UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Mike Gesicki stepped behind tight end Jesse James, sporting sunglasses and an ear-to-ear grin. Gesicki was waiting to hear what the Steelers rookie would say about his former Penn State teammate.
Gesicki, the 6-foot-6, 255-pound sophomore tight end, refers to James as his big brother, and the two joke back and forth as siblings do. With Gesicki standing behind James during an interview Saturday afternoon, the NFL tight end kidded that his mentee didn’t do much last season as a freshman.
Gesicki laughed and smiled some more because at some point he was going to tell James that his previous power-clean record hanging on the board in the weight room now belongs to the 19-year-old, not the NFL rookie.
“Jesse being the guy that he is, he’ll be happy for me,” Gesicki said. “He was a part of me becoming bigger, faster, stronger. He was always my lifting partner last year.”
Penn State has a big hole to fill at tight end without the 6-7 James, who caught 38 passes for 396 yards and three touchdowns last season. Gesicki is among the players who will need to step up. So, too, will a healthy Adam Breneman and senior Kyle Carter, whose lone touchdown last season didn’t come until the Pinstripe Bowl.
As a freshman in 2013, Breneman, a former four-star prospect, played in 11 games, catching 15 passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns. He redshirted last season after having knee surgery in the summer and is back to full health.
Since last season, Gesicki, also a former four-star prospect, added 20 pounds. This summer, he maxed out on the bench at 405 pounds and power-cleaned 355 pounds. Like his mentor James, Gesicki displays what Penn State strength and conditioning coach Dwight Galt called “freakish” athleticism.
“You saw it during spring ball, like how he was a raw player, and now he’s becoming more of a complete football player and putting that athleticism on the field,” Breneman said. “He runs a 4.6 [40-yard dash], and he’s starting to play like he runs a 4.6.”
Gesicki said looking at the team’s newest tight ends, freshmen Nick Bowers and Jonathan Holland, he remembers where he was just a year ago. Before playing in 12 games, Gesicki was just a freshman going through summer workouts with big testing numbers but his head spinning. Now he has a better understanding of the offense and isn’t overthinking.
A high school receiver who was rated as the top tight end prospect in his recruiting class, despite never playing the position, Gesicki’s big-time potential showed as he starred in football, basketball and volleyball at New Jersey’s Southern Regional High School. The future cornerstones of Penn State’s offense at the time — Breneman and quarterback Christian Hackenberg — sold Gesicki on Penn State during an official visit, convincing Gesicki the Nittany Lions were better than his other finalist, Ohio State.
This season will be the first time all three are on the field together.
Until then, Breneman and Gesicki push each other in the weight room, making sure they are in the same group. With Breneman saying he’s back to 100 percent, both of the former highly touted tight ends welcome the friendly competition.
“Adam, he’s done a great job,” Gesicki said. “He’s always had a positive attitude with anything that life throws at him. He’s gone through some tough struggles that some guys would say, ‘I don’t want to play football anymore, I don’t know if I can put my body through this,’ but he’s a great guy, one of my best friends.”
Audrey Snyder: asnyder@post-gazette.com and Twitter: @audsnyder4.
First Published: July 15, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
