Blue White Illustrated

here, the Nittany Lions needed to sign at least three defensive tackles in 2019. Darkwa is a three-star prospect with a very intriguing background, having grown up in Germany and played in a European league. Ellies is a four-star player from McDonogh High in Owings Mills, Md., a school that has been very important to the Lions. Beamon will move from the strongside defensive end position that he played in high school to the three-technique tackle spot. Even with Beamon joining this group, the coaches would undoubtedly have liked to add another player here. They pursued Jaquaze Sorrells of Winter Park, Fla., and Jared Hunte of Middle Village, N.Y., but those players signed with South Carolina and Miami, respectively. That makes the defensive tackle position a top priority for the Class of 2020. LINEBACKER SIGNEES Lance Dixon, Brandon Smith ANALYSIS With Penn State in a great position at all three linebacker spots for the upcoming season, the sta; only needed to target two top-:ight LB prospects this year. That is exactly what the Lions did, landing Smith and Dixon. Rivals rates Smith a 6.0 four-star prospect and the No. 3 outside line- backer in the Class of 2019, while Dixon is a 5.8 four-star OLB and the 22nd-best player at that position nationally. Going into spring practice, it looks as though Penn State will have sopho- mores Micah Parsons and Jesse Luketa at the Will OLB spot, senior Jan John- son and redshirt sophomore Ellis Brooks in the middle, and senior Cam Brown and redshirt freshman Charlie Katshir at the Sam OLB position. Adding Dixon and Smith to the mix gives Penn State the best group of un- derclassman linebackers in the Big Ten for the 2019 season. DEFENSIVE BACK SIGNEES Jaquan Brisker, Keaton Ellis, Daequan Hardy, Joey Porter Jr., Tyler Rudolph, Marquis Wilson ANALYSIS Safety Nick Scott and cor- nerback Amani Oruwariye have both graduated, and last year's other two starting defensive backs – cornerback John Reid and safety Garrett Taylor – are entering their 9nal year of eligibility. That's why the secondary was a priority this year. Franklin knew he needed the top defensive back class in the Big Ten, and that's exactly what he got. Of the six DBs in this group, two have received four stars (Ellis and Rudolph), while three have received three stars. Hardy is the only two-star player in this group, but he's coming o; a very impressive senior season and was an intriguing late addi- tion to the class. It's the best group of defensive backs I've seen Penn State sign in a single recruiting class. Reid and junior Tariq Castro-Fields are the projected starters at cornerback this coming season, with Taylor at free safety and redshirt sophomore Jonathan Sutherland and junior Lamont Wade battling it out for the strong safety job. SPECIAL TEAMS SIGNEE Daequan Hardy ANALYSIS Penn State wasn't focused on signing specialists this year. The Nit- tany Lions return a scholarship punter (senior Blake Gillikin), scholarship kicker (sophomore Jake Pinegar) and a walk-on kicko; specialist (sophomore Rafael Checa). In addition, they have a very good kicko; returner in Hamler. However, the Lions did bring in a po- tential special teams contributor in Hardy. He's listed as an athlete and could play either cornerback or wide re- ceiver, but he's also one of the better punt and kicko; returners in the coun- try and could make his biggest impact at Penn State on special teams ■

• Cover