Penn State Football: 3 Things Christian Hackenberg Must Do Better

Colin Tansits — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:18:57 -0400

The future of Penn State football can potentially lie in the hands of soon-to-be freshman quarterback Christian Hackenberg.

The top-rated pocket passer by ESPN is coming into Happy Valley as the co-starter next to former junior college quarterback Tyler Ferguson.

There is little doubt which of the two signal-callers has more hype and potential coming into the 2013 season; it’s obviously Hackenberg. But like any young quarterback, there is much more to improvement to be made before he can earn his stripes and be named the starter.

It may be tough to pick out problems in Hackenberg’s game with his sharp release, strong arm and great accuracy.

Nonetheless, Hackenberg is nowhere near his ceiling in terms of raw tools.

Aside from building off his already strong arm, good release and accuracy, there are a few more things the young quarterback must do if he wants to start on this team.

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Penn State Depth Chart Lists Tyler Ferguson, Christian Hackenberg as Co No. 1 QB

Randy Chambers — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 13:55:28 -0400

As expected, Penn State will have plenty of questions to answer once fall camp arrives in August. The main position battle everybody is looking forward to is at quarterback. The Nittany Lions have no answer at the position, according to the latest depth chart provided by Go PSU Sports.

You can check out the full depth chart by clicking here.

The starting quarterback lists Tyler Ferguson OR Christian Hackenberg. This clearly means that there is a true quarterback duel set to take place in Happy Valley. It also means that the coaching staff thinks highly of the two new recruits.

Ferguson was one of the five early enrollees, and that time preparing has certainly paid off as head coach Bill O'Brien told Audrey Snyder of Penn Live back in May.

“We have one quarterback here on campus right now in Tyler Ferguson,” O’Brien said. “That's the guy that definitely has the lead going into training camp because he's been here for 15 practices and a lot of meetings.”

Ferguson also has college experience leaning his favor considering he is a JUCO transfer who spent time at the College of the Sequoias. But he will have his hands full with Hackenberg.

The 5-star quarterback (247Sports) obviously has his work cut out for him due to missing valuable reps by not enrolling early like his competition. However, he has the look of a traditional quarterback at 6'4", possesses tremendous arm strength, is athletic and has a nice, smooth delivery. Although Nittany Lions fans haven't seen him in person, he has generated some buzz off of his potential.

On film he looks like the total package and the coaching staff obviously believes the same. After all, it is quite rare that a true-freshman has the potential to earn the starting job from day one. Even being listed on the depth chart before he starts classes is saying something.

This will be mighty interesting once fall ball kicks off.

Another nugget that should earn your attention is seeing defensive tackle Austin Johnson behind Kyle Baublitz. Johnson is an athletic player who spent a lot of time on the basketball court. He had a solid spring practice but is still somewhat of an unknown due to lack of playing time.

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Penn State Football: 3 Things Christian Hackenberg Must Do Better

Penn State Depth Chart Lists Tyler Ferguson, Christian Hackenberg as Co No. 1 QB