FOOTBALL

PSU QB still uncertain, but Franklin optimistic on offense

Frank Bodani

fbodani@ydr.com

STATE COLLEGE — James Franklin made sure to find time to confirm that the football rebuild at Penn State, particularly on offense, is making the steady steps expected.

James Franklin said his Nittany Lions are ready to make significant jump on offense, and that begins on his line.

There's just more than two months until he shows those first results.

The head coach held an impromptu, 40-minute news conference Thursday afternoon at the end of a casual lunch with media members. He preached a bit about the progress of his Nittany Lions, particularly with the addition of two new offensive coaches, the maturity of his linemen, tight ends, receivers and running backs and the continual integration of new talent.

This team-building flows from taking dozens of his players out to dinner, individually, this spring to get feedback on the staff and program, as well as from helping secure two-year, guaranteed contract extensions for his assistants.

"We're not relying on any more freshmen to come in and immediately contribute on the two-deep," he said. "That may happen because they've come in and earned it, rather than showing up on campus ..."

He still refused to name a starting quarterback between inexperienced Trace McSorley and Tommy Stevens — no matter that the older McSorley performed surprisingly well under pressure in the TaxSlayer Bowl and put up startling numbers working with the first team in April's Blue-White Game.

Franklin elaborated extensively on why he won't be definitive until possibly the second or third week of preseason camp in August.

"Trace has been the backup quarterback for two years, so he has been coached and prepared. ... Is there a gap right now? Sure, there is a gap," Franklin said. "But I want to give (Stevens) that opportunity (too). … Tommy's done some damn good things, and there's excitement about him.

"Everybody rushed to judgement based on the spring game, and I don't think that's fair."

Franklin, a former college quarterback, went on to praise Stevens for his "natural feel for space, for depth, for width like a point guard. ... a natural feel to find open guys on the field." He said Stevens simply needs more time to absorb the offense and make better and quicker decisions.

James Franklin said Penn State may have one of the best running back groups in the nation with a more experienced Saquon Barkley (26), Andre Robinson and rookie Miles Sanders.

"This isn't coach-speak. ... I legitimately want to make sure at every position we have a chance for competition and give Tommy an opportunity to do that. If after the first week of camp it's completely obvious to everybody, that's fine."

Franklin also cautioned against heaping praise on incoming freshman tailback Miles Sanders, who starred in the recent Big 33 game and has received recruiting hype as the top all-around running back in the country. A bit later, though, Franklin did say Penn State may have one of the top tailback groups in the nation.

Then again, he said any significant success on offense is predicated by the improvement of his line. He feels confident that this group is deeper and more experienced even if it is still lacking in junior and senior leadership.

"We have the numbers right now. We do have playing experience, but we're still young," Franklin said. "We're still depending on a lot of redshirt freshmen on the two-deep (depth chart). But It looks like a Division I offensive line from an experience, strength and talent standpoint."

And he didn't even mention prized offensive tackle Michal Menet, who will be reporting to campus this weekend along with Sanders and the rest of the true freshmen class of 2016. Menet is arguably the Lions' top offensive line recruit in a decade or more.

It will be the job of new offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead to put all of this together this summer. Franklin made a point to explain how the positive aspects of hiring Moorhead go beyond his skill and system fit.

"I also feel great about the timing of it. I said (to Moorhead), 'You're going to come in here, and everything is in place now for you and for us to be successful.' ... All the things are in place right now to make a significant jump offensively, and we knew that."