Greg McElroy has taken the temperature of Penn State making the College Football Playoff in 2024. The ESPN analyst described the Nittany Lions as the second best team in the Big Ten, on paper.

The addition of Julian Fleming was a huge need, McElroy said, because the offense needed a dynamic weapon on the perimeter. The offense returns several other key pieces from Drew Allar to a 1-2 punch at running back and a dependable tight end. And while the departing offensive linemen are a big need to replace, McElroy is high on the coordinator hires in Tom Allen and Andy Kotelnicki.

With the coordinator turnover, losing only 6 players to the portal is “pretty dang sporty,” McElroy said.

“You have major difference makers at running back, you have Abdul Carter back at linebacker, which is one of the best players in the entire Big Ten,” he said. “They are well positioned to make a big step this year.”

The questions are to replace the offensive tackles, replace cornerbacks and make sure the new coordinators are comfortable, he said. McElroy said he’s very optimistic about Allen filling in for Manny Diaz.

As for the offense, McElroy noted that Kotelnicki’s offense at Kansas is not necessarily weird or wild, but the OC runs a “funky” offense that makes things very tricky for opponents.

“Andy Kotelnicki deserves a ton of credit for creating that creativity,” he said. “And making sure that the defensive coordinators are over there burning chalk on the sideline.”

It’s designed to be a triple option look, but overall made to create options and open matchups for the Nittany Lions.

McElroy projected a 10-2 season, and maybe an 11-1 mark with an upset at Southern Cal or at home against Ohio State.