Penn State vs. Maryland depth chart: Offense

There’s no weekend where a depth chart is more valuable than this upcoming game against Maryland. The Nittany Lions are tight-lipped about injuries, but Blue White Illustrated has put together a comprehensive depth chart to explain what will happen if Penn State loses another player along the offensive line.

Penn State Offense

Quarterback

14 Sean Clifford (Sr.+)+
15 Drew Allar (Fr.)
11 Christian Veilleux (R-Fr.)
9 Beau Pribula (Fr.)

The Lowdown: 

The plan at quarterback is pretty clear; blow teams out, and then you get to see Drew Allar. The fact that Allar got all of the available minutes against Indiana was the one interesting nugget from last week’s win. We’ll see if that situation holds over the next three games, including two at home.

Penn State running backs

13 Kaytron Allen (Fr)
10 Nick Singleton (Fr) OR 24 Keyvone Lee (So.)
38 Tank Smith (R-Jr)

The Lowdown: 

The plan at running back for the last several weeks goes by half. Kaytron Allen started the previous two games, and then, coming out of halftime, fellow freshman Nick Singleton gets the first series. Furthermore, in the last three games, they’ve each received exactly 27 carries. So while Allen is the starter, Singleton operates in some ways as the team’s closer. How Keyvone Lee integrates into this new dynamic if he can get healthy will be interesting to see.

Lions receiver

Wide receiver

1 KeAndre Lambert-Smith (So.)
6 Harrison Wallace (R-Fr.)
80 Malick Meiga (So.)

Slot

3 Parker Washington (So.)
82 Liam Clifford (R-Fr.) 
19 Jaden Dottin (R-So)
7 Kaden Saunders (Fr.)

Wide receiver

5 Mitchell Tinsley  (Sr+)
18 Omari Evans (Fr.)

The Lowdown:

We’ll get into the most significant changes at receiver when we discuss the tight end position. But, for now, there’s no change to note in the lineup. The third receiver position has clarity now that KeAndre Lambert Smith is back from his injury hiatus. He and redshirt freshman Harrison Wallace split the duties on the outside, with Wallace getting the lion’s share of the reps.

The Jaden Dottin sighting from the Ohio game was apparently a red herring that meant nothing significant. Instead, slot receiver Liam Clifford has flashed good hands and route running in blowouts when replacing Parker Washington. He’ll have a chance to provide a big-bodied presence over the middle in the future for Penn State.

Speaking of the future, it’s too early to look for redshirt freshman Kaden Saunders but that time is coming. Saunders has two games left to preserve his redshirt, which puts him on track to participate in one of these final three games, plus the bowl game.

Penn State tight ends

86 Brenton Strange (R-Jr.)
84 Theo Johnson (Soph.) 
44 Tyler Warren (Soph.)
16 Khalil Dinkins (R-Fr.)

The Lowdown: 

The vexing part of Penn State head coach James Franklin’s no-injury talk policy is that it takes a while to understand why things are happening, both good and bad. For example, the third wide receiver position has taken a significant step backward in total snaps over the last three weeks. Harrison Wallace and KeAndre Lambert-Smith have a combined 120 snaps compared to Theo Johnson’s 164.

Clearly, Franklin wasn’t stretching the truth when he said the plan was to use two tight ends this season. Now that both Johnson and co-starter Brenton Strange are healthy, we’re seeing the full effect of that tandem. The attack plan fully evolved when Johnson was healthy enough to play a full game, which happened rougly a quarter of the way through the season.

So while we won’t create a new position out of the tight ends, know that they’re playing two different positions and seeing the field as separate starters.

Lions offensive line

Left tackle

66 Drew Shelton (Fr.)
72 Bryce Effner (R-Sr.)
74 Olu Fashanu (Soph.)
51 Jimmy Christ (R-Soph.)

Left guard

64 Hunter Nourzad (R-Sr.) OR
56 JB Nelson (R-So.)

Center

70 Juice Scruggs (R-Sr.)
64 Hunter Nourzad (R-Sr.)
71 Vega Ioane (Fr.)
52 Dominic Rulli (Fr.)

Right guard

77 Sal Wormley (R-Jr.)
71 Vega Ioane (Fr.)
78 Golden Israel-Achumba (R-So)

Right tackle

72 Bryce Effner (R-Sr.)
79 Caedan Wallace (R-Jr.)
51 Jimmy Christ (R-Soph.)

The Lowdown: 

It’s getting murky on the offensive line to the point that one message board member requested a flow chart for how things change in case of injury. It’s a great comment and reflects Penn State’s situation for the rest of the season. So here’s a best-guess breakdown of how we’ve seen things progress since Olu Fashanu left at the end of the Ohio State game.

Drew Shelton is the starting left tackle until further notice considering Fashanu’s week-to-week status. While Franklin doesn’t give away much, he hinted at the reality when speaking to the media Wednesday

“We’d still like to redshirt him if we could. I don’t know if that will be feasible,” he said.

Offensive line coach Phil Trautwein started Hunter Nourzad at left guard, with Juice Scruggs and Sal Wormley at the center and right guard, retaining two starters last week. Bryce Effner gets the nod for the moment at right tackle. Still, Caedan Wallace has been present and engaged at practice, albeit without any participation in contact with the media present.

The potential of getting Wallace back gives more flexibility to the picture. If Wallace suits up on Saturday, Effner is free to be the backup at left tackle, which is how Penn State ended the game against Ohio State. If Wallace isn’t available and something happens to Shelton, the combination would be Effner at left tackle and redshirt sophomore Jimmy Christ on the right side. As we saw last week, if Nourzad does go out, JB Nelson proved he’s up to the task of stepping in and performing.

One further note is that freshman Vega Ioane has been getting some work at center for the last two weeks. Presumably, he’s an emergency player if something happens to both Nourzad and Scruggs.