Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1138762
2 0 1 9 S E A S O N P R E V I E W
KEY
PERSONNEL
MLB: Ellis Brooks, Jan
Johnson*, Jesse Luketa; OLB: Cam
Brown*, Lance Dixon, Charlie Katshir,
Micah Parsons*, Brandon Smith
LOSSES OLB: Jake
Cooper, Dae'Lun
Darien, Brelin Faison-
Walden, Koa Farmer*,
Jarvis Miller
RISING STAR You'd
be hard-pressed to
;nd a more deserving
recipient of this honor
than Parsons. As a
true freshman last
season, the former ;ve-star defensive
end from Harrisburg, Pa., led the Nit-
tany Lions in tackles, ;nishing with 83
even though he only made one start. He
had ;ve tackles for loss, ;ve quarterback
hurries and 1.5 sacks. And that was a?er
spending only a few months at the posi-
tion. Now that Parsons has been prac-
ticing at linebacker for more than a year,
he said he feels even more comfortable
than he did in 2018. Fans are going to
"see me going much faster this year," he
said recently. "I look a lot faster on ;lm
because I'm not hesitating. I'm not
nervous. I'm playing like I've been here
before, obviously. I'm just fresh and
ready to prove myself."
BIGGEST LOSS The Lions have most of
last year's key contributors back. Of the
nine linebackers listed on the Citrus
Bowl depth chart, ;ve are returning. The
four who won't be back are Miller and
Darien, both of whom have transferred,
and Farmer and Cooper, who graduated.
Of those players, Farmer had the most
impactful career at Penn State. A?er
bouncing back and forth between safety
and linebacker, he found a home at the
Will OLB spot during the second half of
his ;ve-year tenure in University Park.
He shared the position with Parsons last
year, starting 12 games and ;nishing
seventh on the team in tackles with 53.
NUMBERS GAME With his 83 stops last
season, Parsons became the ;rst fresh-
man in Penn State history (true or red-
shirt) to lead the team in tackles.
OUTLOOK This looks to be one of the
strongest position groups on the entire
team. The Nittany Lions have solid, ex-
perienced returnees at all three starting
positions. They've also built up some
depth at two of the three spots, and in
Smith and Dixon, both of whom received
four-star ratings from Rivals.com,
they've got a pair of true freshman
prospects who could end up pushing for
serious playing time as early as this fall.
The starting threesome will likely fea-
ture Brown at the Sam OLB spot, John-
son in the middle and Parsons at the
Will. Johnson and Brown combined to
make 25 starts last year, and they ;n-
ished second and ;?h on the team in
tackles, respectively. Parsons' creden-
tials are detailed above; he's going to be
a di=erence-maker for at least the next
two seasons. And for all the excitement
that the projected starters have inspired,
the backups aren't all that far behind,
with Brooks and Luketa having