With less than a month before Penn State football picks up camp and runs headfirst into the 2021 season, there is still plenty to talk about even as the season’s picture begins to take shape. It will all start — and perhaps finish — with quarterback Sean Clifford, but there are plenty of little details around him that will go a long way toward shaping the narrative of James Franklin’s eighth year at Penn State.
Here are five storylines to consider with less than a month to go before camp begins.
- Integrating the transfers
For all the usual roster volatility in a transfer market world, Penn State did a good job this offseason supplementing its 2021 freshman class with a handful of transfers from elsewhere within the college football landscape. Of course, it’s one thing to pick up a player on paper; it’s another thing to be able to use that player from Day 1. Take into account each player adopting a new strength program and all of the wrinkles that come with getting used to a new team and a new campus and there is a lot on the plate for these guys. So how is the integration going?
One imagines that the likes of former Temple senior defensive end Arnold Ebiketie has been around long enough to transition smoothly. Same with running back and former Baylor Bear John Lovett or former Harvard offensive lineman Eric Wilson. Time will tell how all the new names and faces fit onto the field, but for now the biggest thing is getting them up to speed. You can’t use a player that isn’t ready.
- Clifford’s start to camp
As per tradition, Sean Clifford was seen on social media this summer tossing the ball around with accuracy, form and power. Clifford is going to be the biggest question this team has in 2021, and how he plays — more like 2019 or more like 2020 — could be one of the most consequential questions of the James Franklin era so far. Games aren’t won in early August, but Clifford showing up to camp and looking like a third-year starter would go a long way toward winning over the confidence of teammates and coaches. And if nothing else, it might go a long way toward erasing those bad memories of 2020 once and for all.
Can he start camp like the veteran that he is? Or will he give everyone some early August heartburn?
- Last minute quarterback addition?
For pretty much the entire summer, the assumption was Penn State would turn to the transfer portal to pick up some quarterback depth in a room that is just four players deep and without a proven backup. Ta’Quan Roberson is the best bet to get that job, but he’s not as proven as his predecessors Will Levis and Tommy Stevens. Of course, the hard part here is selling someone in the transfer portal on being a bench guy. You don’t enter the portal to continue to not play. Add in the possibility that Clifford could return for a fourth year and Drew Allar waiting in the 2022 wings and nothing is straightforward. That said, Penn State could use the depth, but can it find it?
- Noah Cain
Continuing the tradition that offseason workouts don’t count if you don’t tweet about them, Noah Cain certainly looks healthy after missing all of last season and being limited this spring. The good news for Penn State: the Nittany Lions don’t have a shortage of running back options, so they don’t really have to play Cain until he is 100% ready for action. That said, his addition is a boost to an already deep room in which just about anyone could find themselves starting on any given week. It’s going to be a balancing act all year finding carries for this incredibly deep corps, but adding a healthy Cain to the mix is a good problem to have.
- On the trail
Penn State’s recruiting success is well documented at this point, with commitments pouring in seemingly every single day as of late. But as anyone will tell you, it’s one thing to get a prospect to commit; it’s another to get him to stay put. James Franklin and his staff seem to have all windows and doors pretty well locked down at this point, but recruiting momentum is as much landing new names as it is keeping old ones. This season could have its ups and downs, making sure a top 5 2022 recruiting class doesn’t follow suit will go a long way toward the future of the program.
This isn’t something that happens in just one day or week, but the narrative off the field this year could be as important as the one on it.
