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T H E C L A S S O F 2 0 1 9 >> WHAT HE DID As a junior at West Bloom- =eld High, Dixon =nished with 122 tackles and =ve sacks, helping lead the Lakers to an 11-3 record and a spot in the MHSAA Division I state title game. He followed up that e>ort with another strong showing as a senior, =nishing the year with 95 tackles, including 11 tackles for loss and =ve sacks. He also had 11 quarterback hurries and scored nine touchdowns on o>ense, including the winner in the dis- trict championship game, but West Bloom=eld wasn't able to return to the title game, falling in the state quarter=- nals to end its season at 9-3. WHAT HE WON Dixon participated in the All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas. He was also named Michigan's Defensive Player of the Year by USA Today and earned =rst-team All-State honors at linebacker from the Detroit Free Press, Associated Press and USA Today. In addition, he was named to the MLive Detroit Football Dream Team fol- lowing his junior and senior seasons. Late last year, Rivals.com upgraded him from three to four stars. He's now listed No. 11 overall in Michigan and No. 22 nationally among outside linebackers in the Class of 2019. WHERE HE VISITED Dixon took a Mid- western tour before his commitment to Penn State last July. In addition to the Nittany Lions, he checked out Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Wisconsin. All told, Dixon collected 27 scholarship o>ers. Iowa, Kentucky, North Carolina State, Notre Dame and Texas A&M were among the schools that extended o>ers. But in December, he fol- lowed through on his pledge to Penn State, signing with the Lions during the early period. QUOTABLE Dixon: "I've played every position on the =eld at one point, so I think I'm just a versatile player. Come up in the box, outside of the box to cover somebody, stop the run and all that kind of stu>. I just play my game." PHIL'S TAKE Of all the Sam outside line- backers that Penn State has recruited since James Franklin took over the pro- gram in 2014, Dixon is quite possibly the best pure athlete. He has 4.5-second 40- yard speed, and at 6-foot-1, he has the frame to add another 15 or 20 pounds by his sophomore season. Dixon is very ag- gressive at the point of attack and comes o> the edge with explosive speed in blitz situations. He has superb pass coverage skills and excels in man-to-man coverage situations with a back coming out of the back=eld. By enrolling in January, Dixon will have an excellent opportunity to challenge redshirt freshman Charlie Kat- shir for the backup Sam position behind Cam Brown. He should also be a terri=c special teams player this fall. I can't see Dixon redshirting in 2019. ■ DREAM TEAMER Dixon was named Michi- gan's Defensive Player of the Year by USA Today after making 95 tack- les and five sacks as a sen- ior. Photo by Ri- vals.com Rivals.com LANCE DIXON RIVALS ★★★★ | POS LB | HT 6-1 | WT 205 | HOME West Bloomfield, Mich. | SCHOOL West Bloomfield

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