After a bit of a dead period following the Blue-White game, the last few days have brought about a flurry of activity in the world of Penn State football. Yesterday, Neiko Robinson, a Class of 2013 defensive back from the state of Florida, verbally committed to Penn State — the ninth verbal for next year’s recruiting class. Last Friday, O’Brien announced that Matt McGloin would be the starting quarterback. Today he went a step further, releasing his first official depth chart for the rest of the positions. Below is the depth chart in full with some notes and observations below that:

2012 PENN STATE DEPTH CHART
(As of June 5)

OFFENSE

Wide Receiver
8 Allen Robinson (6-3, 199, So/So) OR
81 Shawney Kersey (6-1, 199, Sr/Jr)
80 Matt Zanellato (6-3, 195, So/Fr)
85 Brandon Moseby-Felder (6-2, 188, Sr/Jr)

Left Tackle
76 Donovan Smith (6-5, 310, So/Fr)
70 Nate Cadogan (6-5, 283, Sr/Jr)
52 Luke Graham (6-4, 273, Jr/So)

Left Guard
65 Miles Dieffenbach (6-3, 286, Jr/So) OR
73 Marc Arcidiacono (6-4, 283, Sr/Jr)
66 Angelo Mangiro (6-3, 287, So/Fr)

Center
54 Matt Stankiewitch (6-3, 295, Sr/Sr)*
60 Ty Howle (6-0, 298, Gr/Jr)
66 Angelo Mangiro (6-3, 287, So/Fr) OR
62 Frank Figueroa (6-3, 303, Sr/Jr)

Right Guard
64 John Urschel (6-3, 287, Gr/Jr)
75 Eric Shrive (6-6, 312, Sr/Jr)
56 Anthony Alosi (6-4, 292, So/Fr)

Right Tackle
58 Adam Gress (6-6, 306, Sr/Jr)
78 Mike Farrell (6-6, 276, Sr/Sr)*
56 Anthony Alosi (6-4, 292, So/Fr)

Tight End – Y
89 Garry Gilliam (6-6, 277, Sr/Jr)
18 Jesse James (6-7, 265, Fr/Fr)
82 Matt Lehman (6-7, 247, Sr/Jr)

Tight End – F
87 Kyle Carter (6-3, 241, So/Fr)
10 Kevin Haplea (6-4, 248, Jr/Jr)
32 Dakota Royer (6-1, 223, Jr/So) OR
82 Brian Irvin (6-3, 241, Sr/Sr)*

Quarterback
11 Matt McGloin (6-1, 199, Gr/Sr)*
7 Paul Jones (6-3, 245, Jr/So)
1 Rob Bolden (6-3, 214, Jr/Jr)
2 Shane McGregor (6-1, 200, Sr/Sr)

Tailback
25 Silas Redd (5-10, 200, Jr/Jr)
5 Bill Belton (5-10, 196, So/So)
24 Derek Day (5-9, 195, Sr/Sr)
40 Zach Zwinak (6-1, 226, Jr/So)

Fullback
9 Michael Zordich (6-1, 242, Sr/Sr)

Wide Receiver
3 Devon Smith (5-7, 147, Sr/Sr)
15 Alex Kenney (6-0, 193, Jr/So)

Wide Receiver
19 Justin Brown (6-3, 209, Sr/Sr)
81 Shawney Kersey (6-1, 199, Sr/Jr)
17 Christian Kuntz (6-4, 222, Sr/Jr)

DEFENSE

Left End
90 Sean Stanley (6-1, 247, Sr/Sr)
86 C.J. Olaniyan (6-3, 250, Jr/So)
OR
31 Brad Bars (6-3, 237, Jr/So)

Left Tackle
47 Jordan Hill (6-1, 298, Sr/Sr)
84 Kyle Baublitz (6-5, 270, Jr/So)

Right Tackle
91 DaQuan Jones (6-3,317, Jr/Jr)
93 James Terry (6-3, 317, Sr/Sr)*

Right End
59 Pete Massaro (6-4, 263, Gr/Sr)*
18 Deion Barnes (6-4, 248, So/Fr)
OR
98 Anthony Zettel (6-5, 255, So/Fr)

Outside Linebacker
6 Gerald Hodges (6-2, 233,Sr/Sr)
43 Mike Hull (6-0, 213, Jr/So)

