Penn State opened one of its insanely early-morning (starting at 5:30 a.m.) workout-and-conditioning sessions to the media today. No, BPR was not on hand.
But, based on the take of media folk who were there, an observation or two:
Garry Gilliam, who announced yesterday he was moving from tight end to offensive line, indeed looked around 20 pounds heavier, and was working with the big uglies.
Nate Cadogan, a fifth-year senior in the fall and career underachiever, has moved from o-line to d-line.
There are obviously some holes to fill on the offensive front, and they are of course critical holes, but it’s not hard to imagine the 2013 line taking shape. Eric Shrive and John Urschel are fifth-year seniors at guard. Donovan Smith, the gifted redshirt soph, should start at one tackle. The center, replacing all-conference anchor Matt Stankiewitch, figures to be either Ty Howle or Miles Dieffenbach.
That leave a tackle spot open. Candidates include two well-regarded 2012 freshman who were not redshirted, Anthony Stanko and Wendy Laurent (listed as a center on the 2012 roster), along with r-soph Anthony Alosi and r-junior Bryan Davie.
If you’re an OL named Wendy, it seems to me, you better be tough.
The offense reportedly got much the better of the defense in one-on-one power-tug drills, including, for example, tight end Jesse James beating senior LB Glenn Carson.
Lions who have apparently slapped on noticeable muscle include RB Zack Zwinak, DBs Adrian Amos and Malcolm Willis, LB Glenn Carson, and TE Matt Lehman.
The star of the show in terms of physical appearance, by all accounts, was WR Allen Robinson, who was only Big Ten WR of the year last year and has apparently set sights on a Terrell Owens-type body.
According to Lions 24/7′s estimable Jeff Rice:
“Haven’t seen a set of traps like that on someone since Dwight Howard. If Robinson has more than 5 percent body fat, I’ll eat Sean (Fitz)’s Redskins hat. “
