UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s offensive linemen have been under the microscope the past two seasons, having surrendered 83 sacks and put together a few highlights they would rather not rehash.
On occasion, they’ve blocked each other, been plowed backward and whiffed. It has been a process, one that was complicated by scholarship limitations stemming from NCAA sanctions and compounded by injuries. All eyes are once again on the offensive line as the Lions continue with bowl practices leading up to the team’s Jan. 2 TaxSlayer Bowl against Georgia. Penn State will practice today and Monday before breaking and allowing players to head home before departing Dec. 28 for Jacksonville.
“[Georgia is] a great team and just watching their defense, they have some really good players up front and overall a really, really good, physical, fast defense,” said senior Angelo Mangiro, who has started games at guard and center this season. “We definitely have a challenge up against us.”
What Penn State has beyond its linemen who took the field this season is largely a mystery. Coach James Franklin always points to an offensive lineman’s third year with the team as the one when the player should be ready both physically and mentally to play well enough to see the field. In some cases, it might take until the fourth year, he said. Those younger players need time and practice reps, making these bowl workouts another helpful part of their development.
Penn State has eight scholarship players invested in the 2014 and 2015 recruiting classes on offensive linemen, including junior-college transfer Paris Palmer, who enrolled in January and started 10 games this fall. Relying on a group of redshirt freshmen to step in next season and contribute will be a focal point throughout the spring and summer, when they’ll be in their third years with the team. With the graduation of Mangiro, Penn State will need to find either a guard or center and have the younger players create competition for the returning starters.
“Those guys are exciting for our future down the road, in terms of the depth and the size and the experience that we are looking for on the offensive line,” Franklin said while highlighting three freshmen linemen who are making strides.
Among that group is Ryan Bates, once a Rivals four-star prospect whose redshirt Franklin said he considered burning this season. Bates is up to 297 pounds and could play guard or center, giving Penn State some flexibility in the coming years.
“He’s done some really nice things in one-on-one sessions. He’s done some really nice things in team periods, in competitive periods, against [defensive tackles Austin Johnson] and [Anthony] Zettel and those guys,” Franklin said. “We have him working almost predominately at center, but I think he’s a more natural guard.”
Former Baldwin High School prospect Sterling Jenkins, who enrolled in January and is 6-8, 330 pounds, is one of the team’s most improved linemen, Franklin said, highlighting Jenkins’ light feet and improved pass-blocking. Add in 330-pound freshman guard Steven Gonzalez, who like Bates and Jenkins also redshirted this season, and the Lions are well into revamping the line.
Penn State has four offensive linemen in the 2016 recruiting class who are verbally committed, including offense tackle Alex Gellerstedt and guard/center Connor McGovern. Both will enroll in January.
“Those three guys, as true freshmen during the redshirt period, have really improved,” Franklin said of Bates, Gonzalez and Jenkins. “The other guys as well that are redshirt freshmen that are coming on, like Noah Beh and … Chance Sorrell, those guys I think have really taken another step, as well.”
Audrey Snyder: asnyder@post-gazette.com and Twitter @audsnyder4.
First Published: December 20, 2015, 5:00 a.m.
