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Penn State spring practice progress report: What's up with the offensive line?

Greg Pickelby:Greg Pickel•04/11/22•

GregPickel

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Penn State offensive line coach Phil Trautwein during a recent spring practice.

Penn State football is ready for the final third of spring practice to begin.

The Nittany Lions continue to work through drills on their way to the Blue-White game on April 23 at Beaver Stadium.

With more than half of the team’s allotted 15 practices in the books, Blue-White Illustrated is taking a closer look at the progress each position group has made so far. Today, we focus on the offense line.

Penn State offensive line spring practice rundown

This is, undoubtedly, the one position group that will be talked about much differently in August as opposed to now, in all likelihood. That’s because position coach Phil Trautwein has lots to figure out, and not every piece of the puzzle is on campus yet.

Numbers are a problem along the offensive line for Penn State this spring. Franklin rattled off a two-deep back when drills began. It included a converted defensive tackle, Alex Furmanek, and a backup tackle, Jimmy Christ, who hasn’t been seen doing much this spring.

The top five do appear to be stable, however, at least for now. From left to right, it includes Olu Fashanu, Landon Tengwall, Juice Scruggs, Sal Wormley, and Caedan Wallace. Four of that quintet played in the Outback Bowl, but Wormley is back at practice, Franklin said recently. The other key to the puzzle is Hunter Nourzad. The Cornell transfer isn’t here to work with this group yet, but he figures to have a home in it, as either a starter or key reserve, by the fall.

Then, with the second team, it’s mostly made up of guys looking to take a huge step forward this spring. Besides Christ, it also includes Golden Israel-Achumba and Nick Dawkins at guard and Ibrahim Traore at tackle. None of those three have seen significant game reps, while center J.B. Nelson has only seen them at the junior college level. 

By and large, it all means that following how the entirety of this group performs during the Blue-White game will be a top thing to focus on during and after the scrimmage.

What do we want to see next?

Simply put, we want to see this group gel coming out of spring. Penn State doesn’t have every part of its offensive line room on campus yet. But, this spring can still mark a big step forward for the line and its relationship with the tight ends, receivers, and backs from a blocking perspective.

From there, putting together the best five possible is a must.

“Obviously there will be some moving parts, as well,” Franklin said. “A lot of those guys we think can play multiple positions. We saw Landon play tackle, as well. Juice can play guard, as well. So there’s going to be some moving parts.

“Caedan Wallace is a guy that we think could play either side at either tackle, as well. It will be a very important spring for those guys.”

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