Spring is in the air and the esteemed Mike from BSD has summoned us to pull out the Roundtable and who are we to argue with his majesty. Nick's along for the ride as usual and don't forget to check out the bevy of other Penn State bloggers whose answers are surely better than ours.
Black Shoe Diaries
There is No Name on My Jersey
William F. Yurasko
Tangled Up in White and Blue
The Big Eleventh
The Nittany Notebook
Run Up The Score
Let's start with the ugly news. Chris Baker, Chris Bell, Phil Taylor, Knowledge Timmons, and Navorro Bowman are all sitting out the spring practice sessions. What impact will this have on the 2008 season?
Nick: None, the more important question is how are the guys that went down last year (Still, Odrick, Eliades, McEowen) going to bounce back.
Galen: Chris Baker was probably going to be the best D lineman on the squad but he can't stay out of trouble. Timmons is needed for depth at a very thin cornerback position, other than that they really aren't devastating loses to the team. I'm still waiting for Chris Bell to become the deep ball catching machine everyone thought he'd be.
Would you move Sean Lee to middle linebacker like Paul Posluszny in 2006 and Dan Connor in 2007?
Nick: If he wants to move there, sure. Otherwise, there are plenty of linebackers we can put in there and not lose a step.
Galen: I would do whatever Sean Lee wants to do because I wouldn't want to anger Sean Lee, you wouldn't like him when he's angry. Honestly, Paul was a move of necessity and Dan liked the position better, as far as Lee is concerned there's no pressing need for him to make the switch and quite frankly you could put the guy at quarterback and he'd succeed.
If Lee stays on the outside, who would you start at the other outside linebacker assuming Bowman is out of the picture?
Nick: Again, we have so much depth at linebacker, I'm pretty comfortable letting things sort themselves out naturally.
Galen: That's a good question that I can't answer. Whoever steps up in spring and in the summer. Let's face it Penn State has several linebackers that could start and I'm not displeased with any of them.
Which position on the field is our weakest link?
Nick: The secondary looks the weakest right now, but it's spring so we'll have to wait and see which positions get ravaged by injuries and/or stupidity.
Galen: The secondary is really thin right now. If Penn State suffers an injury at that position you'll see the wonderful bend but don't break defense again.
Who is your pony in the quarterback contro…uh, competition?
Nick: Devlin, but line Clark up in the backfield as well and get creative. Not creative in the let's have Devlin line up wide and ignore wherever the hell he split out to, but creative in that we actually utilize all the skill positions. There are plenty of wrinkles created putting them both in the backfield, run wild with the option.
Galen: Without a doubt Devlin for the simple fact that it would be nice to have a starting quarterback for three years that could... you know... actually develop as a quarterback. What an odd concept huh?
Name three players that absolutely have to step up their performance this spring?
Nick: A.J. Wallace, Lydell Sargeant and Derek Moye
Galen: A.J. Wallace needs to fulfill his potential at quarterback and Lydell Sargeant has to shine as well. Outside of cornerback I think the competition for the two starting linebackers not named Sean Lee should be intense.
Lightning Round
Who is your pick to win the Red Worrell award given to the offensive player that shows the most improvement during spring practice?
Nick: Whichever QB really shines.
Galen: I'll take a stab in the dark and say Lydell Sargeant.
Who is your pick for the Jim O'Hora award given to the defensive player that shows the most improvement?
Nick: What the hell – Mark Rubin
Galen: hmmm... how about Aaron Maybin
Your 2008 team captains are…?
Nick: Sean Lee, A.Q. Shipley and Derrick Williams – wasn't this already announced somewhere?
Galen: What Nick said.
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