UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — When Penn State’s offense gathers Tuesday nights with quarterback Christian Hackenberg at the front of the meeting room, it watches film to rehash teachable moments from last season and look ahead to the 2015 schedule.
“He’ll get in front of the whole offense and he’ll start going over this defense, going over that play, going over why that play didn’t work and things like that,” sophomore tight end Mike Gesicki said Saturday before the team’s annual Lift for Life event that raised more than $1 million since 2003 for the Kidney Cancer Association. “We’re doing everything that we possibly can to get better.”
Penn State’s player-led, 7-on-7 workouts are in full swing, and the freshman class made its debut in front of the Lift for Life crowd that gathered in the stands at the Penn State lacrosse field for the lifting exhibition and kids clinic. Fall camp is less than a month away, and while Hackenberg was not at the event because he is a counselor at the Manning Passing Academy in Louisiana, players said they’re seeing this offense take a step forward as they begin their second season with coach James Franklin and his staff.
Part of that step forward is because of young players such as sophomore receivers Chris Godwin and Saeed Blacknall. Last year they were thrown into the fire and learned on the fly. The same holds true for Gesicki, who laughed when thinking back to where he was last summer with his head spinning as he tried to acclimate to the daily demands of workouts, meetings, class and study hall.
“What’s been different is just the experience,” Godwin said. “My first year, everything was brand new. … I think this year for myself and Saeed and all the other second-year guys, it’s a comfort level that we’re going to show. I think we’re all getting comfortable with college football and the system.”
For redshirt sophomore tight end Adam Breneman, the summer workouts are a reminder of how he felt as a dominant high school junior before surgeries in his right and left knees. Breneman took a medical redshirt last season after knee surgery in the summer and was limited in spring practice. He missed his senior season in high school with an ACL tear, but showed promise as a freshman in 2013.
While Breneman is a different type of tight end than Gesicki, who was an oversized high school receiver, Franklin spoke with excitement last year about what this offense could do with a healthy Breneman.
When the team tested with strength coach Dwight Galt this summer, Breneman said his 40-yard dash time was in the low 4.6s, matching his best time when he was a healthy high schooler.
“I’m 100 percent. I feel as good as I’ve felt in a long time,” Breneman said. “I still haven’t played a game with this coaching staff, as weird as that sounds to me because I’ve been around them so much.
“This is the first time in a while where I feel like I’m good at football again.”
The biggest question surrounding Penn State’s offense is whether this offensive line will be better than the unit that surrendered 44 sacks last season. Junior-college transfer Paris Palmer is a candidate to replace Donovan Smith, who was drafted 34th overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Palmer, who at 6 feet 7, 278 pounds looked more like a power forward than a left tackle this spring, was noticeably bigger Saturday. Palmer’s acclimation to the strength program started when he enrolled in the winter and adjusted to a different type of lifting than he was used to at Scranton’s Lackawanna College.
Whether he or fellow left tackle candidate Chance Sorrell will be a reliable option this season remains to be seen. Until then, there will be plenty of Tuesday nights with Hackenberg upright at the front of the meeting room.
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NOTE — Sophomore safety Troy Apke had his left wrist in a cast, but said he will be fine for the season. Redshirt freshman defensive tackle Antoine White did not participate in the workout and was on crutches with his right foot in a boot.
Audrey Snyder: asnyder@post-gazette.com and Twitter @audsnyder4.
First Published: July 12, 2015, 4:00 a.m.