"We become aware of the void as we fill it." -Antonio Porchia

I have absolutely no idea what this quote is from, or who Antonio Porchia is (Wikipedia tells me he was an Argentinian poet born in Conflenti, Italy which sounds like confetti). However, he appears to know about emptiness and how to fill it, so I gave him a BSD guest spot.

We have officially entered into the true down time of the year for football. The post-Super Bowl vibes have worn off (for non-Seahawks fans), spring practices have concluded, and spring games have all been played. Although the time period from now until August 30 will be filled with plenty of recruiting news, there will absolutely be a void in our football lives. Luckily for those reading this, you are loyal readers of Black Shoe Diaries. We are here to make sure that the next four months are filled with fun and exciting football stories to help prepare you for the upcoming season, and we're starting with a great one today.

Devon, Cari, Jared, Bill, and I all set out with a simple mission: to draft the most fearsome Penn State team possible using all time greats from our alma mater's past. The rules were simple, everyone must draft one player for each assigned position. The result was a few hours of trash talk, scolding people to make their pick, finding hidden gems, discovering new players from Penn State's history, and building the perfect team* from the ground up.

*Of course, only one team can be the best. That's for you to decide.

Team Edwards

# Pick Depth Chart 1 QB Kerry Collins QB: Kerry Collins DL: Bruce Clark 10 RB Larry Johnson RB: Larry Johnson DL: Michael Haynes 11 LB LaVar Arrington RB: Lenny Moore DL: Walker Lee Ashley 20 OL Jeff Hartings TE: Kyle Brady DL: Rosey Grier 21 DL Bruce Clark WR: O.J. McDuffie LB: LaVar Arrington 30 DB Kim Herring WR: Joe Jurevicius LB: Michael Mauti 31 DL Michael Haynes OL: Jeff Hartings LB: Ed O'Neil 40 OL Keith Dorney OL: Keith Dorney DB: Kim Herring 41 WR O.J. McDuffie OL: Chris Conlin DB: Brian Miller 50 TE Kyle Brady OL: Marco Rivera 51 LB Michael Mauti 60 DB Brian Miller FLEX: Dave Joyner K: Chris Bahr 61 RB Lenny Moore P: Jeremy Boone 70 LB Ed O'Neil 71 WR Joe Jurevicius 80 OL Chris Conlin 81 DL Walker Lee Ashley 90 DL Rosey Grier 91 K Chris Bahr 100 OL Marco Rivera 101 P Jeremy Boone 110 OL David Joyner


From the GM's Mouth:

I know, the readers are going to vote on which of us drafted the best team, but I really can't see how any of the other four GMs can even do their write-ups with a straight face. Sorry, guys, but my team's just too stacked to complete with. You want to talk pedigree? We've got 16 All-Americans, four of them two-time first-teamers, by far the most on both counts. Even my joke-flex was an All-American. We've got winners of almost every award they give out, from the Davey O'Brien to the Doak Walker to the Butkus, the Bednarik, the Lombardi, and Walter Camp. And the guys who aren't so decorated? They only include a 3-time all-Big Ten player, a couple guys who went on to be NFL Pro Bowlers, and arguably the best player in Penn State football history. We've got 11 first-round draft picks, and another 5 taken in the second or third round--including our freaking kicker. Other teams will tout their strong secondary, or defensive line, or running game. But we're well-rounded, representative of all the modern eras of Nittany Lion football, and, oh right, have an offense that none of these jabronis can even hope to contain.


With the first overall pick, I took Kerry Collins--he might not be the best player to ever don the white and blue, but he's the best Nittany Lion quarterback by a significant margin, and he's leading an offense as well suited for 2014 as 1994. Bill, god bless you for trying, but you're not slowing down this passing game. Collins is flanked by Larry Johnson, who, at his best, was better than any other Penn State rusher--need I remind you of his straight-up-redonkulous 2002 season?--and Lenny Moore, whose versatility in the passing-game gives him a leg up over every other RB2 anyone else took, and, oh right, is the guy Joe Paterno called "the best player I