There may not be a player on the offensive side of the football at Penn State with a better opportunity than wide receiver Alex Kenney this fall. The State College native has made moves up the depth chart since the new staff arrived in his hometown in January.
Kenney is penciled in as the starter in the slot.
This summer, the entire team has benefited from Craig Fitzgerald and the new Strength and Conditioning program.
"The summer has been very beneficial to us, we've been out here working hard and Coach Fitz has been tough but has us getting better every day," Kenney said.
Kenney missed the last two weeks of spring practice after spraining an ankle. While he was on the shelf, he had surgery to clear out debris from his knee. After a short rehab period, he's back in the weight room and doing all the runs in the offseason workout regimen.
"I'm 100 percent, ready to go," he said. "Hopefully camp goes well and I can see what I can do on Saturdays.
The redshirt sophomore explained what issues he had in his knee.
"They just found three cysts in my knee, there was no tear or structural damage or anything," he said. "They just removed the cysts. It took about a month for me to get back to 100 percent and since then it's been good."
Originally penciled in as the No. 2 guy in the slot behind Devon Smith, Kenney will likely assume a starting role when he returns to the practice field in August thanks in part to Smith's dismissal from the squad.
"It's really unfortunate that Devon is gone. He was someone who was a mentor to me," said Kenney. "I'm just thankful for the opportunity. Unfortunately it has to be in this situation, but I'm going to try to make the best of it."
With a new offense being added thanks to new head coach Bill O'Brien, Kenney is hoping to be one of the main beneficiaries.
"I can't say enough about it. It's going to be real exciting," he said. "I'm just thankful that I'm in the situation that I'm in with a great coaching staff, I'm just going to try to make the best of it."
