bruises early in training camp? What we're going to get to that next year on Maktan and then Alliance. And some work for today's episode comes from square, the system powering so many places we already know and love whether you're running a packed game day spot, a local restaurant or a growing a business square gives sellers the tools to run their business without making things more complicated square brings payments inventory payroll invoices customer insights and more together in one connected system. So whether you're a one location business or growing into multiple locations square gives you the tools to sell manage and grow without needing an IT team to figure it all out. The best teams have systems in place that allow everyone to do their job without creating unnecessary complications. Businesses operate the same way square gives sellers one connected system to manage the

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9:23All right, let's pick back up with the defense and staying in the trenches defensive line. Defensive end is going to be interesting because I don't know that they're necessarily starters or I think it's just they have five defensive ends who are going to play and those row those rotations might look one way or another way they're they're kind of all co starters in my mind at this spot. And I think it will kind of solve itself. Okay, do we need to go to a true depth chart? But these are all the guys that are going to see playing time specifically at defensive end on on no particular side. It's just these five guys can play and rush after the passer rush after the quarterback like easy agu max grandville. Ivan Kemizu Alex McPherson and Caleb Bacon. They have five defensive ends that they trust. Now, if you want to me to try to predict starters here, this is probably the one where I'm the most uncertain about as far as okay, what order is it going to be? And I would imagine it's going to be easy. Agu and Kemizu to start just because those guys are bigger bodies.

10:24They they're better in run defense and you kind of want to set the tone early against a marshal, but I wouldn't declare them starters again. Max Granville Alex McPherson deserve as much playing time as those other two that I've named and Caleb Bacon has now added his name to the rotation as well after moving from linebacker to defense events. So this is a situation where yeah, for depth chart purposes, grandville and McPherson are technically backups, but they're kind of all co starters at this point in time and they're going to they're going to change a lot and you'll see two different defense events together because that's that's how good they feel about this group. Then on the interior of the defensive line, I can give you definitive starters there and there are guys that have played over at UCLA and that's essentially what this is the UCLA defensive line with a Kaikama Lloyd being the defensive line coach and Dan Lynn, who was once upon a time UCLA's DC. These guys have played in this defense and they've played for coach Maloy. So they understand Kiana Williams and Seattle, Tau Paki are going to be your starting detacles.

11:27After that Armstrong, not him who transferred in from Oklahoma state and Elijah Carnell, I think would be your next backups there. But other guys like Liam Andrews could factor into the rotation as well, but for two deep depth chart purposes, those are the first four that I would watch for and Dallas Vaca Lahi would also be in that rotation as well. But the first four upper the first four that I named there are linebacker because we saw Caleb Bacon go down to the line of scrimmage and out defensive end and we're going to talk about it with injuries and everything. And when could a guy like Alex Tash return? They're going to operate out of a four to five defense two linebackers. We might see some four three looks okay, but the base defense that Dan Lynn's going to run is a four to five hybrid four down defensive line and two linebackers five defensive backs. At linebacker here, they're going to go with a Mike and a will set up at the will linebacker Tony Rojas. I think that most Penn State fans would understand that that makes sense. He can cover sideline to sideline.

12:29He can cover pass catchers as well more efficiently than anybody else. He'll be your starting will linebacker your study starting Mike Mike linebacker and the guy who's going to be getting calls from Dan Lynn, whether that's on the sideline or in the press box to be determined where he ultimately sets up. But Cooper Ebel will be wearing the green dot and getting the play calls from Dan Lynn. So those are your two starting linebackers and their responsibilities. If guys needed to cycle him, Cam Smith would be the immediate backup to Tony Rojas at this given moment and Caleb or Zeein is going to be the backup Mike linebacker to Cooper Ebel. Again, that could change depending on Alex Tash and you always have Caleb Bacon. He could move back to linebacker if need be. So that's an interesting group that I need to see just how this group is going to materialize over the first quarter of the season. Then we get to secondary. You've got some stars in the secondary here and the way that I believe the first at

