Summer Session: Quarterbacks

Whether or not Penn State has the best 1-2 punch of quarterbacks in the league is a question that has been asked multiple times through the course of the spring.

The reality for the Nittany Lions, though, is that the question is a largely irrelevant one.

The combination of Trace McSorley and Tommy Stevens being better than, say, Michigan's Wilton Speight and John O’Korn proves nothing more than one team’s preparedness to handle the misfortune of injury than another. Certainly, Stevens’ versatility and proven threat running the ball creates an added dimension for Penn State and coordinator Joe Moorhead, but that’s not going to be anything more than a spice to the primary ingredients of the Lions’ offense.

Instead, the question most necessary to answer for Penn State is whether or not the primary combination of McSorley and Stevens can play well enough to beat the league’s best defenses. Though answers never fully reveal themselves until the season plays itself out, the Lions’ spring practice session offered a solid opportunity to gauge the team’s confidence in their abilities to do exactly that.

So let’s kick off a position-by-position look at where the Nittany Lions stand coming out of spring answering those questions, here:

QUARTERBACK

OBJECTIVES: There were two primary themes emanating from the mouth of head coach James Franklin regarding the quarterback position this spring:

The first was an expressed and established confidence in what Trace McSorley and Tommy Stevens bring to the table for the team at quarterback. The second was an oft-repeated message of reluctance at who will step to the forefront as the Nittany Lions’ third-stringer at the position.

WHAT’S CLEAR: Between the play-by-play of Penn State’s entire 2016 season and now the first-hand reports coming out of spring practice, there is a mountain of evidence to suggest McSorley is an extremely talented quarterback and, at this point, Stevens is not far behind.

McSorley, of course, backed up every off and on the record comment ever made about him before playing a snap at Penn State last season. Forgetting the stats and post-season accolades in guiding the Nittany Lions to new heights in 2016, the sheer number of game-changing plays and clutch performances set a remarkable standard of expectations for the season ahead. An absolute gamer, McSorley will be called upon for a repeat performance in the year ahead.

In the spring game though, Stevens was the story and put on the better performance a year after the reverse was true. McSorley completed 13 of 21 passes for 114 yards without a touchdown and one interception in the first half. Stevens, taking the reins in the second, hit 17 of 24 passes for 216 yards and three scores without an interception.

The stats aren’t important here in an otherwise acknowledged, meaningly spring scrimmage. What is, instead, is the opportunity for Franklin, other assistant coaches and teammates to all sing Stevens’ praises while in no way denigrating McSorley’s ownership of the starting role, captaincy and all its responsibility..

“I told you guys last year that that was a quarterback battle. Trace McSorley had a hell of a season and I get it. I know that everybody should be excited about Trace,” said Franklin. “I think we have two quarterbacks that we can win with, and I think you have to have that.”

The sentiment regarding Stevens’ qualifications was echoed by defensive coordinator Brent Pry, who spent the spring witnessing the redshirt sophomore’s development. Said Pry, “Tommy Stevens to me, and in 75 percent of the programs out there, he's a starter. He's a starter and a winner. The kid can spin the ball, he can run it, he's a take charge guy, he's a competitor. We're very fortunate to have him.

“You gotta remember he was still a young guy last July and Trace has a year on him, so Tommy is still growing. He's had a good spring. He's a competitor. I think that Joe has done a great job bringing both of those guys along.”

Armed with the knowledge of how to execute Moorhead’s offense, ample experience, dual-threat playmaking ability and ever-evolving leadership qualities, to have not just one but two quarterbacks sharing the attributes is a win-win for the Nittany Lions.

Nate Bauer

WHAT’S NOT: Franklin is a messaging enthusiast; he loves being on-point with his team, to the media and the public at large, and rarely does he make comments without a clear intention.

All of which is to say: the repeated challenging of Penn State’s depth at quarterback this spring was no mistake.

First he brought it up in one of the post-practice interview sessions he conducted with the media in March, then again in April, and maybe most pointedly following the Blue-White Game. Asked about Stevens and McSorley and confidence at the position following the game, Franklin seemed almost determined to express his hesitancy for the group’s depth, not just in experience, but rather in actual practice performances.

“What I would say is we need to have a number three quarterback, and number four quarterback,” said Franklin. “We have to create more depth there. We have to create more competition. I think that you need to have three.

“That is no disrespect to the guys that we have. Jake Zembiec, Michael Shuster and Billy Fessler are doing nice jobs developing. We have some guys coming in. But I do not think any of those guys are ready for prime time yet. They have a lot of work to do. I will have a meeting with those guys and I’ll challenge them to get better. I am glad that we have two guys that we feel good about.”

Zembiec played in the spring game, completing 2 of 8 passes for 14 yards, but the constant assault of the first-string defensive line against his mishmash of an offensive line left little room for showcasing talent.

The summer addition of four-star Sean Clifford could change the dynamic somewhat and bring about the competition Franklin is demanding, but the lingering takeaway from the spring remains the same. With elite aspirations for the program in the season ahead and the physical, bruising nature of playing the position - remarkably injury free for Penn State last season - this clearly is not a matter of Franklin being greedy, but instead is an area he feels must improve through the summer months.