Few football coaches place a higher priority on the kicking game than Joe Paterno.

Few major-college teams have a shakier personnel situation at kicker and punter at the moment than Penn State.

"Yeah, I'm concerned about the kicking game until we kick a few," Paterno said at his press conference Tuesday.

"How big a drop off it is and how badly it's going to affect us, I don't know whether we'll know until we play a couple of games and see how some of these guys handle the pressure."

Junior Anthony Fera, a big-time recruit who originally committed to Michigan, was the Nittany Lions' punter and kickoff guy last year. He has a powerful leg and was a real weapon on kickoffs.

But Fera was cited for purchasing alcohol as a minor last spring, and had another alcohol-related arrest last month. He's suspended, although Paterno wouldn't say for how long Tuesday. He'll clearly miss Saturday's game/tuneup with Indiana State (noon, Beaver Stadium, Big Ten Network).

"Anthony got himself into a couple of jams, and he should know better," Paterno said. "And we're going to play that by ear. I told him I was going to sit him out. Make sure he understands he's got some responsibilities to himself, his family and to the squad and to the whole program."

The Lions have a true-freshman, scholarship kicker, Sam Ficken, but Ficken is not listed on the depth chart, which either means he has really struggled, or Joe just doesn't want to put a true freshman on the depth chart.

The current No. 1 kicker is former Gettysburg High School quarterback Evan Lewis, who's worked as wide receiver the last two years. The No. 1 punter is sophomore Alex Butterworth, who punted 12 times last season.

None of this matters much against Indiana State. All of it could matter a lot next week, when Alabama comes to Happy Valley.

More player/roster/depth chart news:

Curtis Drake: If healthy, Drake could be a critical big-play weapon as a receiver, runner or kick returner. But he missed the last two seasons with a broken leg, the same leg in the same spot in both cases.

Drake has been at practice, "running around," according to Joe, but has not seen contact in over a year. He will be tested by doctors today. If cleared, he'll begin fully practicing Monday.

He won't play Saturday. The Alabama game seems a long shot. After that, Drake should be back.

Linebackers: The Lions seem deep and strong here. Enough so that, factoring in a lack of depth up front on defense, some 3-4 alignments, or even occasionally using a 'backer as a standup defensive end, might make sense.

Not so, defensive coordinator Tom Bradley said last week.

"You're either a 4-3 team or a 3-4, and it's a big change," he said. "The responsibilities are completely different."

Bradley pointed to the 2009 season, when Penn State had three NFL draftees at LB (Sean Leed, Navorro Bowman and Josh Hull) but didn't get healthy until the last week of the regular season.

The defense then came up huge in wins over Michigan State and, in the Capital One Bowl, against LSU.

"We're trying to teach a lot of guys more than one position, so we can develop some depth," Bradley said.

The pulled hamstring that has slowed Dakota Royer, the redshirt-freshman LB from Manheim Central, may be more serious that once believed. Royer is not listed on the depth chart even though the chart goes three-deep at most positions, but only two-deep at the "Fritz" spot, where Royer has been working.

"He hasn't had any reps in like 15 days," Bradley said last week.

Tight end: Last year's presumptive starter, senior Andrew Szczerba, missed the entire season with a back injury. His replacement, then-freshman Garry Gilliam, will miss all of this year with a knee injury.

Soph Kevin Haplea, who played last year after Gilliam went down, is the backup. Szczerba is a big (6-6, 266) athletic kid with potential who, according to Paterno, "did whatever the medical people wanted him to, and now he's getting better every day."

Offensive line: The Lions aren't as unsettled here as you'd think. The one spot still up for grabs is right guard, between John Urschel and Johnnie Troutman. Otherwise, the starters will be Matt Stankewitch at center, Quinn Barham and Chima Okoli at tackles, DeOn'tate Pennell at left guard.

Other than third-year junior Urschel, all of those guys are in at least their fourth year, and all have played serious minutes. Most dropped excess weight in the offseason, and most can play one then one position.

"We've tried … to feel comfortable that if somebody went down, we had a backup guy at every position, that we were two deep on the offensive line," Paterno said Tuesday.

"I'm not so sure we are right now. We may be by the end of the week."

mgross@lnpnews.com