April 17, 2018
UNIVERSITY
PARK, Pa. - The days are drawing closer to Penn State's annual Blue-White
spring game inside Beaver Stadium. With only two spring sessions remaining,
check in with cornerbacks coach Terry Smith and safeties coach Tim Banks for a
closer look at the Nittany Lion defensive backs.
While Penn State's senior departures spanned the secondary, upon closer review, the Nittany Lions still have strong leadership returning, as well as a wealth of depth at cornerback.
For Smith, the Nittany Lions will get an added boost on the field with the return of a healthy John Reid, who noted a few weeks ago he's feeling better than ever.
"He's in good form and making plays, working on his technique and perfecting his craft," Smith said. "He goes through all the individual periods and goes through some 7-on-7 work. He looks natural, he looks really fast, really explosive. He looks like the old John Reid. I'm excited to get to the fall and unleash him."
Among the younger cornerbacks, Smith noted Donovan Johnson and Zech McPhearson have both played well through the spring season.
"First, Donovan Johnson, he's having a terrific spring," Smith said. "He's getting his hands on a lot of balls, playing really good coverage and learning the system."
Smith called Johnson the most improved cornerback in the room from fall to now, praising his toughness and tenacity. His teammates have also noticed.
"He's doing good," Amani Oruwariye said. "He's fast, really athletic with good feet, good technique and he is coming into his own. He has been taking great strides this spring, making strides on the ball. I like where he is going."
While Oruwariye isn't taking the full amount of reps this spring, Smith said that 80 percent of the reps the fifth-year senior has taken so far, have resulted in impact plays.
Circling back to the group of younger Nittany Lions stepping forward though, Smith praised McPhearson's consistency this spring.
"He doesn't make many mistakes, makes plays on the ball and he is challenging routes so I'm really, really happy with him," Smith said.
Rounding out the younger group, Smith said the Nittany Lions will look to rely on Tariq Castro-Fields this year, as he builds on a rookie season where he was one of just three true freshmen to see the field.
"Obviously Tariq Castro Fields is having a good spring," Smith said. "We're excited about him, he's one of our guys we are going to depend on a lot and count on."
Looking toward the safeties, Banks is pleased all around with the group, led by the veteran leadership of Nick Scott.
"Nick has done a tremendous job," Banks said. "Starting with our offseason conditioning program, he was excellent and he has really picked up where he left off during spring ball. He is a great leader right now. He's playing a lot faster. I'm excited about him. I think the sky is the limit this upcoming season."
As Penn State head coach James Franklin mentioned earlier this month following the eighth spring practice session, Scott and Garrett Taylor have emerged in the safety battle.
"He's another young man who played some significant snaps last year on special teams but it looks like right now he's ready to take the next step," Banks said when asked about Taylor. "I've been really pleased with him so far."
Looking at the younger group, both Franklin and Banks made note of the progress Jonathan Sutherland has made, especially when it comes to his work ethic.
"He has been very physical, he has been very prepared," Banks said. "He treats every snap like it's his last snap so I'm excited about him. When we talk about practicing with a purpose, he gets it."
When it comes to work ethic though, Banks noted Scott is similar in the way he approaches practice too, which has become contagious in the room and especially encouraging with training camp not too far away.
"We have a good balance of senior leadership," Banks said. "We have some young guys who have a great work ethic and I think everybody in between has kind of that same mentality. We're not going to leave on rep un attacked if you will. We're going to get after every rep like it's going to be our last rep."