With kickoff for Penn State football’s 2021 season a little more than a week away, here are key defensive players at every position who may rank below the team’s biggest stars, but whose success, development and capacity to take on a larger role will help the Nittany Lions to surprise in 2021. Some will be less “under the radar” than others, of course, but consider them names to know that will rarely be the first spoken by casual observers.
Defensive End: Nick Tarburton — Inconsistent pass rush that disappears in the biggest moments has been a sneaky culprit when the Nittany Lions have fallen short these past several years. Gaudy sack totals piled up against overmatched competition mean nothing when you need one stop against a worthy opponent and can’t get it. The scant returning depth and experience at end are bad news for Penn State fans hoping to see a reversal. Particularly now with Adisa Isaac’s season-ending injury, scrappy Temple transfer Arnold Ebikitie and Tarburton are the keys to an impactful rotation. The fourth-year defender has struggled to remain healthy enough to push for playing time, but drew rave reviews when finally available for all of spring ball and looked impressive playing extensively in State’s two open practices, a trend that seems to have carried over into August. A consistently-available Tarburton could give coaches a reliable every-down option, reducing the demand on other less-experienced and/or more-specialized reserves to work outside their capabilities.
Defensive Tackle: Hakeem Beamon — A difficult choice, because this could be any one of about half a dozen options outside of entrenched multi-year starter PJ Mustipher (who himself must elevate his game in 2021). The interior line has been something of an underwhelming mess for some time at Penn State, which used to routinely send high-level performers to the next level and lately has been lucky to place a couple fringe prospects in the NFL. As with the edge defenders, the answer to turning things around probably isn’t on the roster and any one (or a combination) of the unproven youngsters could surprise, but if Hakeem Beamon can rise to the mounting expectations fueled by praise from coaches and teammates, it could make a big difference. Beamon played in all but one game as a redshirt freshman in 2020 and appeared to learn as he went along. At 6-foot-3, 269 pounds, he may end up more of an inside/outside “tweener” reminiscent of the similarly undersized but athletic Kevin Givens. Ultimately, this spot needs a lot of help, and anything but a major jump from Beamon in his second year of significant action will only up the difficulty level for coordinator Brent Pry and position coach John Scott, Jr.
Linebacker: Ellis Brooks — Production at this position has been uneven for the last several years, especially judged against the justifiably high standards of Linebacker U, and last year’s group struggled mightily to compensate for the absence of Micah Parsons. Going forward, the highly-touted Brandon Smith and Curtis Jacobs must produce at a level matching their recruiting hype, or all is lost. But to make the sort of leap that recalls the many great trios of program lore, a third steady contributor must emerge. Like most of his teammates, Ellis Brooks regressed last season, playing markedly worse than in his first season of regular action in 2019. Nevertheless, he entered camp as the favorite to win the starting spot in the middle. Other contenders with their own question marks, like Charlie Katshir (injury history), Tyler Elsdon (inexperienced) and Kobe King (true freshman), will be in that mix, but the cleanest outcome is one that sees the veteran Brooks, who we have already seen play well, join the rest of the world in flushing the memory of 2020 to decisively seize the job.
Cornerback: Keaton Ellis — This is cheating a bit, as the State College native has moved off his original position and dropped deeper into the defensive backfield by shifting to safety. The move underscores the wealth of talent available to Terry Smith at cornerback. Veteran starters Tariq Castro-Fields and Joey Porter, Jr. lead a crop of experienced talents, Ellis included, along with South Carolina transfer Johnny Dixon. The emergence this spring of early enrollee Kalen King prompted a reshuffling of the depth chart that saw Marquis Wilson explore a move to offense and Ellis taking snaps at safety as coaches sought out ways to get good players on the field. Dixon arrived on campus with positional flexibility, but it was Ellis, no stranger to playing time since his true freshman campaign in 2019, who got the first look at safety. How the camp progress of Ji’Ayir Brown and Tyler Rudolph impact the safety depth chart remains to be seen, but wherever he plays, if Keaton commands snaps with his play, it will go a long way toward solidifying Penn State’s secondary as among the best in the conference, if not the nation.
Safety: Ji’Ayir Brown — This one is obvious, but for good reason. Penn State has a gaping hole at the safety spot opposite returning All-American Jaquan Brisker, and the simplest solution is for fellow Lackawanna College transfer Brown to slide in opposite him. Will it be that easy? State reportedly charged hard after WVU transfer portal safety Tykee Smith, who ultimately chose Georgia — not indicative of total confidence in the current options — and Brown was unavailable through parts of the spring. Despite some intriguing prospects, no other safety on the roster has played meaningful snaps, necessitating the above-mentioned experimentation with Keaton Ellis. Brown was eased into game action last year, so he has some experience, and we have seen many JUCO transfers blossom in their second seasons at this level. There are reasons for hope. If those prove unfounded, Penn State will be making one or more bets purely on potential.
