State College product and Penn State junior Keaton Ellis is set to make a switch to safety this offseason, giving the Nittany Lions more depth at the position.
“We’re excited about his abilities at the position,” defensive coordinator Brent Pry said on Saturday afternoon. “If we need him, we’re comfortable putting him back at corner. This wasn’t about him not being good enough at corner, it was about possibly his best position being at safety.”
Ellis has played each of the past two seasons at corner, seeing action in all 13 games during his freshman campaign while appearing in six of Penn State’s nine games in 2020 after battling early season injuries.
The move makes sense for a Penn State team loaded with corner talent – the Nittany Lions are welcoming back a host of corners including Tariq Castro-Fields, Joey Porter Jr and the much talked about freshman Kalen King.
Meanwhile at safety the return of star Jaquan Brisker, Ji’Ayir Brown and longtime special teams veteran Jonathan Sutherland give Penn State a solid trio of options, one that Ellis will only add to with solid ball skills and coverage experience for a group looking to replace NFL departed safety Lamont Wade.
“Playing corner makes it really easy to learn the systems,” Ellis said on Saturday. “It has already been a real smooth transition.”
Ellis brings a unique set of skills to the safeties room for Penn State not long removed from playing both sides of the ball in high school. While Ellis had some growing pains early in his career, he still managed to force three fumbles in 2019 and logged his first career interception in 2020.
The 5-foot-11, 190 pound Ellis is hoping that those skills he picked up at corner, will make him an even better safety.
“Just be able to track the ball,” Ellis said of the carryover skills from corner to safety. “How you react to things. You get a little bit more space to read the ball when it’s in flight [at safety]. And I think it’s gonna help propel my game and let me make more plays.”
Where Ellis ultimately fits into the rotation remains to be seen, Brisker is effectively a lock to star while Ellis, Sutherland and Brown are both tracking to compete for the second safety spot. Who eventually gets the nod may not be decided until late into camp, but like so many other positions on Penn State’s roster, there are worse things than having a lot of good options.
