Welcome back into the Penn State Pulse. I'm your host, Dylan Dawson. The long awaited season preview episode is finally here. Today. I'm going to dive into my predictions for the twenty twenty four Penn State football depth chart as well as the teams win lost totals. So I'm not gonna waste any time here. Let's dive right into it, beginning with my preseason depth chart productions as we close in on Game one at West Virginia. So at quarterback, this is a pretty easy one to start us off. Drew Aler will return as a second year starter in his junior season. I have Bo Pabula backing him up and true freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer at third string who is reportedly having a very nice offseason. Wide receiver Trey Wallace will start on the outside and will likely be the Lions wide receiver one this season, assuming he can stay healthy in the slot. And my projected wide receiver two is Liam Clifford. He appears to have turned a corner this all season and we should see a very productive season from cliff Junior cliff Number two whatever you want to call him. Sehan Clifford's younger brother is ready to step up and leave his own reputation here in State College, and I'm just gonna throw this out there as well. He'll likely line up in the slot in majority, but he'll play the boundary as well. Andy Kottlemickey is going to have all the receivers moving all over the field with pre stat motion, so it won't matter too much where they line up, at least on players where they have motion, which will be a lot. Then at wide receiver three, I think that's a position that's still up for grabs as we enter the ten day mark, as I'm recording this before the season. As of right now, I have Amari Evans beating out Julian Fleming to begin the season at wide receiver three, which will probably surprise a lot of people. A lot of you expected Julian Fleming to kind of come in and be the surefire wide receiver one. It's not gonna be the case. He is gonna have a tremendous impact on this room. He was brought in to be a leader of the room, which he reportedly has been and will be. He's a very good blocker. I believe he graded out as Ohio State's top run blocker last season, above all of the linemen on the team, so he'll be great blocking on the boundary. Downfield. He's gonna contribute, it's just not going to be the big play guy that's scoring a touchdown or two every game. And he may work his way into the starting rotation, but it's not looking like he's gonna start at West Virginia. He'll still contribute quite a bit though. He'll still play a ton of snaps, and so will others like Kyden Saunders, Tyser, Denmark, probably Anthony Ivy Penn. State's also going to have the running backs and tight ends heavily involved in that past game, a bunch of different in creative ways under Ak. Speaking of those running backs I have for the third year in a row. Now crazy to think they're juniors, but Nick Singleton and Khron Allen I have them once again splitting the starting reps at running back three. That's been a spot that's been actually up for grabs all all season. I think Cam Wallace is able to hold that down, but true freshman Quinton Martin will also get some snaps and potentially burn red shirt he came in. I think at about one hundred and ninety pounds, which is pretty light at six one and a half six to two, so he's filled out. I think he's up over two hundred now close, so he should be big enough to play. Whether he burns his red shirt or not, I don't know for sure, but I think he's kind of a yellow light guy right now where he has the potential to, but it's not a sure thing. Moving on to tight end, it's clearly gonna be Tyler Warren at that top spot who could be primed for an All American caliber season. Khalil Dinkins had some younger guys nip at his heels, but I think he holds onto that second spot. He should be a very nice threat in the receiving game this year. Then at three and four would be those said younger guys, Andrew Rapplier and true freshman Luke Reynolds, who are both future stars in the making. In my opinion, PSU just continues to progress toward a tight end factory pretty much as the years pass, and this season will be another strong example of that. Moving on to the O line, I'm just gonna go from left to right and list my five projected starters, So we have Drew Shelton at left tackle, Benga Joanne, the Washington native at left guard. I think Nick Dawkins wins the center job, Sal Wormley at right guard, and then Anthony Dunko beats out Nolan Rocchie at right tackle. Other guys that will play solid reps include Nolan Roucci and true freshman Egan Boyer at tackle, Cooper Cousins probably at all