13:33five and how they will they will be on defense. Darius Dixon and Adabian Collins will be your two boundary cornerbacks and Darius Dixon. I think can be a star in this defense today. Honestly, he will be one of the better cornerbacks in the big 10 and eventually will be that star that everybody's talking about. So long as he continues to develop, Adabian Collins has been steady, speedy cornerback and plays with an attitude. He sets the tone and practice that's been very apparent here over the past couple of weeks. Your slot cornerback, the guy that operates as a hybrid, he'll play safety, he'll roll with the coverage is he's got a lot of responsibilities. Then just take away the sideline and this wider seaver that is Zion Tracy. He kind of has the most responsibilities here in the secondary. Marcus Neil is going to be your strong safety coming down player playing close to the line of scrimmage, essentially acting as an extra linebacker who can cover, but he is the strong safety. And then Jeremiah Cooper Jeremiah Cooper is coming off of an injury and according to Mac Campbell, which we'll talk more about with injuries.

14:36He is a guy that's probable for this week. He'll be the free safety center field type that's going to sit back, watch the quarterback. That's your starters in the secondary. As far as backups go, your backup boundary cornerbacks as so long as they're available because Jameer Joseph was missing from practice at times. Jameer Joseph, if he's available, would be one Ibn McDaniels would be another boundary cornerback to watch out for in the slot. Now they could roll some people or Jameson Patton has this capability. Jeremiah Cooper could move down to the nickel spot, the slot cornerback, but the immediate backup to Zion Tracy would be Josiah's Ius, a freshman, a freshman taking over that kind of responsibility that speaks volumes of what they think of Zias. But I would tab him as the immediate backup to Tracy for the safety spots of Abu Tore and Jameson Patton would be in it strong safety or free safety, depending on need or where those guys would go in. All right, I want to get to some of the injuries, but we also got to talk about special teams

15:37as well because this is a completely new look with how much Penn State turned over at the special teams unit. We'll get to that next here on Lockdown, Netany Lions. Support for today's episode comes from ultra pouches football season means long days, early mornings, late nights, and plenty of time spent trying to stay focused and energized, whether you're heading into work, getting a workout in or settling in for a full day of football, having something that helps you stay locked in can make a difference. Ultra pouches are designed to deliver instant focus and smooth energy in a convenient pouch without nicotine or caffeine ultra partnered with leading neuroscientists to create pouches using new tropics, including infinity PX, L Theonine, Alpha GPC and vitamins B12 and B6. The result is a pouch designed to support focus, mental clarity and smooth energy that lasts one to two hours without caffeine nicotine or a crash.

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17:43monitoring centers in the industry. The ADT plus app keeps you in control the whole time. Don't leave your home wide open during an emergency when every second counts count on ADT visit ADT dot com or call 1 800 ADT ASAP. All right. Now we get to the new looks special teams and I say new look, but Ryan Barker. He's the guy place kicker. There's no question marks there. He's going to be the guy that's that's handling kicking duties when it comes to field goals. Right. I think we are going to see Cristiano Rosa be the kickoff specialist, but Ryan Barker could handle kickoffs Nathan Tyson. If you want to debate depth chart and two deep spots with on kickoff specialist, please be my guest. But I think that Ryan Barker is safely the place kicker again. And then Rosa was brought in for a reason to handle kickoff duties. At Ponder Penn State's going to have a new punter with Gabe Wozu graduating Nathan Tyson

18:44was brought in, but this was quietly a battle for the starting punter spot. And I could see this being an ongoing competition. I think there's reason to the next time we get to talk to special teams coordinator, Justin Lustick, I think it's fair to say because Lucas Tenbrock did look the part of being a starting punter. Now Nathan Tyson has the veteran experience, but they seem pretty comparable at camps at times when we got to see them in preseason practice. So I would not rule out this is this is kind of another one where it's an educated guess. There hasn't been a nominated starter at Ponder unless I missed it. But Nathan Tyson, I think it's going to be the guy unless Lucas Tenbrock takes it away from him. I think this was a close battle all along at long snapper. You're getting blaze so catch minick and Andrew default would be his backup at the long snapper spot. And then I think this is where Penn State fans are really going to be interested, right? Who's handling kickoff return? Who's handling pun return?

