Tony Rojas, Amare Campbell and Dom DeLuca are familiar names for Penn State fans, but behind the trio of multi-year starters, little is known about the team’s younger players, who have played sparingly to this point.
On Thursday, linebackers coach Dan Connor provided insight into his depth pieces, expressing confidence in their abilities.
“There’s a couple young guys who are pretty interesting and are developing well in practice,” Connor said. “So it’s a constant battle to build depth and get them game reps, but we’re in a pretty good spot right now.”
Redshirt junior Keon Wylie, redshirt sophomore DaKaari Nelson and redshirt freshman Anthony Speca are the only other linebackers to see the field on defense so far this season. PFF credits Wylie with 34 plays, Speca with 28 and Nelson with one this season, with a majority coming in Week 1 against Nevada.
Connor said he’s been happy with their development, but made it clear “we still got work to do.”
“To develop depth with these guys, you need a million reps,” Connor said. “And practice reps are good, but it’s the game reps that you need. You need the pressure on you. So I’m happy with their development, where they’re at, but you know, we still got to work.”
The closer-than-anticipated nature of last week’s game against Florida International prevented Penn State from dividing reps how the coaching staff would’ve liked, but they’re hoping to get more players cycled in on Saturday against Villanova. Connor said the team would like to see freshman Alex Tatsch get more burn.
“Alex was a really impressive high school player,” Connor said. “I mean, the first time I saw this film, he was an under-the-radar guy early in his junior year, and it just jumped out to me how physical he is, how athletic he is, and how big and strong. What’s been impressive with him is the mental aspect and how much you know he cares to learn.”
Connor said Tatsch is the player who most reminds him of himself, high praise coming from the program’s all-time career tackles leader. He was also complimentary of the team’s two other freshmen, Cam Smith and LaVar Arrington II, saying the class “has been impressive.”
Arrington’s performance during the team period on Sunday was the best he’s looked since arriving at Penn State, Connor said The son of Nittany Lion great LaVar Arrington has been getting work at the Mike position, which requires him to act as the quarterback of the defense.
“Graduating early is a huge advantage to be able to get those spring reps and and in the new system,” Connor said. “And a system like this, that’s a complex system, it’s close to an NFL system. You know, that’s going to take time.”
Though he hasn’t seen game action yet, Connor said Arrington has “all the tools” to be a successful linebacker at Penn State who can do “pretty much anything.”
If the team is able to get its depth pieces into the game on Saturday, Connor wants to see them play free and loose. If they showcase those traits, they may earn opportunities to play in bigger moments throughout the season.
“You can’t play afraid to make mistakes, and that’s what I’ve seen the first two weeks,” Connor said. “With a lot of those guys, they get in, they’re playing a little tight. It’s not bad football, but it looks tight. It doesn’t look like how it looks in practice … If you play linebacker thinking of the negatives, the negatives will happen.”
