Replacing TE Gesicki won’t be easy for PSU
But, while Gesicki looks as if he might be able to have an immediate impact in the NFL, it probably won’t be as significant as the one his departure will have on Penn State’s offense.
He isn’t the only playmaker who departed after last season — running back Saquon Barkley and wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton, the program’s all-time receptions leader, have moved on, as well — but plugging the hole Gesicki left in the lineup won’t be easy.
In fact, it might be more than one player can be expected to do.
“Where I think we can replace [Gesicki’s production] … is a group effort,” Rahne said. “Every single guy who went in there [on the first day of summer camp], and as I can envision them going in there, I see productivity and I see guys who can play in the Big Ten. I think that we have a very high-level tight end group and I’m very excited about it.”
One member of that unit is Nick Bowers, a Kittanning High School graduate who is 6 feet 4, 269 pounds.
He can offer at least one statistic that even Gesicki could not match: Every college catch Bowers has made has yielded a touchdown.
Mind you, there only has been one of those, as he pulled in a 15-yard toss from Tommy Stevens in a 56-44 victory Nov. 18, 2017 against Nebraska.
“That was a dream of mine growing up, to score a touchdown in Beaver Stadium,” Bowers said.
A redshirt season, injuries — and, probably, sitting behind Gesicki on the depth chart — have limited him to three appearances since he entered Penn State in 2015, but Bowers says he is healthy and ready to take on an expanded role, even if he doesn’t single-handedly replace Gesicki.
“This is probably the best I’ve felt in a long time, to be honest,” he said. “We have a lot of guys in the tight end room who are ready to take over that job.
“It might not be one guy; it might be one, two or three guys who go in and get reps during a game.”
Bowers will be competing with the likes of redshirt junior Jonathan Holland and redshirt sophomore Danny Dalton for playing time, and a couple of highly touted freshmen, Zack Kuntz and Pat Freiermuth, might force their way into the mix, too.
At the very least, the new rule allowing freshmen to appear in four games without losing a year of eligibility makes them serious candidates for work. Especially when both have made a solid early impression.