After losing stalwarts like Jason Cabinda, Grant Haley, Marcus Allen, and Troy Apke, spring practice gave Penn State football’s coaching staff its first look at players who can potentially fill those gaps and make an impact next season.

With two openings at safety, captain Nick Scott is almost guaranteed to fill one. But the competition for the other has been wide open throughout spring practice. Garrett Taylor, a redshirt junior who appeared in all 13 games last season, should be a favorite for the job after putting together a solid spring.

Originally recruited as a cornerback, Taylor made the transition to safety following his redshirt freshman season.

“It went okay at first,” Taylor said. “As a safety, you have to know a lot more of the defense in terms of what the linebackers are doing and what the defensive line is doing. In terms of physical play, it went pretty smooth. I think I’m further along now just because I’m playing faster and not worrying about calls and stuff.”

While Taylor got plenty of reps in the spring, his game isn’t perfect quite yet — he wants to improve his consistency and technique in tackling when training camp begins later this summer, especially after a quiet spring game with just two tackles.

“Some days I’ll cover well, and other days I’ll get sloppy with my technique,” he said. “Today I think I had a little too many missed tackles, so making sure I’m consistent with my tackling is something [safeties coach Tim Banks] wants to see.”

The high reps Taylor saw during spring ball helped improve his skills in coverage, which have allowed him to play faster and be more confident on defense.

“I think I’ve improved most in coverage,” he said. “In man and zone, just being able to read the quarterback and make a break on the ball. I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable with that, and that’s allowed me to play a lot faster.”

While next season’s secondary might lack experience, it helps that these players learned from a trio of seniors who elevated the Nittany Lions back to the top 20 nationally in total defense.

For Taylor, it’s not just what those guys did on the field, but also the guidance they provided.

“I learned a lot [from Allen, Apke, and Haley],” he said. “Not only playing and running the defense, but they made sure to help the younger guys like me, JP [John Petrishen], [Jonathan] Sutherland. They did a really good job to make sure we knew the ins and outs.”