After first burst of offseason changes, is Penn State football stock up, down, or neutral? BWI Roundtable

The Penn State football program has experienced its first winds of change in 2022.

It’s true that the initial movement started last December. That’s when Brent Pry left for Virginia Tech and Manny Diaz replaced him. Then, in January, a second coordinator left as special teams leader Joe Lorig moved on to Oregon. He was replaced in about 24 hours by former Boise State assistant Stacy Collins.

Player personnel changes have taken place too, of course. The latest online roster showed some expected departures and others that were not confirmed prior to its release.

Ultimately, six starters have been lost on defense and four have moved on from the offense in addition to sometimes first-team running back Noah Cain. Three-way special teams star Jordan Stout is off to the NFL, too.

On the flip side, quarterback Sean Clifford is back, as is safety Ji’Ayir Brown. Penn State added one of the nation’s most productive receivers in Mitchell Tinsley via the transfer portal. And, nine of 23 members from a top-10 Class of 2022 are already on campus, including three On3 Consensus five-stars in quarterback Drew Allar and back Nick Singleton.

All of it leads us to the topic of today’s BWI Roundtable: Is Penn State football’s stock up, down, or neutral after the first blast of offseason changes with January winding to a close?

BWI roundtable: Is Penn State football stock up, down, or neutral?

Pickel: I’m at neutral but trending up three weeks into January. Penn State made great moves to replace Pry and Lorig with Diaz and Collins. And, while it does not have the roster to turnover starters with certainties as some programs do, it has a lot to feel good about.

What concerns me currently, however, is numbers issues at linebacker and offensive line, among other spots. For the Lions’ stock to keep improving as the offseason continues, portal plusses at both spots are a must. That’s easier said than done, however.

Bauer: I’m an optimist by nature. The arrivals of Nick Singleton, Tinsley, and eight other Class of 2022 members provides a much-needed boost.

But the sheer volume of significant personnel lost creates a vacuum that needs to be filled. In that sense, I’m going to have to characterize this as a “down” time with an obvious caveat. Down doesn’t mean insurmountable. It means losses have been sustained that create opportunities for others to step into.

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Dwight Galt, Brent Pry, Joe Lorig, and Michael Hazel, for starters, would all be significant departures on their own in any given offseason. For all to have exited in the same stretch creates a unique moment for leadership to step up and assert a reimagined identity for the program, in some respects.

Now extend the same concept to Jahan Dotson, Noah Cain, Rasheed Walker, Jesse Luketa, Arnold Ebiketie, Ellis Brooks, Jaquan Brisker, Tariq Castro-Fields, Derrick Tangelo, and Brandon Smith. That group represents a ton of production and experience, even if some in it might not have always lived up to top billing.

Eckert: I think, barring a considerable transfer portal splash in the months ahead, Penn State’s overall stock is down.

The main reason I’ll take that side of the argument is the turnover the Nittany Lions are experiencing on the defensive side of the ball. Without a rock-solid defense in 2021, Penn State does not win seven games. I don’t think that’s a statement many will disagree with.

So, with the knowledge that Brent Pry is gone, All-Big Ten first-team players in Jaquan Brisker and Arnold Ebiketie are off to the NFL, and several other key contributors are out the door, too, I find it difficult to believe that unit is going to be similarly formidable in the immediate future.

There are reasons for optimism, sure. I think Manny Diaz is a solid hire to replace Pry. Penn State inked a very nice recruiting class with a few players who contribute early. Mitchell Tinsley looks like a really nice portal add.

But the sheer volume of change on defense is too much for me to go the other direction here.