The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: Where does Penn State football stand after 2023 season?

Penn State’s 2023 season came to a close Saturday when the Nittany Lions lost to the Ole Miss Rebels in the Peach Bowl, 38-25, and now it’s time to turn the page to next season.

Let’s take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly of where the program stands in 2024.

Good

Running backs: While it wasn’t necessarily good all season, it’s hard not to feel good about where Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton stand moving forward — not to mention incoming freshman Quinton Martin. Allen seemed to take over as the clear lead back in the middle of the season, but the way Singleton closed the year should inspire confidence that he’s going to be an elite back once again. It’s not a coincidence that his increase in production coincided with the change in offensive coordinator from Mike Yurcich to co-coordinators Ja’Juan Seider and Ty Howle. It became clear the rest of the way that the co-coordinators put an emphasis on getting Singleton into space and allowing him to make plays with his speed. He and Allen should form the best running back duo in the Big Ten next season, with Martin sprinkled in as a third runner. The trio should combine to form the best rushing attack in the conference.

Pass rush: Losing Adisa Isaac and Chop Robinson is going to hurt, but there’s reason to believe Penn State’s pass rush should still be elite next year. That starts with Dani Dennis-Sutton, who is entering his junior year, and has more upside than any other defender on the Nittany Lion roster. He’s dominant off the edge, using his length, strength and technique to dominate opposing offensive tackles. And to top it all off, he has a high motor. Dennis-Sutton has a chance to be the best player on the roster next season and his impact as a pass rusher should be elite. He’ll be paired with rotational players like Zuriah Fisher and Amin Vanover who can be impactful in their own right, along with sophomore Jameial Lyons, who has the athleticism to be a high end pass rusher. The wildcard here, of course, is Abdul Carter. He’s an excellent athlete who could potentially be used off the edge more this season.

Offensive coordinator: There aren’t many hires Penn State head coach James Franklin could have made that I would have thought higher of than Andy Kotelnicki. Hiring Kotelnicki as offensive coordinator is about as well as Franklin could have reasonably done and sets the offense up to succeed in a way that it hasn’t since Joe Moorhead was the leader of the unit in 2016 and 2017.

Kotelnicki brings a lot of creativity and should be able to tap into the upside that several of the Nittany Lions’ skill position players possess. That starts with Singleton and Allen, who are going to get the ball plenty in a scheme that should lean on the run, but it doesn’t end there. Tyler Warren’s size and strength should be a massive asset at tight end, while quarterback Drew Allar should be able to take shots downfield and have players available to him in the middle of the field in a way that he didn’t have this season.

Defensive coordinator: Not only was the offensive coordinator hire a strong one, so was the defensive coordinator. Tom Allen has the qualities Franklin targeted with the Manny Diaz hire before him — most notably he’s been a head coach before and runs a defense based in the 4-2-5. Allen’s scheme is different than Diaz’s but still features plenty of aggression and blitzing, with an increase in coverage disguises on the back end.

Allen hasn’t been a full-time coordinator since 2016, but has had a hand in Indiana’s defenses at various times since he became the head coach of the Hoosiers late in the 2016 season. He’ll have plenty of weapons to work with — like Dennis-Sutton up front and K.J. Winston at safety — and should be able to put together an elite unit, much like Diaz did during the 2023 season. It’s unlikely to look the same, but I fully expect the results to be similar for Penn State.

Bad

Drew Allar’s development: I don’t think Allar played poorly, but he didn’t take the steps forward that you would hope for someone as highly touted as he was as a recruit. He was better in limited action in his first season than he was in his second, and I don’t believe that just has to do with the small sample size of 2022. Allar appeared to be tentative to attempt tight window throws this season, one of the attributes that made him a five-star quarterback out of high school. He would sling those passes back then without worrying about the potential risks — trusting his arm talent to get the job done. While he should be a little more tentative in college because those windows are tighter and the defenders closing them are better and faster, it still shouldn’t have resulted in such a drastic change. Yes, throwing only two interceptions this year is obviously good, but it would have done Penn State well if Allar had taken a few more chances to make plays in the team’s biggest games.

Leadership: This might not be a clear-cut concern by the time fall camp rolls around, but right now the leadership next year isn’t clear. Dvon Ellies returning as a veteran at defensive tackle should help the cause on defense, and Dennis-Sutton has the attributes of a strong leader. But the leadership gets murkier on the other side of the ball. Allar, Singleton and Allen are all relatively quiet and tend to lead by example. Same with Warren at tight end. The wide receiver room severely lacked leadership this year and that’s one of the many reasons it struggled so mightily. Adding Julian Fleming should help that, but it’s more difficult to lead when it’s your first year in the program. Nick Dawkins is an option as a vocal leader at center if he starts, but there aren’t great options outside of him, and the team needs someone to fill that void on offense with Theo Johnson off to the NFL.

Ugly

Wide receivers: Shocker, I know. The position that was the biggest issue in 2023 looks like it might be the same in 2024. Now, adding Fleming will give the team a player who has a chance to be a No. 1 option and change the culture of the room, but that’s a lot to ask of a player who’s coming in, at most, eight months before the season starts. Dante Cephas departing and the unknown status of KeAndre Lambert-Smith puts the starting group into question even more, with only Harrison Wallace III as a reliable option that seems like a lock to return. That should lead the program to the portal for at least one more option at receiver, and potentially two if Lambert-Smith departs. If that doesn’t happen, players who have flashed big plays but lacked consistency — like Omari Evans and Kaden Saunders — will have to make strides this offseason in order for the room to improve.