In joining Charlie’s Top PSU moments, we’ve added another daily countdown feature here at quebecpenspinning. We’ll be measuring up the 50 most important players to Penn State’s success in the 2009 season. You may have noticed that we’ve slacked off a little lately, but expect a few double 15doses of Counting Down the Lions until we’re all caught up.

Checking in at #12 is a versatile playmaker who Penn State hopes will soften the blow of losing the multifaceted ability of Derrick Williams: Chaz Powell.

Number: 2
Position: Wide Receiver/Running Back/Kick Returner
Class: Redshirt Sophomore
Height: 6’1
Weight: 197
Hometown: New Freedom, PA
How’d He Get Here: No matter what anyone thought of Chaz Powell’s ability to transition to the college game, the one thing nobody expected was for Powell to end up as a wide receiver.  Now, he was scary good as an offensive player back in high school, but that was at running back, where he put up a senior season with almost 1600 all purpose yards and 16 touchdowns.  He made a lesser impact on defense, with 3 interceptions, but on special teams, Powell especially stood out, blocking 16 field goals, punts, and extra points over the course of his career.  Taking all three into account, Powell was named conference player of the year, and to the first-team All-State at the AAA level as a senior.  Powell became a nationally heralded recruit, and was ranked a 4-star prospect by Scout and Rivals (at cornerback and safety, respectively), and mulled scholarship offers from Ohio State, Boston College, Georgia, Maryland, and Purdue before settling on the Lions.
2008 Results: Once the coaching staff took notice of Powell’s big play ability with the ball in his hands, the decision was made to switch Chaz to the offensive side of the ball, and despite practicing at safety during his redshirt year, Powell played exclusively on offense in his freshman year in 2008.  While adjusting to the wide receiver position, Powell saw time in the kick return game, taking 9 kicks back for a 28.8 average, about 3 yards better than Derrick Williams’.  Used primarily as a gadget player, Powell had 8 carries on the season for 78 yards, taking 2 of them for touchdowns, and caught 2 balls for 37 yards.  Altogether, Powell ranked 6th on the Lions in all-purpose yards in 2008.
What to Expect in 2009: Powell will certainly be leaned upon more heavily in 2009 than he was a year ago, as he transitions from little-used gadget player to potential starter.  He should be the premier kick returner for the Nittany Lions in 2009, in addition to filling the Derrick Williams role, both running the ball and catching it in space.  Last year, Williams touched the ball 87 times, and while you wouldn’t expect all those touches to go to Powell, he could well see the majority, especially of the 43 carries Williams leaves behind.  We didn’t see much of Powell in the passing game, though, and that’s where he’ll have to improve significantly as Penn State breaks in an entirely new starting corps at the position.
Random Fact: Chaz Powell is inked probably more than any other player on the Penn State team, and the Hanover Evening Sun has a great story about all of Powell’s tattoos.  Here’s an excerpt:

After arriving at Penn State in the summer of 2007, Powell had the word, “Honor,” tattooed on the back of his left arm and “Respect” on the back of his right.

“You’ve got to honor your past and present,” he said, explaining. “You never can just go and do anything without knowing your past and present. Always respect people who mean a lot to you, like Joe Paterno. He’s really important to me … he’s a mentor, like a father figure to all of us.”

The Final Word: Chaz Powell will have to work hard to live up to the player he’s most often compared to, but if he can improve in the passing game, there’s no reason not to call him a Derrick Williams clone.  Hell, Powell himself invited plenty of the comparisons when he changed his jersey number from last year’s #12 to Williams’ former #2, and he’s sure to be utilized in such a way that our first thought will be that it’s Derrick Williams handling the ball.  With Penn State having to replace Deon Butler and Jordan Norwood, in addition to the aforementioned Williams, there will be plenty of touches to go around to whoever earns them, and Powell has just as good a chance as any to stand out in his first year as a starter, hopefully establishing himself as more than just a gadget player in the process.