The time between spring practices and preseason training camp often features a bit of a lull for Penn State football and its fans. However, there was a bit of excitement yesterday, as Bill O’Brien released his post-spring practice depth chart for the 2013 season.

Of course, the eyes automatically drift to the QB battle between Tyler Ferguson and Christian Hackenberg. With the departure of Steven Bench, O’Brien has said that the QB battle will come down to one of those two, and he’s making it a point to keep it that way on the depth chart. While Ferguson was impressive during the Spring Game (9-15, 90 yards, 2 TD’s), Hackenberg is the five-star quarterback prospect and will be given every chance to win the job.

There aren’t many surprises on the offensive line — which boasts three fifth-year seniors — or at the skill positions. Really, aside from the QB battle and maybe Adam Breneman being listed as third at the TE-Y/F, there isn’t all that much on offense that we didn’t already know. One thing to possibly look out for is at right tackle, which is currently occupied by Adam Gress. Gress struggled at times last year and may be pushed by either Eric Shrive or Garry Gilliam for reps at RT.

On defense, the secondary has a few things that make people raise their eyebrows. Adrian Amos, an All-Big Ten honorable mention at cornerback last season, moved back to his freshman position of safety. This switch puts last year’s starting safety/one of last season’s biggest surprises, Stephen Obeng-Agyapong, as second on the depth chart. Now, the cornerbacks are converted WR Trevor Williams (who was impressive during Blue-White) and Jordan Lucas.

The linebackers are pretty much what everyone expected, although look for Ben Kline to possibly eat into Nyeem Wartman’s snaps at times. The defensive line is loaded, per usual, with DaQuan Jones and All-Big Ten honorable mention Deion Barnes anchoring the unit.

On special teams, we already knew that Alex Butterworth would be punting, Sam Ficken would be kicking, Ryan Keiser would be holding and Jesse Della Valle would return punts. While Bill Belton is listed as the primary kick returner, O’Brien showed last year that he isn’t opposed to using multiple returners throughout the season (see: Hodges, Gerald). Glenn Carson will be handling the snaps for punts and Ty Howle will take care of snaps for PAT’s and FG’s.

Here’s the full depth chart:

(As of June 13)

