Penn State Football: 5 Players the Nittany Lions Need to Step Up This Year

Penn State’s season is less than 100 days away, and while the Nittany Lions still have plenty of time to figure things out, that doesn’t mean Penn State is without question marks, areas of need and problems to solve. While a good team needs everyone to live up to their potential, here are five players [or positions] Penn State needs to step up the most in the months ahead.

KeAndre Lambert-Smith: KLS is the perfect example of a guy who “has all the pieces” but you’re just waiting for it to come together. Drew Allar could turn into Jalen Hurts but if nobody is there to catch his passes it won’t matter. Dante Cephas could be the answer at the W1 position for Penn State but fact of the matter is being the best guy in the transfer portal doesn’t mean it’ll translate to being the best guy on the field. James Franklin has made no bones about the fact the receiver room has to step up to the moment and while Cepheus might be the guy, KLS is the guy who has been around the longest and that should translate to the season everyone has been waiting for him to have. Time will tell if he does and the season might hang in the balance of the answer.

The Punters and Kickers: The last half decade or so has been kind to Penn State in the special teams area. Kicking and punting were elite and field goals were spotty at times but never ended up being a deciding factor in games. This year Penn State runs a real risk of punting and kicking being a weakness with no obvious solution to that problem. Doesn’t mean Penn State can’t find an answer in the room, but it will be interesting to see how the kicking game influences fourth down chances for Penn State is kicking field goals isn’t viable and punting isn’t always worth it. Penn State was bound to have sub-elite kicking at some point here but this group needs to be able to flip the field in big games.

Keaton Ellis: The State College native has been around for the better part of forever and this is his last chance to make good on a productive but up-and-down career. Ellis is a familiar face in the secondary but will have some work to do to prove he can fill the shoes of the likes of Jaquan Brisker and Ji’Ayir Brown at safety. Ellis isn’t on here so much because there’s any reason to think he won’t step up for the moment, but Penn State has gotten a lot out of its safeties the last few seasons and will need a lot out of Ellis.

The Defensive Tackles: Penn State’s defense has long been at the point where you have to assume it will be good until further notice, but the Nittany Lions have to figure out who the big men up front are. There’s not a shortage of options at the defensive tackle spot and you could argue guys like Hakeem Beamon, Dvon Ellies and Coziah Izzard have all proven their worth already, but none of them have done it yet as *the* guy. Penn State has things sorted out at defensive end and linebacker, but being able to plug up the middle is as important as anything this – probably – very good defense has to tackle still. Plenty of reason for optimism but still an area in need of proving.

The Quarterback: It seems counterintuitive to think of [presumably Drew Allar] as anything but an asset for Penn State this year but the reality of the situation is that nobody really knows much about how Allar [or Beau Pribula] is going to play when it really matters. All things being equal, Penn State should be leaning on its running game this season as Allar [or Pribula] ease into their role, but it’s hard to imagine Penn State being one dimensional and winning anything of note. Allar is going to have enough pressure on his shoulders as it is, but fact of the matter is if the 2023 season is going to be anything special for Penn State, Allar is going to need to play older than he is. Not saying he can’t do it, but mental mistakes can sink a game or a season. The fewer Allar has the better.