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Competition is spirited on Penn State offensive line

Predicting the performance of Penn State's offensive line this season may be impossible. But if there's one thing that's certain, it's that the Nittany Lions have many candidates and much competition for most of the five available starting spots.

Predicting the performance of Penn State's offensive line this season may be impossible. But if there's one thing that's certain, it's that the Nittany Lions have many candidates and much competition for most of the five available starting spots.

Having four starters back from a unit that struggled for the second straight season may not be tremendously encouraging. Position switches and a plethora of players who redshirted as freshmen in 2014 or 2015 also present some uncertainty. But coach James Franklin has relished the individual battles going on.

Four players are fighting for the two guard spots, and two more are competing at right tackle. The only spots where there is some sort of clear-cut advantage - left tackle and center - come from players who have changed positions from elsewhere on the line.

Redshirt junior Andrew Nelson, who missed four games last year with a knee injury, has moved from right tackle to left tackle. Fifth-year senior Brian Gaia, the most experienced lineman with 37 career games under his belt, is now a center after spending the previous two years at guard.

"Nellie right now, I think, is a guy that you can kind of pencil in as you'd think he'd be a starter," Franklin said Thursday on the Big Ten coaches call. "Gaia has transitioned really well to the center position from a leadership standpoint as well as production."

Defensive end Garrett Sickels, the only returning starting defensive lineman from last year, said he has seen great play from Nelson and Gaia.

"Andrew, obviously, he's a real veteran of that group, in his third year of starting coming up," Sickels said. "Brian Gaia is a veteran as well. The way those guys have played with coach [Matt] Limegrover and the confidence level that they have, they've been really impressive."

Limegrover, who spent the last five years at Minnesota, was hired last January as the Lions' new offensive line coach. One of his first responsibilities was to get his position group adjusted to the new no-huddle attack introduced by Joe Moorhead, who replaced John Donovan as offensive coordinator.

The Penn State offense truly needs a spark. The unit finished below 100th among the 127 FBS schools last season in points scored, rushing offense and total offense, and quarterbacks were sacked 39 times.

A particularly interesting battle is shaping up at left guard where one of the candidates is former Archbishop Wood star Ryan Bates. The 6-foot-4, 301-pound Bates "is playing really well, a redshirt freshman we've been excited about," Franklin said.

Steven Gonzalez, a 6-4, 339-pound redshirt freshman, is pushing Bates. At the other guard spot, senior Derek Dowrey and fourth-year junior Brendan Mahon are contending although Mahon has missed time recently with what Franklin called "a little bit of an injury."

Franklin said the 6-3, 333-pound Dowrey "maybe has improved as much as anybody on the offensive line."

Senior Paris Palmer, who started at left tackle last season, has moved over to the right side where he is competing with redshirt sophomore Noah Beh. Sterling Jenkins, a 6-8, 329-pound redshirt freshman, may be in the mix when preseason camp starts in August.

jjuliano@phillynews.com

@joejulesinq