The Penn State Football Show

Personally, I was pretty dissapointed with this year's recruiting class. Obviously it's not a bad one, but it's not a great one either, and I was hoping for better. Hottel, I'm not quite sure what makes you think this is one of our "deepest" classes. Just because we signed a lot of players, doesn't make it a great class, that just means we had a lot of scholarships available to offer this year.

Shrive was a good pick-up, but O-linemen are impossible to project, so you never know. Newsome looks like a good kid, and was desperately needed, but I've seen videos of him, and he has a lot of work to do on his mechanics. He got away with a lot of things in high school he won't be able to get away with in college.

Justin Brown was a big pick up... literally. I love his size at 6'3, 210 lbs. The opportunity is there for any true freshman wide receiver to come in and play right away. I think Brown has the best shot, but we will have to wait and see. Hopefully someone steps up. I would have liked to see a 5-star WR choose Penn State based on the fact that all three WR are leaving, but that didn't exactly happen. But recruiting rankings don't mean much anyway, so hopefully someone steps up.

Beyond that, here are some overdue season awards:

Offensive Player of the year: Darryl Clark - exceeded everyone's expectations and played great almost the entire year. Had a great Rose Bowl and should be the best QB in the Big Ten for a second straight year in 2009.
OTHERS CONSIDERED: Evan Royster, AQ Shipley

Defensive Player of the year: Aaron Maybin - Came out of nowhere to record double digit sack. Went from being a backup to a first-round pick in a matter of months. He was a force all year and will be missed. Hopefully he continues to succeed at the next level.
OTHERS CONSIDERED: Navarro Bowman

Special Teams Player of hte year: Nathan Stupar - Played great in punt/kickoff coverage all year. Many tackles, a blocked punt or two. Just all over the place. May have to remain a special teamer for another year as he waits his turn at linebacker, but as long as he continues to produce on special teams, I'll be happy.
ALSO CONSIDERED: Derrick Williams, Kevin Kelly

Surprise Player of the year: Maybin. See above.
OTHERS CONSIDERED: Clark, Astorino

Dissapointment of the year: Maurice Evans: No doubt about this one. He came into the season as an All American and a sure-thing first round pick. He went on to get caught with pot, have a terrible season, and slide to a mid-to-late round pick. Despite all this, he still elected to leave school early and declare for the draft. Wow.
OTHERS CONSIDERED: Andrew Quarless- If it weren't for Evans, Quarless would have collected his second straight "Dissapointment of year' award and headed into 2009 as the odds on favorite to pick up a third. What a waste of talent.

Most Improved from 2007: Mark Rubin. Everyone, including myself, was worried about him starting this year. He ended up holding his own and had a pretty solid year at safety. He also turned in the play of the year for Penn State. L'chaim!
OTHERS CONSIDERED: Bowman, Sargeant, Cadogan

Most Improved throughout the season: Josh Hull. I have been harsh on this kid all year, but the truth is, he did get better as the year went along. With that being said, he still is not very good, and better not start next year.

Freshman of the year: Drew Astorino. Didn't play very much but made the most of it when he did. Not much playing time for freshman in general this year. Astorino will start for three years. Hopefully he improves each year, unlike Scirotto.
OTHERS CONSIDERED: Stephfon Green, Nate Stupar

Most Underrated: Tony Davis: Solid corner. Started for three years. Never got much recognition. He will be missed. One of my favorites.
OTHERS CONSIDERED: Dan Lawlor. Only started one year but did a great job blocking all year. Jared Odrick: Should be a first day draft pick next year. Didn't get much recognition until the end of the year. He's a player.

Most Overrated: Stephfon Green. Fumbled too much. Not reliable in short-yardage situations. He's fast, and can be a good weapon if used in the right way, but he has a lot to work on.

Will be missed most: Deon Butler. Let's hope that Chaz Powell can fill the role of D-Will and Graham Zug can fill the role of Norwood (and both will most likely be a big step down). We are still left without the deep threat that Butler provided. Wide Receiver is going to be interesting next season... So will the offensive line.
ALSO CONSIDERED: AQ Shipley, Rich Ohrenberger, Gerald Cadogan.

Assistant Coach of the Year: Larry Johnson- lost Chris Baker and Phil Taylor right before the season and still produced the best d-line in the Big Ten and one of the best in the country. Also recruited well yet again.
ALSO CONSIDERED: Bradley could have gotten this if not for the poor performance in the Rose Bowl- otherwise the defense was surprisingly great all year. Also, you have to admit Galen Hall and Jay Paterno did a good job with the offense, even as dumb as the whole "spread HD" thing was. It worked.

Players I am excited about for next year: Brett Brackett, Stefan Wisniewski, Drew Astornio, D'Anton Lynn, Michael Mauti, Jack Crawford, Evan Royster, Chaz Powell