I'm excited about the upcoming season. With a new coach and the aforementioned, Penn State should be in the mix for a competitive season and hopefully make the playoffs.
With Quinton Martin Jr. at RB and the O-line returning.....
- Thread starter Mr. Potter
- Start date
Maybe they should put names on the jerseys this year only.
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As an avowed Penn State traditionalist, that would be considered blasphemy.
No tinkering with our historical, tradition laden uniform!
Just let the Iowa St kids wear their ISU helmets
How can you rank Martin when BGJ never played him? I think he played in the bowl game part-time splitting carries and went over 100 yards.
Martin was great in the bowl game. I'm not saying he's the third best back--I'm saying he'll start the year 3rd on the depth chart behind the guys we added via the portal. Hasnen and People didn't come here without some type of assurances IMO.
I just hope Martin doesn't leave before the deadline
The best back will play. Unknown who that is in January. Martin played well against Clemson with their best defensive players opting out. Dollars to donuts Campbell is not one to promise anything except a paycheck and an opportunity to compete. Hansen is a very good back without breakaway speed, so Peoples and Martin should both have work depending on how they practice and compete.
If Campbell is the coach I think he is. He'll start the year at spot 1A, 1B or 1C and all three of those kids will fight it out. There will be no such thing as "third on the depth chart" and I would hope that is done at a lot of positions. There are some ISU kids that started that are going to backups. That's a given. Hanson is going to have a very hard time being RB1. Both Peoples and Martin are more explosive backs, maybe he's a better pass blocker, but even getting downfield out of the backfield as a receiving threat was one of the things that supposedly made Martin special as a HS recruit.
Frankly, based on his HS stuff. Martin is probably the most talented of the three, but Singleton was more talented than Allen and wasn't near the back. Martins biggest problem regarding him being rated in HS is that a lot of the recruitniks thought he might be better as a slot than a running back. It actually knocked him down a peg and he was still a top 100 recruit.
I don't think any coach is "that" coach in 2026. Do you truly believe Hansen and People came here without any assurances? Especially Hansen who is established? Maybe Peoples. I don't get the obsession with "explosive backs"--Allen wasn't "explosive" and us not playing him as the RB1 was a huge mistake. Hansen absolutely is better in pass protection and his production isn't hypothetical. He's proven he's capable while the other 2 haven't.
100% some ISU kids are going to be backups--they signed knowing that.
None of this is anti-Martin. I like Q and hope he has a ton of success. I'm just not convinced he's going to be here in a week.
I think both Peoples and Hanson knew when they came here they were competing with Martin for reps. Anymore two guys are going to get them and one guy isn't going to get many. Guys like Hanson and Peoples want a guarenteed starting spot. Go down to FCS, neither has shown that regarding big boy football they are guarenteed starters. This isn't ISU anymore, this is a team that is thinking playoffs most years.
Just a gut feeling, it will be the best two that play. Based on how Martin ran in limited space against Clemson. He's going to be hard to keep off the field. Especially if he shows in practice that he is better than both in the open field, and he probably is. The way he ran against Clemson was shocking to me. Quick into the hole decisive and he always fell forward. He looked a lot like Allen, and I didn't expect that.
Just a gut feeling, it will be the best two that play. Based on how Martin ran in limited space against Clemson. He's going to be hard to keep off the field. Especially if he shows in practice that he is better than both in the open field, and he probably is. The way he ran against Clemson was shocking to me. Quick into the hole decisive and he always fell forward. He looked a lot like Allen, and I didn't expect that.
You really dont think coaches try to put the best players on the field.
Becht is pretty much guaranteed to start. A lot of others probably know they are going to start, but I doubt any of them were guaranteed anything other than you will have to produce. If a depth chart looks good for a kid, the kid can see it.
Peoples/Hanson probably both think they can play, but they are crazy if the didn't watch the PSU bowl game and understand the kid doing what Martin was doing was high 4 star recruit. I bet Peoples knew Martin rated above him coming out of HS.
I think all players use the portal to get the guys they think are the best and that includes making them promises. Hansen didn't come here for a year to "maybe get playing time".
Martin did that against Clemson's backups and third string--he was impressive but let's not pretend somehow that makes him the next Barkley or KiJana or Mitchell or Moore or Franco. Both Peoples and especially Hanssen have proven more.
It's going to be very difficult for Martin to get many carries but maybe the plan is to use him in a variety of ways
I know several people on these portal threads are adamant about “guarantees to play” to players portaling in. That doesn’t seem necessary when you’re paying the kid. Wouldn’t the money imply the level of expected playing time? If you’re getting an offer at the top end for your position - the team is saying, “We think you’re going to play a lot.” Unless programs are now paying kids top dollar to come and sit just so another team can’t have them - and I don’t think we’re there yet. I just can’t see a coach playing an inferior player because he “guaranteed” him he would start. The coach needs to win to keep his job. Generally, that’s tough to do when you don’t play your best players. At this point, would some of these kids even care if some team was dumb enough to write them a huge paycheck to not start?
I think Martin and Peoples do a split back and Hanson gets a good number of carries as well similar to how we used Potts a few years ago.
I think Hanson gets more than what Potts got. He is an excellent change of back who is a battering ram, like Judkins was at OSU. Peoples and Martin are not hammers,
Penn state is not your team. You were team Paterno. You won't be happy til Joe's corpse is propped up on the sidelines.
Hansen is likely the RB1 going into the season with Martin and Peoples duking it out for RB2 but I'd expect all three to get a decent shot and a decent amount of carries in the early season against the cupcakes. And ideally the players who is most effective will start getting more carries.
Be a little more fair to Martin. No argument about who he played against, but he gets real credit for running behind a line with 4 new starters, 3 if you consider Cooper a starter anyway. Shanahan? He wasn’t effective enough to hold his spot….seemed more like one of those starters BGJ was using as a poster child to transfers showing if they come, they play.
I thought Martin was great in the game and hope he stays. Hanson is just a complete back that knows the scheme and Campbell trusts him. He'll be RB1...might be 3 guys that split carries but Hanson is the safest...much like Allen
Hansen would be safest and probably knows the blocking schemes to help out.