three interior spots, and then guys like Javin Williams and Jami Nelson will probably play as swing guys where they can play as tackle or move inside the guard. Now, as we approach the defense, we will start on the D line with defensive end. The two starters will be ab Dul Carter denied in the Sutton. That's been the expectation since pretty much at the beginning of the offseason. Backing them up will likely be a Mean Vanover who has quietly had a very nice offseason and Smith Vilbert. Speaking of Vilbert a little bit, he has put on some extra weight and the plan right now is to work him inside at three tech as well, but he'll also get his fair share of reps on the edge. He's now up to about six six and a half six seven and two hundred and ninety pounds. By the way, that is a very big human. He should be a fun one to watch this year. Another name that has generated a lot of buzz this offseason is true freshman Max Granville, and he actually graduated high school a year early and reclassified for those of you they might have missed that a little info nugget. So he's what seventeen or eighteen, and he seems to be primed for some legitimate reps already, so that should be a very exciting one to watch. He's a little bit smaller for DN. He's came in about six three two twenty five. I think he's gained a little bit of way since then. He's very twitched up. He's very quick off the edge. Already drawn comparisons to Chop Robinson, which can be dangerous to project someone to do that well. But if you're getting this projections, it's a good sign, especially that early in your college career. So I don't know if he'll spoil that red shirt, but expect to see number eighteen out there for some meaningful snaps in twenty twenty four. Moving into the interior, of the D line at the tackle. Penn State believes they once again have four guys who are starter quality, and I expect them to play all four quite a bit. It's pretty much that same four corps last year, Core four, four corep whatever you want to call it. As far as the two names who we see trot onto the field for that first defensive possession against West Virginia, I have Zane Durant and then the Von J Thomas. A lot of you know him as Devon Eli's. He actually changed his last name. I'm pretty sure he did a short interview on that if you want to look into why. And then the other two are Kaziah Izard and then HIKEM Beeman. Moving back to linebacker. We should see a lot of the four TOWO five formation from Tom Allen this season, so there will only be two linebackers on the field. A lot of the time. Have rising star Tony Rojas lining up next to Kobe King, who will play in the box as two starters. If they run a fourth ree set, I have Dom de Luca as the third guy out there, and I've heard in that situation they'll likely slide Tony over to play the will spot and then insert Dom at the sam and then Tamir Robinson has had a very nice offseason and I fully expect that Pittsburgh native to be the fourth guy up in that room. I think will probably suits him the best, so he would be relieving either Tony Rohas or maybe Don Dirugo. Next up, we have corner and a top guy appears to be emerging in that highly competitive room, and that is Georgia transfer and true sophomore aj Harris. Cam Miller has stepped up as well both on and off the field as a leader in recent months, and I have him penciled in as the second starter. And then I believe the two deep is rounded out by Florida transferred Jalen Kimber and then all Davey and Collins the four to three guy who transferred in from Mississippi State two years ago. Now. Also look for at Zion Tracy and Elliott Washington to see meaningful reps this season. They pretty much can go three deep that corner. They have six guys that they think can play legitimate reps. They can throw them in against pretty much any team, any group of receivers, and feel at least fairly confident about it. So that is a very deep and very talented room. Another unit that is absolutely loaded is the safeties, where I have kJ Winston Jr. And Zachy Wheatley leading the way. Jalen Reid will also be pretty much starter as they'll play a lot of three safety sets in that four two five. I think we'll see him play down in the box a lot, and he's always been a very smart and physical player, so the staff really likes read in that hybrid box roll where he can play a little bit of linebacker, a little bit of safety, just kind of wherever they need him on a play by play basis. So there you have it, my educated guests as to who you'll see take the field first in Week one against the West Virginia Mountaineers. So now let's shift toward my game by game record predictions.

