It's not fair to pin the success of an entire season on a single position.

But it's not unreasonable to say that things could go a lot better if it's figured out sooner rather than later.

And that's the situation that Penn State is facing just a week into training camp. To bring junior college transfer Paris Palmer up to speed and confident enough to hold down the left tackle position. The urgency was always going to be there after the NFL departure of Donovan Smith, but add in the fact he's covering Christian Hackenberg's blindside and there's even more motivation to figure it all out.

"He's bigger, he's stronger, he's more confident. But he's probably playing, in a lot of ways, like some of the new offensive linemen played last year,'' James Franklin said after practice on Wednesday.

"Tentative, not as confident, not as aggressive as we want him to be. He's not playing with that type of confidence. We've just got to speed up his maturation process.''

That's not exactly a glowing endorsement, but neither is it exactly a surprise. Palmer entered the spring like a deer in the headlights and no amount of work in the weight room can substitute for what comes out of practicing. In that light he has only a week under his belt since the spring to get better. Is it alarming for fans to hear a crucial piece of the puzzle is struggling? Perhaps. But to be sure that concern will be much more legitimate if Franklin still has half-hearted reviews come September 5th.

And in reality, Penn State might be able to get away with a developing Palmer for a little bit longer than that.

Whatever the case, it's a sooner rather than later situation. The sooner Penn State's offensive line can sort itself out and work together the better off Penn State will be. The good news for fans is that Franklin seems genuinely excited about the progress longtime backup center Wendy Laurent has made. If that means moving current center and Penn State's most versatile lineman Anthony Mangiro to guard and Laurent to center remains to be seen.

"I really think his commitment level is at a high level right. Really, he looks like a different guy," Franklin said. "He's in consideration, fighting for a starting job right now. He's opened some eyes.''

Unfortunately for Penn State, nobody will really know what will work best on the line and whether real progress has been made until the games really start to matter.

"We're going to have to make a decision here. "Are we moving some guys around?' We're not at that point yet. We haven't even had the first scrimmage. But no one's grabbed a hold of the job."

It might sound unnerving, but really it's nothing Franklin and company couldn't see coming a mile away.

Although that may not help your heartburn any.