Ben Brahmer\u2019s choice to go to Penn State this winter wasn\u2019t the first time he chose to be coached by Taylor Mouser after a staffing overhaul. Brahmer, one of the best players on Iowa State\u2019s team last season, likely wouldn\u2019t have been a Cyclone at all if not for another staff move when he was a recruit. The tight end is from Nebraska and was set to play for the hometown Cornhuskers.<\/p>\n
But then head coach Scott Frost was fired, Matt Rhule came in and Brahmer looked elsewhere. That\u2019s when Mouser, who was then Iowa State\u2019s tight ends coach, reached back out. \u201cOnce he did that, when Mouse reached out, we kind of knew that that was probably the better decision,\u201d Brahmer said. \u201cAnd I think I made a great decision to go in with that coaching staff and coming here.\u201d Now the second team All-Big 12 tight end is following his coach \u2014 who is now Penn State\u2019s offensive coordinator after holding the same role with Iowa State for two years \u2014 again. And he\u2019s primed to be a key piece for the Nittany Lions as Mouser shapes the offense in his vision.<\/p>\n
Brahmer is a long, athletic tight end who can excel as a pass catcher, but has also struggled with injuries at times during his career, in-season and in the offseason. That\u2019s why this spring is so important. If he\u2019s going to be a key part of the offense he\u2019s going to need to make the next steps in his development.<\/p>\n
And, for once, he has a chance to do that during the spring. \u201cBen has had a really good spring,\u201d head coach Matt Campbell said. \u201cHonestly this is the first offseason that Ben has truly had during his collegiate career. I think you see it, he\u2019s almost 258 right now in terms of body weight. He\u2019s as strong and physical as he\u2019s been. I really thought, so far, he\u2019s had a tremendous spring.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019ll help Brahmer but will also help the program. Because he\u2019s one of only a few healthy tight ends on the team this spring. He\u2019s going to have to soak up reps just for the offense to progress as it needs to as a whole. And that\u2019s opened up another opportunity for him. That\u2019s because, while he\u2019s an excellent receiver, Brahmer still has room to grow in other aspects of his game. And because there are players who are banged up in the position room \u2014 like Andrew Rappleyea, whose injury has him out for the spring \u2014 he will have more than enough reps to meet that challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a lot that I challenged him to grow in the run game,\u201d Mouser said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of opportunity to do things that maybe he wouldn\u2019t have gotten. I think when the reps are at a high level, it forces you to put those guys \u2014 and we can give different looks \u2014 to put those guys in positions to go fail or challenge them mentally where it\u2019s not so physical. Like today, we were running out there as coaches just trying to give them different looks, to force them to communicate.<\/p>\n
\u201d Brahmer will have to continue improving while helping the rest of the team get used to an offense he\u2019s familiar with. This is, after all, a group of returning Penn State players being combined with a group of Iowa State players and another group of incoming transfers from elsewhere.<\/p>\n
That kind of assimilation will require a lot of learning. And it\u2019s required Brahmer to adjust to a new role as a leader. \u201cIt\u2019s been really good, helping the guys that stayed here with the new offense,\u201d Brahmer said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt kind of lets me learn the whole thing over again and know all the exact details. … Helping guys out learning the playbook and showing them how to do certain techniques in the run game, in the pass game \u2014 it\u2019s been really fun for me doing that.\u201d The Penn State tight end\u2019s leadership will help \u2014 but so will his production this fall. That\u2019s when he and the rest of the offense will have a chance to take a big step. And prove this is the right group to correct the course for the program and get it back on track.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Why tight end Ben Brahmer will be a key piece in Penn State\u2019s offense this season Ben Brahmer\u2019s choice to go to Penn State this winter wasn\u2019t the first time … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":79856,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1764],"class_list":["post-79855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","tag-ben-brahmer"],"yoast_head":"\n