Welcome back into the Penn State Pulse. I'm your host, Dylan Dawson. The long awaited season preview episode is finally here. Today. I'm going to dive into my predictions for the twenty twenty four Penn State football depth chart as well as the teams win lost totals. So I'm not gonna waste any time here. Let's dive right into it, beginning with my preseason depth chart productions as we close in on Game one at West Virginia. So at quarterback, this is a pretty easy one to start us off. Drew Aler will return as a second year starter in his junior season. I have Bo Pabula backing him up and true freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer at third string who is reportedly having a very nice offseason. Wide receiver Trey Wallace will start on the outside and will likely be the Lions wide receiver one this season, assuming he can stay healthy in the slot. And my projected wide receiver two is Liam Clifford. He appears to have turned a corner this all season and we should see a very productive season from cliff Junior cliff Number two whatever you want to call him. Sehan Clifford's younger brother is ready to step up and leave his own reputation here in State College, and I'm just gonna throw this out there as well. He'll likely line up in the slot in majority, but he'll play the boundary as well. Andy Kottlemickey is going to have all the receivers moving all over the field with pre stat motion, so it won't matter too much where they line up, at least on players where they have motion, which will be a lot. Then at wide receiver three, I think that's a position that's still up for grabs as we enter the ten day mark, as I'm recording this before the season. As of right now, I have Amari Evans beating out Julian Fleming to begin the season at wide receiver three, which will probably surprise a lot of people. A lot of you expected Julian Fleming to kind of come in and be the surefire wide receiver one. It's not gonna be the case. He is gonna have a tremendous impact on this room. He was brought in to be a leader of the room, which he reportedly has been and will be. He's a very good blocker. I believe he graded out as Ohio State's top run blocker last season, above all of the linemen on the team, so he'll be great blocking on the boundary. Downfield. He's gonna contribute, it's just not going to be the big play guy that's scoring a touchdown or two every game. And he may work his way into the starting rotation, but it's not looking like he's gonna start at West Virginia. He'll still contribute quite a bit though. He'll still play a ton of snaps, and so will others like Kyden Saunders, Tyser, Denmark, probably Anthony Ivy Penn. State's also going to have the running backs and tight ends heavily involved in that past game, a bunch of different in creative ways under Ak. Speaking of those running backs I have for the third year in a row. Now crazy to think they're juniors, but Nick Singleton and Khron Allen I have them once again splitting the starting reps at running back three. That's been a spot that's been actually up for grabs all all season. I think Cam Wallace is able to hold that down, but true freshman Quinton Martin will also get some snaps and potentially burn red shirt he came in. I think at about one hundred and ninety pounds, which is pretty light at six one and a half six to two, so he's filled out. I think he's up over two hundred now close, so he should be big enough to play. Whether he burns his red shirt or not, I don't know for sure, but I think he's kind of a yellow light guy right now where he has the potential to, but it's not a sure thing. Moving on to tight end, it's clearly gonna be Tyler Warren at that top spot who could be primed for an All American caliber season. Khalil Dinkins had some younger guys nip at his heels, but I think he holds onto that second spot. He should be a very nice threat in the receiving game this year. Then at three and four would be those said younger guys, Andrew Rapplier and true freshman Luke Reynolds, who are both future stars in the making. In my opinion, PSU just continues to progress toward a tight end factory pretty much as the years pass, and this season will be another strong example of that. Moving on to the O line, I'm just gonna go from left to right and list my five projected starters, So we have Drew Shelton at left tackle, Benga Joanne, the Washington native at left guard. I think Nick Dawkins wins the center job, Sal Wormley at right guard, and then Anthony Dunko beats out Nolan Rocchie at right tackle. Other guys that will play solid reps include Nolan Roucci and true freshman Egan Boyer at tackle, Cooper Cousins probably at all