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Get Sprung: James Franklin's Spring Presser Recap

Thank you to the valiant reporters, whose twitter accounts will now get the patented BSD Bump™.

By Noel Purcell
Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

James Franklin's held his spring press conference today. It featured lots of interesting tidbits, comments we can wildly speculate on, and certainly wasn't light on positivity. The Penn State football beat covered it well, so we'll defer to them and comment on the news. Cool? Cool. Let's rock.

Saquon Barkley is a superior breed of human being

How the hell? Dudes straight up inverted the freshman fifteen. Irvin Charles is my personal breakout pick for next year, and everyone knows Saquon is a monster. He's already nearly impossible to tackle, and now he has 12 pounds of extra muscle to work with. Good lord. Franklin also pointed out a few other players who have lost multiple pounds of fat and gained several pounds of muscle. Penn State football is going to be yoked, everyone.

More wideout talent, because why not?

We talked Charles above, and between him and Juwan Johnson, there will be options. At the very least, whoever the QB is will have a relatively absurd amount of skill position depth to play with.

The new-look defensive line battle will be interesting to watch

Let's start with the tackles, who have some massive shoes to fill following Anthony Zettel and Austin Johnson's departures.

While there isn't a ton to go on in terms of who will start, I tend to like Cothran, White, and Carter for a rotation so far. Penn State has done pretty well converting ends to tackle in the past, and that shouldn't change under Brent Pry. This is one that will clearly go into the summer.

Castagna will be an interesting developmental guy to watch. At 6'4" and with the reach typically associated with volleyball players, you'd hope he becomes a guy who can swat passes at the line. That skill has become more and more desirable since the rise of JJ Watt. Franklin also spent many words describing how envious he is of how jacked Castagna is. If you're looking for an under-the-radar breakout guy, Castagna may be your dude.

We have absolutely no idea what's going to happen at quarterback

Translation: Jimmy doesn't really know who his quarterback is. I know for current undergraduate Penn State fans this is a weird feeling, but it's pretty common. Hopefully it provides for more hope than the ill-fated McGloin v. Bolden war of summer 2011.

If I had to guess now, I'd say Tommy Stevens starts on opening weekend. The BSD staff is pretty high on him in general (don't get Polak started). With a new OC in town, McSorley knowing the old system isn't as big of an advantage as usual. In my humble opinion, he'll need to show more with his arm, but his legs are undeniable. Stevens, as Franklin says, plays a very mobile game himself.

Also, Jake Zembiec could surprise everyone and take the spot. The talent is undeniable, and he is an early enrollee. Again, nobody really knows. If McSorley and Stevens are truly neck-and-neck, you'd think that favors the latter at this juncture. But maybe it doesn't. This is good analysis.

Optimism on the offensive line (no, really)

So, there's a legitimate chance the line begins as Palmer-Dowrey-Gaia-Mahon-Nelson. Palmer's strides have been praised (it's been noted before, but he couldn't bench 185 when he came to Happy Valley and now he's benching 300+ pounds), and Nelson is pretty much a lock to start at one of the tackle spots.

However, look for Ryan Bates, Steven Gonzalez, and especially Connor McGovern to really push for opportunities. Michal Menet having an early shot likely depends on the development from the upperclassmen, and Gonzalez likely gets a shot before Menet, assuming the staff wants Menet to play guard. Sterling Jenkins is the biggest question mark, as the upside of his massive frame pairs unfortunately with serious rawness. He's likely a year away from contributing (but if he puts it all together, look out). Also, Ryan Bates' beard is an important development on the line.

The Koa Files (We Want To Believe)

Everyone wants Koa Farmer to become a valuable member of this football team, and he has lots of athleticism to burn. Is this the year?

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We'll have more football-related content soon. Blue-White weekend is closer than you think! Make sure to thank Audrey Snyder, Jourdan Rodrigue, Megan Ryan, Sean Fitz, and Kris Petersen by following them all on Twitter.

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