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P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L >> KEY PERSONNEL MLB: Ellis Brooks, Jake Cooper, Jesse Luketa; OLB: Cam Brown, Dae'Lun Darien, Brelin Faison- Walden, Koa Farmer*, Jan Johnson, Char- lie Katshir, Jarvis Miller, Micah Parsons LOSSES MLB: Jason Cabinda*; OLB: Manny Bowen*, Brandon Smith* RISING STAR The coaching sta< has been careful to temper the expectations surrounding Parsons, noting that even a ;ve-star freshman can't be expected to transition seamlessly from high school to the starting lineup of a high-level college defense. That point was underscored in the spring when Parsons was shi=ed from the Mike linebacker spot to Will outside linebacker, where the learning curve isn't quite so steep. But when the Blue defense took the ;eld for the spring game in April, there was Parsons, running with the ;rst team. He wrapped up his Beaver Stadium debut by totaling a team-high 6.5 tackles, including a sack. Defensive coordinator Brent Pry told BWI recently that Parsons is "able to play fast despite not knowing what the heck he's doing." Unless you're an opposing ball carrier, it should be a lot of fun to see how he performs when he does know what he's doing. BIGGEST LOSS Cabinda will not be easily replaced. He started 39 games at one of the defense's most complex posi- tions, ;nishing his career as the ninth- leading tackler in Penn State history with 286 stops. On the ;eld, he was a big hitter, as best exempli;ed by a fourth- and-short collision in 2016 that sent Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard stum- bling backward on an attempted sneak. O< the ;eld, he was a team leader who was "reinforcing in the locker room and on Saturday night what the young guys should be doing," James Franklin said. Those kinds of players don't come around every day. Cabinda, who signed a free agent contract with the Raiders in May, will be missed. NUMBERS GAME Even though the Nit- tany Lions only lost three linebackers, that trio accounted for 66 career starts. By contrast, the 11 scholarship lineback- ers on the 2018 roster have combined for 20 starts. Aside from Farmer, who started all 13 games, none of the current line- backers started a single game last season. OUTLOOK The Lions have an abundance of very good linebacker prospects on their roster. Five players in this group received four or more stars from Rivals.com, so there's obviously some talent here. But there's not much experience, which means the Lions will have to lean hard on the two players who have seen extensive action to date: Farmer and Brown. The former has started 15 games, while the latter has started two. Brown, at 6-foot-5, 226 pounds has the ability to play all three positions, while the 6-1, 236-pound Farmer can play both outside spots. As- LINEBACKERS S P O T L I G H T B Y M A T T H E R B season. That's where Farmer has shined ever since he realized as a middle school athlete that football, not basketball, was his sport. But now the pressure is reach- ing its crescendo. With two degrees in hand – one in criminology, the other in sociology – he is only taking one course this summer so that he can make football his ever-present first priority. He refers to his off-season workout schedule as "double days." When he wakes up in the morning, he starts his regimen by performing what might best be described as preventative mainte- nance. Exercises to strengthen his neck, hip flexors and rotator cuffs come first, after which he works on his fine-motor movements to increase speed and agility. In the evenings, he joins his teammates for a full lift at the Lasch Building before finishing with more sprints and line- backer-specific drills. Said Farmer, "I can literally strictly work on football. I've got nothing else to do, so it might as well be football. That's a good thing about being a fifth-year, I guess." He's motivated on his own to do it. Al- ways has been, but recent comments from his head coach have added fuel to the fire. Speaking to a pool of reporters after a spring practice in late March, James Franklin offered an evaluation of the team's most experienced linebacker. It was as brutally honest as the Nittany Lions' fifth-year coach gets. Upon his arrival at Penn State as a four- star athlete from Lake View Terrace, Calif., Farmer immediately established himself as one of the fastest players on the roster, running the 40-yard dash in the 4.4-second range. His strength, agility and explosion ranked up there, too. The only problem was finding a position. Well over 200 pounds when he enrolled, he began his career at safety but was later moved to linebacker. He eventually re- turned to safety, only to be moved back to linebacker. He's now preparing for his second season as a starter at one of the team's two OLB spots. Through those many transitions, his athleticism has only occasionally trans- lated in full onto the field. And it was that discrepancy that Franklin was referencing in his comments this spring. "He's one of the guys who is going to test really well when that time comes, but he's got to play like it," Franklin said. "At this point, he hasn't really played up to his speed, and I think that's what this spring and this summer will allow him to do." Months later, that appraisal was still fresh in Farmer's mind. "At the end of the day, I'm playing for my life," he said. "I'm playing for this school, this university. I'm playing for my children that I don't * Starting experience in 2017

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