three interior spots, and then guys like Javin Williams and Jami Nelson will probably play as swing guys where they can play as tackle or move inside the guard. Now, as we approach the defense, we will start on the D line with defensive end. The two starters will be ab Dul Carter denied in the Sutton. That's been the expectation since pretty much at the beginning of the offseason. Backing them up will likely be a Mean Vanover who has quietly had a very nice offseason and Smith Vilbert. Speaking of Vilbert a little bit, he has put on some extra weight and the plan right now is to work him inside at three tech as well, but he'll also get his fair share of reps on the edge. He's now up to about six six and a half six seven and two hundred and ninety pounds. By the way, that is a very big human. He should be a fun one to watch this year. Another name that has generated a lot of buzz this offseason is true freshman Max Granville, and he actually graduated high school a year early and reclassified for those of you they might have missed that a little info nugget. So he's what seventeen or eighteen, and he seems to be primed for some legitimate reps already, so that should be a very exciting one to watch. He's a little bit smaller for DN. He's came in about six three two twenty five. I think he's gained a little bit of way since then. He's very twitched up. He's very quick off the edge. Already drawn comparisons to Chop Robinson, which can be dangerous to project someone to do that well. But if you're getting this projections, it's a good sign, especially that early in your college career. So I don't know if he'll spoil that red shirt, but expect to see number eighteen out there for some meaningful snaps in twenty twenty four. Moving into the interior, of the D line at the tackle. Penn State believes they once again have four guys who are starter quality, and I expect them to play all four quite a bit. It's pretty much that same four corps last year, Core four, four corep whatever you want to call it. As far as the two names who we see trot onto the field for that first defensive possession against West Virginia, I have Zane Durant and then the Von J Thomas. A lot of you know him as Devon Eli's. He actually changed his last name. I'm pretty sure he did a short interview on that if you want to look into why. And then the other two are Kaziah Izard and then HIKEM Beeman. Moving back to linebacker. We should see a lot of the four TOWO five formation from Tom Allen this season, so there will only be two linebackers on the field. A lot of the time. Have rising star Tony Rojas lining up next to Kobe King, who will play in the box as two starters. If they run a fourth ree set, I have Dom de Luca as the third guy out there, and I've heard in that situation they'll likely slide Tony over to play the will spot and then insert Dom at the sam and then Tamir Robinson has had a very nice offseason and I fully expect that Pittsburgh native to be the fourth guy up in that room. I think will probably suits him the best, so he would be relieving either Tony Rohas or maybe Don Dirugo. Next up, we have corner and a top guy appears to be emerging in that highly competitive room, and that is Georgia transfer and true sophomore aj Harris. Cam Miller has stepped up as well both on and off the field as a leader in recent months, and I have him penciled in as the second starter. And then I believe the two deep is rounded out by Florida transferred Jalen Kimber and then all Davey and Collins the four to three guy who transferred in from Mississippi State two years ago. Now. Also look for at Zion Tracy and Elliott Washington to see meaningful reps this season. They pretty much can go three deep that corner. They have six guys that they think can play legitimate reps. They can throw them in against pretty much any team, any group of receivers, and feel at least fairly confident about it. So that is a very deep and very talented room. Another unit that is absolutely loaded is the safeties, where I have kJ Winston Jr. And Zachy Wheatley leading the way. Jalen Reid will also be pretty much starter as they'll play a lot of three safety sets in that four two five. I think we'll see him play down in the box a lot, and he's always been a very smart and physical player, so the staff really likes read in that hybrid box roll where he can play a little bit of linebacker, a little bit of safety, just kind of wherever they need him on a play by play basis. So there you have it, my educated guests as to who you'll see take the field first in Week one against the West Virginia Mountaineers. So now let's shift toward my game by game record predictions.