Middle Linebacker
40 Glenn Carson (6-3, 238, Jr/Jr)
OR
11 Khairi Fortt (6-2, 238, Jr/Jr)
33 Michael Yancich (6-2, 240,
Sr/Sr)*

Outside Linebacker
42 Michael Mauti (6-2, 239, Gr/Sr)*
38 Ben Kline (6-2, 224, So/Fr)

Left Cornerback
12 Stephon Morris (5-8, 188, Sr/Sr)
39 Jesse Della Valle (6-1, 187,
Jr/So)

Strong Safety
27 Jake Fagnano (6-0, 201, Sr/Sr)*
7 Stephen Obeng-Agyapong
(5-10, 201, Sr/Jr)

Free Safety
10 Malcolm Willis (5-11, 205,Sr/Jr)
13 Tim Buckley (6-0, 202, So/Fr)

Right Cornerback
4 Adrian Amos (6-0, 209, So/So)
OR
1 Derrick Thomas (6-0,181, Sr/Jr)

SPECIAL TEAMS

Punter
30 Anthony Fera (6-2, 220, Sr/Jr)

Kicker
30 Anthony Fera (6-2, 220, Sr/Jr)
97 Sam Ficken (6-3, 180, So/So)

Holder
11 Matt McGloin (6-1, 199, Gr/Sr)*
4 Evan Lewis (5-10, 173, Gr/Sr)

Kick Snapper
60 Ty Howle (6-0, 298, Gr/Jr)
57 Emery Etter (6-1, 223, Sr/Jr)

Kickoff Returners
4 Adrian Amos (6-0, 209, So/So)
5 Bill Belton (5-10, 196, So/So)
3 Devon Smith (5-7, 147, Sr/Sr)

Punt Returners
19 Justin Brown (6-3, 209, Sr/Sr)
5 Bill Belton (5-10, 196, So/So)

* Fifth-year senior

•  After seeing a lot of action at the safety position in the spring, sophomore Adrian Amos has returned to cornerback. While the starter at right cornerback is listed as him OR Derrick Thomas, Amos is too good not to consistently see the field once the season starts. He is also listed as the number one kick returner as the Nittany Lions look to replace the departed Chaz Powell.
• In a bit of a surprise, Jake Fagnano —  a redshirt senior out of Williamsport — is listed ahead of Stephen Obeng-Agyapong at the strong safety position. Malcolm Willis should have a pretty strong hold on the free safety spot, but the entire defensive backfield is worth monitoring when summer practice gets underway in August.
• Allen Robinson, who looked great in the Blue-White game, and Shawney Kersey will battle for the starting wide receiver spot opposite senior Justin Brown. Devon Smith is listed as the starter in the slot with Alex Kenney as the backup. Kenney could end up being pretty important given Smith’s legal situation.
• Redshirt freshman Donovan Smith looks to have the responsibly of protecting McGloin’s blindside. A hyped 2011 recruit out of Maryland, the Nittany Lions may have a fixture on their offensive line for the next four seasons.
• With a decent amount of depth along the defensive line, coach Larry Johnson should be able to do what he loves — play a team rotation with a lot of contributors. Pete Massaro and Sean Stanley will start at the defensive end positions, but C.J. Olaniyan and redshirt freshman Deion Barnes should crack the lineup at times.
• There is a bit of uncertainty at the middle linebacker position with the starter listed as Glenn Carson OR Khairi Fortt. Overall, this is the least of Penn State’s worries. Both will likely see time playing between stud outside linebackers Gerald Hodges and Michael Mauti.
• If this depth chart holds up, Anthony Fera will once again be a busy man in the fall. Fera is expected to be the punter and is also listed ahead of Sam Ficken for placekicking duties.
• One notable omission from the depth chart is running back Curtis Dukes. Dukes sat out spring ball to focus on academics and is still not listed. Bill Belton, who also looked great in the Blue-White game, is currently backing up Silas Redd.

Some spots including quarterback appear to be set in stone while other positions still have a lot of question marks. It may be tempting and easy to over-analyze this with kickoff against Ohio still 88 days away.

Much can still change, but a glimpse of what the offensive and defensive units could look like come September 1st has been provided. It beats talking about Jerry Sandusky, right?