OFFENSE

Center

60 Ty Howle* (6-0, 292, Gr/Sr)

66 Angelo Mangiro (6-3, 303, Jr/Sr) OR

55 Wendy Laurent (6-2, 283, So/Fr)

Right Guard

64 John Urschel* (6-3, 307, Gr/Sr)

66 Angelo Mangiro (6-3, 303, Jr/Sr) OR

56 Anthony Alosi (6-4, 280, Jr/Sr)

Right Tackle

58 Adam Gress* (6-6, 317, Gr/Sr)

75 Eric Shrive* (6-6, 317, Sr/Sr)

79 Kevin Blanchard (6-7, 295, Jr/So)

Left Guard

65 Miles Dieffenbach (6-3, 297, Sr/Jr)

66 Angelo Mangiro (6-3, 303, Jr/Sr)

68 Bryan Davie (6-3, 284, Sr/Jr)

Left Tackle

76 Donovan Smith (6-5, 327, Jr/So)

77 Garry Gilliam* (6-6, 305, Sr/Jr)

Quarterback

5 Tyler Ferguson (6-3, 213, So/So) OR

14 Christian Hackenberg (6-3, 218, Fr/Fr)

17 D.J. Crook (6-1, 206, Fr/Fr)

3 Austin Whipple (6-1, 190, Fr/Fr)

Running Back

28 Zach Zwinak (6-1, 240, Sr/Jr)

1 Bill Belton (5-10, 205, Jr/Jr)

22 Akeel Lynch (6-0, 214, So/Fr)

36 Deron Thompson (5-10, 198, Jr/So)

Fullback

35 Pat Zerbe* (6-1, 231, Sr/Sr)

34 Dominic Salomone (5-10, 230, So/Fr)

Tight End – Y

18 Jesse James (6-7, 249, So/So)

84 Matt Lehman* (6-6, 260, Sr/Sr)

Tight End – Y/F

87 Kyle Carter (6-3, 244, Jr/So)

11 Brent Wilkerson (6-3, 245, So/Fr)

81 Adam Breneman (6-4, 235, Fr/Fr)

Wide Receiver

8 Allen Robinson (6-3, 211, Jr/Jr)

7 Eugene Lewis (6-1, 201, So/Fr)

88 Jonathan Warner (6-1, 196, So/Fr)

Wide Receiver

85 Brandon Moseby-Felder* (6-2, 199, Sr/Sr)

80 Matt Zanellato (6-3, 202, Jr/So)

15 Alex Kenney (6-0, 194, Sr/Jr)

19 Richy Anderson (5-11, 171, Fr/Fr)

 

DEFENSE

Defensive End

86 C.J. Olaniyan (6-3, 251, Sr/Jr)

31 Brad Bars (6-3, 248, Sr/Jr)

94 Evan Schwan (6-6, 242, So/Fr)

Defensive Tackle

91 DaQuan Jones (6-3, 318, Sr/Sr)

53 Derek Dowrey (6-3, 308, So/Fr)

88 Tyrone Smith (6-4, 265, Sr/Jr)

Defensive Tackle

84 Kyle Baublitz (6-5, 286, Sr/Jr)

99 Austin Johnson (6-4, 297, So/Fr)

72 Brian Gaia (6-3, 279, So/Fr)

Defensive End

18 Deion Barnes (6-4, 249, Jr/So)

98 Anthony Zettel (6-5, 257, Jr/So)

Outside Linebacker

43 Mike Hull (6-0, 226, Sr/Jr)

38 Ben Kline (6-2, 227, Jr/So)

Middle Linebakcer

40 Glenn Carson (6-3, 240, Gr/Sr)

8 Gary Wooten (6-2, 233, So/Fr)

Outside Linebacker

5 Nyeem Wartman (6-1, 240, So/Fr)

30 Charles Idemudia (5-11, 235, So/Fr)

Cornerback

10 Trevor Williams (6-1, 189, So/So)

24 Anthony Smith (6-0, 187, Fr/Fr) OR

12 Jordan Smith (5-11, 184, Fr/Fr)

Safety

Malcolm Willis* (5-11, 213, Gr/Sr) OR

23 Ryan Keiser (6-1, 205, Sr/Jr)

39 Jesse Della Valle (6-1, 194, Jr/Sr)

2 Jake Kiley (6-0, 176, So/Fr)

Safety

Adrian Amos (6-0, 211, Jr/Jr)

Stephen Obeng-Agyapong* (5-10, 207, Gr/Sr)

6 Malik Golden (6-1, 193, So/Fr)

Cornerback

9 Jordan Lucas (6-0, 192, So/So)

3 Da’Quan Davis (5-10, 164, So/So)

16 Devin Pryor (5-10, 171, Jr/So)

 

SPECIAL TEAMS

Punter

45 Alex Butterworth (5-10, 206, Sr/Sr)

Kicker

97 Sam Ficken (6-2, 183, Jr/Jr)

Holder

23 Ryan Keiser (6-1, 205, Sr/Jr)

45 Alex Butterworth (5-10, 206, Sr/Sr)

Kick Snapper

40 Glenn Carson (6-3, 240, Gr/Sr) (Punt)

60 Ty Howle* (6-0, 292, Gr/Sr) (PAT/FG)

Kickoff Returners

1 Bill Belton (5-10, 205, Jr/Jr)

15 Alex Kenney (6-0, 194, Sr/Jr)

22 Akeel Lynch (6-0, 214, So/Fr)

19 Richy Anderson (5-11, 171, Fr/Fr)

10 Trevor Williams (6-1, 189, So/So)

7 Eugene Lewis (6-1, 201, So/Fr)

Punt Returners

39 Jesse Della Valle (6-1, 194, Sr/Jr)

19 Richy Anderson (5-11, 171, Fr/Fr)

1 Bill Belton (5-10, 205, Jr/Jr)

10 Trevor Williams (6-1, 189, So/So)

* — Denotes a fifth-year senior