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How He Got Here
To say that Adam has been all blue and white from birth would not be much of an exaggeration. As a son of proud Penn State alums, trips to Happy Valley in the Fall were a regular occurrences throughout his childhood. Despite growing up a die-hard fan of the Nittany Lions, once he developed into one of the country's most coveted high school tight ends, Breneman did his due diligence and gave strong considerations to schools other than the one he grew up less than two hours away from (in nearby Camp Hill, PA). Ultimately, the allure of playing close to home and playing in Bill O'Brien's tight end-favorable passing system was enough to get him to sign with PSU in March of 2012. A few short months later, when the sanctions hit, Breneman was the first person in his class to re-declare his commitment to the program he had long loved.
Adam saw playing time as a true freshman in 2013 and over the course of the season, gradually established himself as a reliable receiver for classmate Christian Hackenberg. Most notably, the touchdown pass in the season finale at Wisconsin that drew first blood in Madison and sent a message to the Badgers that they could give two f**ks about being 24-point underdogs.
What To Expect In 2015
After sitting out 2014 following knee surgery (his second missed football season due to a knee injury going back to his senior year of high school), Breneman appears to finally be back to 100% and is ready to recapture his true freshman year glory and then some. In addition to giving Hackenberg another reliable receiving target, Adam has drawn countless praise from his staff for his blocking ability, which will be absolutely critical as the offensive line continues to make progress as a unit. So long as his knee issues don't creep back, the sky is the limit for Adam in 2015.
The Rest of the List (Thus Far)
How The Top 10 Players Were Selected
For those of you curious, the top 10 players were selected by a staff vote. Each staff member ranked the top 10 players, with a number one vote counting as 10 points, a number two vote counting for nine points, and so on. A full list of the rankings (including those who received votes but were not included in the top 10) will be published with the reveal of Penn State's top player on Friday, September 4th.