With spring practice and the Blue-White Game in their rearview mirror, Penn State's football coaches will have the early summer to evaluate and tweak the Nittany Lions' lineup.

Some things are, of course, sure things. Like Anthony Morelli at quarterback and Derrick Williams, Deon Butler and Jordan Norwood at wide receiver.

You can certainly add Dan Connor to that list at linebacker, but just where Connor will line up might not be known until Penn State's defense takes the field for its first series against Florida International on Sept. 1.

It's generally assumed that Connor will move from weakside outside linebacker, or the "Fritz" position, to the middle, replacing the graduated Paul Posluszny.

But to borrow college football analyst Lee Corso's crutch phrase, "Not so fast, my friend."

Penn State appears to have a decent stable of linebackers and the coaches used spring practice and the Blue-White Game to sort out their options.

True, Connor is a good bet to land at middle linebacker, a position he played at Strath Haven High School. He even put on 10 pounds of muscle in anticipation of the move because the middle 'backer gets hit a lot more than the outside 'backers do.

"We're not etched in to playing Dan Connor in the middle," said Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley, on a recent visit to Lancaster. "We can always move Dan back out. Right now, we're not planning to do that. We have enough versatility to move our other linebackers around because of what those guys can do."

Connor had 113 tackles last season, second only to Posluszny's 116.

Sean Lee figures to return as the strongside linebacker, and the battle to be Connor's successor at the "Fritz" spot continues.

Tyrell Sales has the most game experience and didn't do anything to harm his chances with an 11-tackle performance in the Blue-White Game.

Redshirt freshman Navarro Bowman will also be highly considered at the "Fritz." He had four tackles in the Blue-White Game.

"Navarro is a very aggressive player," Bradley said. "He sees the flow of the game well. He just needs experience."

Also being considered are Jerome Hayes, who played middle linebacker on the White team (since Connor was on the Blue) and Bani Gbadyu.

While all played well, Bradley said none got an edge coming out of the practice game.

"Not really," he said. "One of the things we did was move people around a lot, so we could take a good look a different people."

As far as moving players around goes, Jared Odrick is being penciled in at left tackle, moving in from the left defensive end spot he played last season.

The sophomore Lebanon High product was listed at 291 pounds, up from the 280 he weighed heading into the Outback Bowl.

"I think that went well," said Bradley on Odrick's play in the Blue-White. "I think he gives us a big guy if we have to put him back on the edge. He's no worse for the wear if he has to play inside."

Shifting Odrick inside gives Penn State more quickness inside while not having to sacrifice much in the way of bulk.

"When we get into our different looks, he could end up on the edge of a tackle anyway, so we know he can do that," Bradley said. "All we're trying to do is get our best guys on the field. That's the bottom line. We don't want to play a backup someplace where we feel we have two No. 1s."

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Bradley was the guest at the Lancaster County Chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association's annual golf outing. The club raises money for a Penn State scholarship fund. Each year, the club awards five $1,000 scholarships to students in Lancaster County. The club hopes to make it six scholarships a year soon.

At this year's outing, the club raised $4,800 for the scholarship fund.

Also this year, the club raised money to help offset medical expenses for former Penn State fullback Steve Smith, a starter on the '86 national championship team, who is battling Lou Gehrig's disease. A silent auction of sports memorabilia and other items was held on Smith's behalf and raised $1,820.

"Steve was one of the toughest competitors we've ever had at Penn State," Bradley said.

E-mail: kfreeman@lnpnews.com