Lions' young CBs making strong first impression
T H E 2 0 1 9 S E A S O N
against Maryland. He followed it up as a
sophomore by starting three games and
tying for second place on the team with
seven pass breakups. This year, he's been
a full-time starter and has been one of the
Nittany Lions' surest open-field tacklers.
He's put up solid numbers despite having
to leave the Purdue game in the first quar-
ter with an injury. Said Franklin, "Castro
is really coming on. We thought that he
would have a chance to have a big-time
year for us this year, and so far it looks
that way."
Castro-Fields said that tackling has
"definitely been a point of pride" this
season. He said assistant coach Terry
Smith wants to see his cornerbacks get
physical when they have the opportunity.
"Coach T. says that if you touch him, you
have to get him to the ground," Castro-
Fields explained.
The Nittany Lions were ranked in the
middle of the Big Ten in pass defense
through seven games. That was partially
the result of a surprising game against
Pitt in which Panthers quarterback Kenny
Pickett was able to get rid of the ball be-
J
ohn Reid is in the midst of his had noticed
the same thing during Porter's recruit-
ment. Noting on signing day that "he's
got the longest arms you'll ever see,"
Franklin said that he could envision
Porter making a similar transition to the
one that his famous father made on his
way to NFL stardom. The elder Porter
had played wide receiver in high school
before switching to tight end and even-
tually to the defensive line at Colorado
State. He went on to become a Pro Bowl
outside linebacker/defensive end with
the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Could the younger Porter be destined
for a career as a safety or maybe even an
outside linebacker? "You never know,"
Franklin said at the time. "We love all
those guys at corner right now, but I do
think a lot of these guys create some po-
sition =exibility with corner or safety."
Looking back on the Class of 2019,
Franklin said he was pleased with the
sta>'s success at replenishing the cor-
nerback spots. In addition to Ellis,
Porter and Wilson, the Lions signed
Daequan Hardy, adding them to a room
that already included redshirt freshman
Trent Gordon and redshirt sophomores
Donovan Johnson and D.J. Brown.
"We've got a bunch of long guys who
can run and can make plays on the ball,"
Franklin said. "I think you've heard me
say this before: The DBs really should be
high-level wideouts and vice versa, and
I've seen that go up. So we're excited
about it." –M.H.
ELLIS