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Of course, starting with that August thirty first matchup in Morgantown that is now approaching us very very quickly, so I think West Virginia gives Penn State some trouble early in that game, maybe a one score game or a tie game at halftime, but PSU is able to close it out. Don't see it being a very clean game from Penn State, as they are breaking in three new coordinators who are implementing different schemes. But PSU does get out of there with a win in my opinion, maybe by ten points fourteen points, and then moving on, Penn State's home opener is against Bowling Green September seventh, I believe, where they'll probably be thirty plus point favorites. Not too much to be said about this one. It should be a comfortable win, and then Penn State gets an early bye week after that, and then they go on to play Kent State in Beaver. It should be another snooze fest, but hopefully another game to learn more about some of the younger guys and the roster depth. And PSU closes out their non conference schedule with another comfortable win, and then, for the first time in eight nine years, the Nite Lions actually opened their conference play at home, where they'll be playing Illinois. We all know what happened last time Illinois came to Beaver Stadium, and I'd rather not suffer through something like that again. I'm sure the players and staff feel the same way, and PSU wins by two or three scores. Right Penn State closes out their streak of four home games in a row with their first game against a new conference member, and that is the UCLA Bruins. I think this would be a very interesting and pretty fun game to watch. UCLA should have an explosive offense. I think they have a really underrated quarterback in Ethan Gabers, but I don't see that UCLA defense making a quick enough turnaround to hang with a team like Penn State. In twenty twenty four, I think UCLA shows up ready to go, but PC gets to win in fairly comfortable style, and then the first game of a pretty brutal three game stretch is at usc A lot of people are very concerned about this matchup, but I think Andy Cottle Nicky will have the Penn State offense rolling. By this point in the season. Two things travel very well in college football, and that is defense and the run game. Penn State should be pretty strong in both categories and USC's defense won't be able to keep up. I think this one's somewhat of a excuse me, somewhat of a blowout, and Penn State makes it through the first half of the season undefeated at six to zero. Next after bye week number two, the Nitty Lions go to Madison to play Wisconsin on the road. I personally have this one. Peg does their second toughest game of the season. I think we start to see improvement from Luke Fickles offense, and this is probably a prime time kickoff in Camp Randall. It's not pretty, but Penn State gets out of there with a very close win, something like twenty three to twenty, twenty four to twenty, but they get it done. After that, PSU then has to close this three game stretch with a matchup against potentially the top team in college football this season, which will be the Ohio State buck guys in Beaver Stadium. There's a path to a Penn State win here, but I think OSU's offensive, offensive firepower excuse me, is too much to keep up with, and PSU drops their first game of the season to move to seven to one, but still squarely in the playoff picture. Penn State next will battle Washington in a November white out in Beaver. I think PSU will play this game with a lot of intention. It will play aggressively, and it's not very close from the beginning. I think something similar to last year's whiteout game against Iowa. That's what I see playing out. I think the Nittney Lions used that momentum to prompel themselves into a strong finish to the season in which they play at Purdue, at Minnesota, and at home versus Maryland to close it out. I think those are all three pretty comfortable wins and they're able to finish the season at eleven and one. I was very close through predicting ten and two with a loss at Wisconsin, which probably still would result in a Penn State playoff birth under James Franklin. But regardless, I do have PC making the twelve team college football playoff in a pretty strong season. Came down either ten or two, ten and two or eleven and one. I don't really see any other possibilities. I mean, maybe they'd slip up and lose a third, but probably not twelve and zero. But I'd say ten and two or eleven and one is very likely. I think they make the playoff. I'm pretty sure we'll see the offense take a step forward this season to where they look competent against the elaitue defenses. I think the defense probably takes a small step back, but it's still more than enough to keep this team in every game they play. That defense last year lost a ton of talent as well as maybe the best coordinator that this program has ever seen, in Many Diaz. He had them as a top five defense last year and most major categories, and that was just a ton of fun to watch. It's pretty hard to keep that up. I think Tom Allen will put out a great product, but probably not quite that caliber, at least in year one. So that is all I have for y'all today. I really hope you enjoyed your watch or enjoyed your Listen. Let's hope for eleven to one Penn State and India Lions in twenty twenty four. Maybe twelve and zero, probably not, but let's hope. So the season is just around the corner, so buckle in. I appreciate all of you and your support. Until next time, I'm your host, Dylan Dawson. Have a good one. H h