19:44So a kickoff return. I think Quint Martin and James peoples will be your starters there. And then a punter return. I saw a variety of players taking reps. Guys like Kobe Howard, adabian Collins, chase so well, Zion Tracy, all of these guys were fielding punts. It seemed like Kobe Howard was first in order adabian Collins chase so well as well. If I had to make a prediction here, a projection, Kobe Howard and adabian Collins will be the first two guys up at punt return there. Now I want to talk about the injury list and it's extensive. It might it might end up being extensive, depending on an availability report that comes out because so many guys were kind of mis and practice. And I think that was more load management. So to speak them Penn State actually dealing with some injury problems there. So the guys that we do know that would have an injury designation according to Matt Campbell, the man himself, because he didn't say this at his press conference.

20:47Jeremiah Cooper, he is probable training in the right direction. How much he'll play? I think that's a two B determined, but Jeremiah Cooper should be the starter. It is going to be the starter so long as he's healthy. And Matt Campbell said that he is probable going into this game. He did say Gabe, Birke, will and Alex Tash are doubtful, tight end and linebacker respectively. Now under those guys return, Matt Campbell teased a potential week two return, but that's kind of a gradual, okay, do you want to rush them back to action when they were dealing with some long term injuries? You don't need them today. I'd like them, I'd rather them sit out or be on a pitch count or be managed correctly so that you have them for Wisconsin, Northwestern, right? The big ones, USC, Michigan, okay. So they're doubtful today, but they should return sooner rather than later. That's not, oh, expect them back mid season or later on in the season, best case scenario. No, this is kind of a week by week basis for guys like Birke, and Tash.

21:50Not for the season, I think this is one that maybe some people forget about again, I had to remind myself of being honest. Mason Robinson, we know is out for the season, they lost him in spring camp due to a long-term injury. So we will not see defensive end. Mason Robinson play at all this season, but just as far as some other injury management goes again, this is what Matt Campbell said at his press conference. Guys like Armstrong, Nautam or an Andrew Rappliet, and Owen Alassini, just some, some depth chart pieces, a guys who are definitive starters, just missing a practice here and there. They were out. They might have missed a week. They might have missed a couple of days, but they definitely had to do some injury work arounds and some load management for key players. I would say guys that I've named on this depth chart and who I've named here towards the end of the show where they missed some valuable time, unfortunately, but they, they wouldn't be carrying a strict injury designation. I'm like, Oh, Andrew Rappli is going to miss this game or Owen Alassini.

22:51He's definitely unavailable because when the official availability report comes out and you might see those guys under the questionable tab, for example, that's probably because they missed a practice 10 days ago and it was more about load management and making sure guys were 100 close to 100% by the time the season rolled around. But nothing that's concerning that, Hey, we got a monitor this. We got to watch out for this. But something to keep an eye on again, it's a full season. Injuries, it's a part of the game of football. But right now Penn State in a good spot with everything that I've laid out here with this initial depth chart going into game one of the Matt Campbell era. Finally here, we got football. We got Penn State football back, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you're excited. I'm excited and can't wait to break it all down and talk about it so much more here on the podcast. That's where we're going to wrap things up on this depth chart preview show to get you prepared for Penn State versus Marshall. Let me know your thoughts down in the comments section. Players that intrigue you the most depth chart spots that you are going to monitor early

23:53on in the season. Let me know be a part of the conversation. If you are new to the show, subscribe to the YouTube channel and wherever you get your podcast for the latest conversations around Penn State football, Penn State recruiting, Penn State wrestling, all right here on Lockdown, Netany Lions. On Kowshi, you're trading against peers in a live market, meaning there's no house and as the probability changes, you can buy in and out of your position for a limited time. Download the Kowshi app and use code locked on to get $10 when you trade 10 KALS H.I. Kowshi. Trade on anything, 18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices, values and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see kowshi.com slash regulatory.