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Tommy Stevens and Ricky Slade may well line up next to each other in the backfield for the first snap of the season.
But between now and Penn State’s Aug. 31 opener, there’s plenty that could change at quarterback and running back.
The Nittany Lions opened spring practice on Wednesday looking to replace Trace McSorley and Miles Sanders, both of whom are back in Happy Valley getting ready to work out for pro scouts at Penn State’s pro day.
Stevens, the fifth-year senior signal-caller, isn’t 100 percent recovered from December foot surgery and will not get as many reps as he would otherwise.
“He will be able to participate. I don’t know if it’s going to be full-go,” Lions coach James Franklin said Wednesday before the first practice. “We’re dealing with our own doctors and trainers on campus but we’re also dealing — he had the surgery off campus. So we are communicating with his doctor, as well and trying to get everybody on the same page.
“At this point, he’ll be limited from the beginning of spring and depending how spring goes and how he’s documented, it could be full-go by the end of spring but I’m not sure of that yet.”
Stevens missed all of spring practice last year with the undisclosed injury, which initially left him in a walking boot and using a scooter to get around. It ultimately affected him for the rest of the year, causing him to miss a handful of games in the fall.
As it is, redshirt sophomore Sean Clifford and redshirt freshman Will Levis will end up getting some more time in the spotlight. How much more will depend on Stevens’ progress.
“Tommy understands it’s his turn now to step up,” Franklin said. “Sean feels that way, and I also don’t want to exclude Levis, because Levis is a guy we think is extremely talented, and he’s got to step up, too. I think we’re going to have really good competition at a lot of positions.”
That includes running back, which has become one of the higher-profile positions in the country again thanks to the success of Saquon Barkley and Sanders.
Slade, a former five-star recruit, has the most eyes on him headed into his sophomore season. But Franklin said Journey Brown is right at the top of the depth chart with him.
A redshirt sophomore who doubled as a record-setting track athlete in high school, Brown is actually the oldest tailback left on the team after the departures of Sanders and seniors Mark Allen and Johnathan Thomas.
“I think it’s probably (split),” Franklin said of the first-team duties. “I think Ricky has done some really nice things. I think Journey is also a guy we’ve been really excited about since the high school process when he rushed for over 700 yards and 10 touchdowns in a game. I would not be upset if he did that for us at some point this year or in his career.
“Journey’s always been really talented, but now a lot of these other things are falling into place to allow him to play with the confidence and the speed. … The guy’s got the ability, but all the other things are falling into place now that you are starting to see those things — his confidence, his understanding of what we are trying to do and why.”
True freshman Noah Cain is also in for the spring and he will be joined by fellow blue-chip recruit Devyn Ford in the summer.
Franklin also wanted to give credit to another running back, Lake-Lehman’s Nick Eury, whom he said “has done a tremendous job for us.”
Spring absences
A pair of underclassmen will not be with the Lions for spring ball for very different reasons.
Redshirt freshman offensive lineman Juice Scruggs is recovering from a car accident and redshirt sophomore wideout Mac Hippenhammer is spending the semester with Penn State’s baseball team.
Scruggs was a four-star recruit in the 2018 signing class and redshirted last season while playing in the regular season finale against Maryland. Prior to the accident, he was expected to compete for a spot on the two-deep at center and guard.
Franklin said he didn’t want to go into details of Scruggs’ situation out of respect for his family’s privacy.
“He’ll be out of spring ball,” Franklin said. “I didn’t want (reporters) wondering where he was at, and I (didn’t) want to answer this question in the press conference (before) I talked to Juice’s mom and talked to Juice and make sure they are comfortable with me releasing that personal information publically.”
As for Hippenhammer, this is the second spring he’s spent with the baseball team, as a key part of his recruitment was being able to play both sports at Penn State.
“That was always part of the conversation with Mac,” Franklin said. “He split time last year, which we all know is hard to do. It’s hard to just be a Penn State student alone, and then to try to do Penn State and football and school at the same time, that’s very challenging.
“So had a lot of discussions and he’s going to concentrate on baseball full-time this spring and had a lot of conversations with (baseball coach Rob) Cooper, and he’s doing a really nice job. … He’s Bo Jackson for us.”
That leaves the Lions with just five scholarship receivers for spring ball — returning starter KJ Hamler, Justin Shorter, Jahan Dotson, Cam Sullivan-Brown and Daniel George.
At least four more scholarship wideouts are projected to be in camp this summer, as Hippenhammer will be joined by incoming freshmen John Dumore and TJ Jones as well as grad transfer George Campbell.