Tom Allen was handed a gift in his first season as Penn State’s defensive coordinator. His unit is stacked with future NFL talent from likely first-round pick defensive end Abdul Carter to a group of safeties who have established themselves as one of the nation’s best, even with team captain Kevin Winston Jr. sidelined with a “long-term” injury.
With that being said, it’s quite obvious when one hand doesn’t fit this prestigious glove. And surprisingly, the weak link of the Nittany Lions’ defense comes at the program’s most historically dominant position: linebacker. While Kobe King and Tony Rojas, for the most part, have done their jobs, it’s the third starting linebacker spot that has caused the most concern.
Dominic DeLuca and Tyler Elsdon, who have split snaps over the past two weeks, have so far not performed at a level consistent with the rest of the defense. It could be time for Allen to start promoting alternative options.
“I feel like the group’s performed well as a group, but we need more depth. We need more guys stepping up, more guys making plays, more guys that we can rotate in there that are going to be able to play at a high level and not have any change in that. So to me, that’s the challenge for us, and that’s definitely the focus right now.”
DeLuca has started beside King and Rojas this season for all but one game, when he was sidelined with an injury. Since his return against UCLA on Oct. 5, DeLuca has seen limited action and struggled in the opportunities he’s been given. So has Elsdon, an undersized veteran who is the team’s second-lowest rated defensive player by Pro Football Focus (min. 12 snaps).
The position’s thin depth hasn’t helped Allen in his search for an immediate replacement. Kaveion Keys’ preseason departure from the program didn’t help, nor did an offseason injury to rising talent Keon Wylie, who has yet to appear in a game this season. James Franklin said after practice on Wednesday he’s “hoping” for Wylie to return at some point this year.
That puts the microscope on three young linebackers — DaKaari Nelson, Ta’Mere Robinson and true freshman Anthony Speca — who have been asked to fast track their development. It should be noted that Speca, who excelled in his debut against Kent State, can play in a maximum of three more regular season games and still retain his freshman redshirt.
“We’re trying to really emphasize this week lots of reps; we’ve actually been doing that the last several weeks,” Allen said. “We got to get some younger guys just to step up and to elevate their play and to create the depth that we know we have to have moving forward into the second half of the regular season and into the postseason.”
Here’s more from Allen’s media availability on Wednesday.
Move to box feels ‘so much better’
After a narrow 34-27 victory over Bowling Green on Sept. 7, Franklin knew things had to change defensively. One of the first major moves he made was convincing Allen to call the game from the coaches’ box instead of from the field, where had coached in games for the previous 15 seasons.
Allen also handed helmet-communication duties to analyst Dan Connor, who has manned the microphone connected to King’s helmet ever since. Allen said the Nittany Lions had some issues with the microphones and communication against West Virginia and the Falcons, so passing it off to Connor gave him “one less thing” that he’d have to think about.
Allen remains the one calling the plays, and said that he feels doing so from the box puts him in the “best position to have the best opportunity to give our guys the best call possible.”
“I can honestly tell you that I feel so much better about what I can see,” Allen said. “Even though you got the iPad on the sidelines, it’s not quite the same as seeing it from up top, and the flow and the substitutions and also just the tempo of the quarterback.”
Lane ‘closer’ to playing big role
Winston entered the season as a potential first-round NFL Draft pick, so his “long-term” injury sustained against Bowling Green was obviously a major blow to Penn State’s defense and a safety unit already thin on depth.
Jaylen Reed, who was supposed to play nickel corner, was reverted back to safety, where he hasn’t missed a snap in each of the past two weeks. The goal, ultimately, is to get true freshman Dejuan Lane — who has played in all six games — up to speed quick enough where he can start at safety alongside Zakee Wheatley, and Allen can move Reed back to the nickel.
“(Lane’s) getting closer and closer to being ready to play a high number of snaps,” Allen said. “This week’s been a big focus on him getting more and more reps and continuing to grow himself and so on. You think about all three of those guys and you think about depth. It’s no different at linebacker. We got some good young players, but they need to be brought along in a very efficient way.”
Carter ‘progressing’ at DE
Carter’s transition from linebacker to defensive end was one of the most notable moves of the offseason. While it took some time for him to find his stride, Carter has taken off over the past four games, tallying four sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss across that span.
His success hasn’t just come at defensive end, either. Carter has also played some linebacker and has been used to spy the quarterback, two roles Allen hopes his star pass rusher will be open to continue playing as the season unfolds.
“I just think that he causes offenses to have to know where he’s at. We don’t want them to know where he’s going to line up across the front. He’ll even line up at linebacker, and just continuing to grow those things,” Allen said. “To me, I think he’s progressing really well. He’s got to keep allowing ourselves to be creative with him and allow him to be in a position to make plays.”
