April 18, 2018
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State's spring season has nearly come to a close with Saturday's annual Blue-White game marking the final practice of the spring season.
Ahead of the weekend, Penn State offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Ricky Rahne and defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Brent Pry paused for closer look inside spring ball.
Talking quarterbacks and linebackers, both Rahne and Pry also give a quick snapshot of a few Nittany Lions stepping forward on both sides of the ball.
There's no question the Nittany Lions have plenty of roles to replace defensively, beginning with the situation at linebacker
As Penn State head coach James Franklin noted early this week, when it comes to filling a priority position in the middle linebacker spot, it all comes down to trust and consistency.
For Pry though, spring ball has been an opportunity to get a variety of Nittany Lions plenty of snaps at multiple positions. The results so far having been promising.
"Cam Brown has started off very well," Pry said. "Jan Johnson is very steady. Ellis Brooks has made some flashes. Jake Cooper has shown flashes."
Among the younger group, Pry like many, is pleased with the transition Micah Parsons has made since arriving to campus as an early enrollee.
His biggest surprise in the room though is Jarvis Miller, who has shown progress at outside linebacker.
"Jarvis has always had abilities and a skillset but hasn't been able to play with them," Pry said. "He is comfortable. He knows his position. He's doing some good things out there."
Outside of the linebackers, Pry only echoed the earlier picks of a few previous position coaches.
In the back end, there's Jonathan Sutherland and Garrett Taylor, led by the leadership of newly elected captain Nick Scott. Among the cornerbacks, Pry also noted he and the staff have been continually impressed by Donovan Johnson.
"Defensively overall, we have some guys up front who are getting a lot of reps for the first time in their career and doing some good things," Pry said. "Obviously there are your steadies in there, Kevin Givens, Shareef Miller and those guys. At the same time Antonio Shelton is really having a good spring. A guy we'll be counting on who is in competition for significant playing time."
On the offensive side of the ball, for Rahne there's no better place to start than with quarterback Trace McSorley, who has only continued to lead with the same confidence he has had since taking over as Penn State's starting signal caller.
"He has such command of the offense, not only the schemes but also the timing of everything," Rahne said. "He makes great throws. He does everything physically. He's a great player, really happy to coach him."
While pleased with all of Penn State's quarterbacks, Rahne also noted sophomore Sean Clifford has done some good things with an increase in reps this spring.
"I'm happy with what Sean is doing really from the mental side and being able to consistently put together big plays," Rahne said.
Outside of the quarterbacks, much like Franklin, Rahne is pleased with the progress the entire offensive line has continued to make.
"I think they have been blocking very well, getting movement," Rahne said.