Former Penn State record-breaking quarterback Christian Hackenberg and defensive end Carl Nassib, PSU graduates, the Phillies and the upcoming high school football season have all been in the sports news recently. Here is what’s happening.
Hackenberg a “redshirt”?
Rookie second-round N.Y. Jets’ quarterback Christian Hackenberg did not play in the Jets’ opening preseason 17-13 win against the Jaguars. Not a snap.
All three of the other quarterbacks — presumptive starter Ryan Fitzpatrick, Geno Smith and Bryce Petty — saw considerable time in the game, and there were some hints that Hackenberg might not get into a game until the team’s final preseason game against the Eagles on Thursday, Sept. 1.
Since most NFL teams usually carry three quarterbacks on their rosters, this does not sound like good news for Hack. Yet there are some scenarios that are not as bad as all this sounds.
The first one is that Hackenberg will be a pro football version of a redshirt. After all, he is a second-round draft pick, and it can’t be that the Jets would write him off this quickly without even a tryout.
More likely, according to this line of thinking, Smith and Petty are battling it out for the No. 2 spot and Hackenberg will be the No. 3 man on the roster. That way, he can take this year to learn from the sidelines (barring injury to the others, of course) and get fully acclimated to the pro game.
There is a precedent for keeping four quarterbacks — other teams have done it, but not many — and this could be a possibility as well. If that turns out to be the case, then little changes for Hackenberg. He will still be in learning mode.
Things could be much worse, though. Hackenberg could have gone the way of Eagles’ first-round pick Carson Wentz. Not only did Wentz have a tough day passing in his first pro action against Tampa Bay, but he also suffered a hair-line rib fracture and might be lost for the rest of the preseason or even longer. Not a good way to begin his first season.
Nassib makes an impression
On the other hand, another Penn State draft pick, defensive end Carl Nassib, made a big impression in his first action for the Cleveland Browns. Nassib, a Penn State walk-on who worked his way to being an All-American, seems to be doing the same thing at the start of his pro career.
Nassib moved all around in the Brown’s defensive formations and was reportedly “everywhere” in the loss to Green Bay on Aug. 12.
Nassib and fellow defensive line draftee Emmanuel Ogbah already have Browns fans excited about revitalizing the Cleveland pass rush.
Phils holding their own
After a surprising start this season, the Phillies reverted in many ways to the, well, rebuilding team that they are.
They couldn’t hit, and the injury-nicked pitching staff couldn’t hold opponents enough for the team to compete and the losses began to mount.
Yet thanks in large part to the steady hand of manager Pete McKannin, the team did not totally disintegrate and free fall into the cellar of the NL East. (That spot is taken by the Braves.)
Far from it. In fact, the Phillies have been holding their own. Going into this week’s series against the Dodgers at Citizen’s Bank Park, the team is on a four-game win streak and playing steady baseball.
The Phillies at this point are 56-63 for the season, considerably ahead of what was expected of them.
No, they are not going anywhere this season, but they are only 3.5 games behind the third-place Mets and 6.5 games behind the second-place Marlins. If they can play .500 ball the rest of the way, which is very possible, they would finish with 77 wins. That’s 10 games (or more) better than most pre-season predictions.
Looking ahead, according to a story on Comcast Sports Net, the Phillies’ 40-man roster this winter might not have a player over 28-years-old on it. Of course, it’s true that young bad players turn into old bad players, but that does not seem to be the case here. The team’s top minor league teams in Allentown and Reading are both having very good seasons and are both filled with young talent.
It will be very interesting to see what deals and signings, if any, the team makes going into next season. It says here that there will not be many, and that the team will opt against splashy deals and steadily improve mostly from within.
Going to school
These things are not usually in the headlines, but Penn State is a university and it has an outstanding record of graduating its student-athletes.
According to the PSU sports website, 16 more will be graduating Saturday, Aug. 20, with Penn State degrees.
That brings the total for the 2015-16 academic year to 156 graduates from athletic teams, including a record 109 after the spring semester.
For the fourth consecutive year, according to the website, Penn State student-athletes broke the school record for the number of students with a 3.0 GPA or higher during both the fall and spring semesters. The number of students earning a 3.0 GPA in the fall semester has increased 10.5 percent the past four years from 463 in 2012 to 516 last fall.
In all, Penn State graduates 88 percent of its student-athletes, a record that puts it among the top schools in the country.
Just a few more days to kickoff
For those people who like to plan ahead, the high school football season will begin Friday, Aug. 26, and five of the six county teams will be in action.
Here’s the opening day schedule:
■ St. Joseph’s Academy at Bald Eagle Area, 7 p.m.
■ West Branch at Philipsburg-Osceola, 7 p.m.
■ Jersey Shore at Bellefonte, 7 p.m.
■ Penns Valley at Marion Catholic, 7 p.m.
