Penn State Football Practice Observations: Wide Receivers Shine

Penn State kicked off its second week of fall camp Monday afternoon, this time venturing inside Holuba Hall to escape the muggy conditions outside.

Reporters were granted a viewing of nearly the entire practice as things began to fall into place ahead of the season opener.

Per usual, the team went through a stretching routine before breaking off into position groups. The first row of players through warmups appeared to be projected starters/team leaders, including quarterback Rocco Becht, wide receivers Brett Eskildsen, Chase Sowell and Koby Howard, tight end Ben Brahmer, running back Carson Hansen and offensive lineman Cooper Cousins, defensive end Ikenna Ezeogu, defensive tackle Siale Taupaki, cornerbacks Audavion Collins and Zion Tracy, safety Jamison Patton and linebackers Tony Rojas and Kooper Ebel.

After breaking into groups, assistant special teams coach Rory Walling immediately caught my attention as the most verbose coach on the field. Players went through one-on-one blocking drills, working on keeping their hands inside the shoulder pads.

“Our hands are our weapons, we gotta use our hands,” Walling yelled, followed shortly by “If we pay attention, we won’t waste any more f—ing reps … lock the f— in … god damn.”

Apologies for the expletives.

Those hoping for answers regarding the offensive line and running back depth chart won’t get any, as it remained unclear throughout practice.

Running backs Carson Hansen, James Peoples and Quinton Martin Jr. all got reps with the first-team, taking handoffs and catching passes from Rocco Becht at different times throughout practice. Meanwhile, the “starting five” of offensive linemen changed with every drill.

Either the coaches don’t know or they don’t want us to know — regardless, it’s impossible to determine the starters.

But the group that stood out the most throughout practice, especially when we reached the competitive periods near the end, were the wide receivers.

Iowa State transfers Brett Eskildsen and Chase Sowell looked smooth, and some of the drop issues seen in previous practices disappeared. Sowell bested cornerback Audavion Collins twice, while Eskildsen got the better of cornerback Jahmir Joseph on both routes.

Cornerbacks coach Terry Smith was particularly irate at Joseph, yelling something about Eskildsen being the fastest player on the team and needing to leave him a bigger cushion.

Koby Howard beat Zion Tracy during his first go-through, but a bad throw ruined his second rep after he got separation from safety Omarion Davis.

Other notable results include Peter Gonzalez Mossing cornerback Donte Nastasi and safety Vaboue Toure jumping a route for an interception.

Later, during 11-on-11 periods, the offense seemed to be moving the ball well. The best play came when quarterback Alex Manske connected with wide receiver Amarion Jackson down the sideline.

The defense had its moments, though, with Tracy blowing up a screen to Peoples, defensive tackle Keanu Williams swatting down a pass at the line of scrimmage and a Kooper Ebel tackle for loss on Martin.

Worth noting: Caleb Bacon, a linebacker who’s been practicing with the defensive ends, saw time on the edge during 11-on-11.