Penn State vs. Northwestern depth chart: Offense

Penn State football takes on the Northwestern Wildcats on Saturday at 3:30, and to get you ready for the game, Blue White Illustrated is providing you with the “official” depth chart. Despite the Nittany Lions declining to provide an official depth chart each week, we’re giving fans the information they need to know whose on the field each week. So far this season, Penn State has played 36 offensive and 39 defensive players through four games. In addition, the Nittany Lions have played at least 30 players on each side of the ball the last three weeks.

Check out the defensive depth chart here.

To get the printable depth chart, click here.

Quarterback

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

The lowdown: Backup quarterback Drew Allar looked loose and comfortable this week at practice during open availability and has settled into his role behind starter Sean Clifford. Third-string quarterback Christian Veilleux still has a chance to get in the game if the Nittany Lions can put up a big lead on a struggling Northwestern offense early.

Penn State running backs

10 Nick Singleton (Fr)
13 Kaytron Allen (Fr) OR 24 Keyvone Lee (So.)
28 Devyn Ford (Jr.)

The lowdown: Penn State head coach James Franklin said that the rotation remains the same in-game as it has all season. The team will enter with a one-to-one-to-one plan and then ride the hot hand emerging from that plan. With Keyvone Lee potentially returning from injury this week, expect to see all backs get a series early in the game. Singleton remains the starter, but the featured back will be determined in-game.

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.) OR 7 Kaden Saunders (Fr.)

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

The lowdown: 

After staring and playing nine snaps against Ohio, we haven’t seen veteran receiver Jaden Dottin since. His situation remains a mystery, so until that’s resolved, he’s coming off the two-deep.

Beyond Dottin, the situation at receiver remains the same. Washington and Tinsley will start, as will KeAndre Lambert-Smith. From there, like running back, if a hot hand emerges, that player will take over beside Washington and Tinsley. So far, that hasn’t happened for Penn State.

Penn State tight ends

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

The lowdown: Injuries have simplified the Nittany Lions tight end room dramatically this season. As soon as Theo Johnson returned, Tyler Warren exited last week’s game with an apparent hamstring injury. He wasn’t seen at the open portion of practice this week, which puts his availability in question. Strange has emerged as the team’s bonafide top player, so the depth behind him sorting itself out has less urgency. This injury bug at tight end and running back shows why depth is critical.

Lions offensive line

Left tackle
74 Olu Fashanu (Soph.)
66 Drew Shelton (Fr.)
51 Jimmy Christ (R-Soph.)

Left guard
58 Landon Tengwall (R-Fr.) OR
64 Hunter Nourzad (R-Sr.)
56 JB Nelson (R-So.)

Center
70 Juice Scruggs (R-Sr.)
64 Hunter Nourzad (R-Sr.)
66 Nick Dawkins (Soph.)

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

Right tackle
79 Caedan Wallace (R-Jr.)
72 Bryce Effner (R-Sr.)
57 Ibrahim Traore (R-Soph.)

The lowdown: 

Hunter Nourzad should return to the field this week, given how James Franklin talked about him during his Tuesday press conference.

“Yeah, bumps and bruises, and we felt like if we could hold him out last week, then we’d be able to get him back this week. The good thing is J.B. came in and played really well. We were excited about how he practiced and we were excited about how he ended up playing in the game,” Franklin said.

Whether Nelson gets a crack at playing time with Nourzad back remains in question, but the Lions likely feel very good about the depth at the position after watching Nelson take a larger role last week.

Caedan Wallace and Bryce Effner are an interesting rotation. Wallace had a bounce-back performance against Central Michigan and therefore commanded more snaps. Yet, we’ve seen that change situationally if he’s struggled in pass protection. Effner will likely play in every game, but his snaps are primarily determined by how Wallace plays.