Of course, starting with that August thirty first matchup in Morgantown that is now approaching us very very quickly, so I think West Virginia gives Penn State some trouble early in that game, maybe a one score game or a tie game at halftime, but PSU is able to close it out. Don't see it being a very clean game from Penn State, as they are breaking in three new coordinators who are implementing different schemes. But PSU does get out of there with a win in my opinion, maybe by ten points fourteen points, and then moving on, Penn State's home opener is against Bowling Green September seventh, I believe, where they'll probably be thirty plus point favorites. Not too much to be said about this one. It should be a comfortable win, and then Penn State gets an early bye week after that, and then they go on to play Kent State in Beaver. It should be another snooze fest, but hopefully another game to learn more about some of the younger guys and the roster depth. And PSU closes out their non conference schedule with another comfortable win, and then, for the first time in eight nine years, the Nite Lions actually opened their conference play at home, where they'll be playing Illinois. We all know what happened last time Illinois came to Beaver Stadium, and I'd rather not suffer through something like that again. I'm sure the players and staff feel the same way, and PSU wins by two or three scores. Right Penn State closes out their streak of four home games in a row with their first game against a new conference member, and that is the UCLA Bruins. I think this would be a very interesting and pretty fun game to watch. UCLA should have an explosive offense. I think they have a really underrated quarterback in Ethan Gabers, but I don't see that UCLA defense making a quick enough turnaround to hang with a team like Penn State. In twenty twenty four, I think UCLA shows up ready to go, but PC gets to win in fairly comfortable style, and then the first game of a pretty brutal three game stretch is at usc A lot of people are very concerned about this matchup, but I think Andy Cottle Nicky will have the Penn State offense rolling. By this point in the season. Two things travel very well in college football, and that is defense and the run game. Penn State should be pretty strong in both categories and USC's defense won't be able to keep up. I think this one's somewhat of a excuse me, somewhat of a blowout, and Penn State makes it through the first half of the season undefeated at six to zero. Next after bye week number two, the Nitty Lions go to Madison to play Wisconsin on the road. I personally have this one. Peg does their second toughest game of the season. I think we start to see improvement from Luke Fickles offense, and this is probably a prime time kickoff in Camp Randall. It's not pretty, but Penn State gets out of there with a very close win, something like twenty three to twenty, twenty four to twenty, but they get it done. After that, PSU then has to close this three game stretch with a matchup against potentially the top team in college football this season, which will be the Ohio State buck guys in Beaver Stadium. There's a path to a Penn State win here, but I think OSU's offensive, offensive firepower excuse me, is too much to keep up with, and PSU drops their first game of the season to move to seven to one, but still squarely in the playoff picture. Penn State next will battle Washington in a November white out in Beaver. I think PSU will play this game with a lot of intention. It will play aggressively, and it's not very close from the beginning. I think something similar to last year's whiteout game against Iowa. That's what I see playing out. I think the Nittney Lions used that momentum to prompel themselves into a strong finish to the season in which they play at Purdue, at Minnesota, and at home versus Maryland to close it out. I think those are all three pretty comfortable wins and they're able to finish the season at eleven and one. I was very close through predicting ten and two with a loss at Wisconsin, which probably still would result in a Penn State playoff birth under James Franklin. But regardless, I do have PC making the twelve team college football playoff in a pretty strong season. Came down either ten or two, ten and two or eleven and one. I don't really see any other possibilities. I mean, maybe they'd slip up and lose a third, but probably not twelve and zero. But I'd say ten and two or eleven and one is very likely. I think they make the playoff. I'm pretty sure we'll see the offense take a step forward this season to where they look competent against the elaitue defenses. I think the defense probably takes a small step back, but it's still more than enough to keep this team in every game they play. That defense last year lost a ton of talent as well as maybe the best coordinator that this program has ever seen, in Many Diaz. He had them as a top five defense last year and most major categories, and that was just a ton of fun to watch. It's pretty hard to keep that up. I think Tom Allen will put out a great product, but probably not quite that caliber, at least in year one. So that is all I have for y'all today. I really hope you enjoyed your watch or enjoyed your Listen. Let's hope for eleven to one Penn State and India Lions in twenty twenty four. Maybe twelve and zero, probably not, but let's hope. So the season is just around the corner, so buckle in. I appreciate all of you and your support. Until next time, I'm your host, Dylan Dawson. Have a good one. H h