Hansard, Ellies and Brevard, a January
enrollee.
MIDDLE LINEBACKER
CONTENDERS Ellis Brooks, Jesse
Luketa, Tyler Elsdon
ANALYSIS Jan Johnson was one of Penn
State's true leaders the past two years.
As a senior, he was the Lions' fourth-
leading tackler with 64 stops.
Brooks is the leading candidate to re-
place Johnson at middle linebacker. He
split time with Johnson last season, to-
taling 39 tackles, including four tackles
for loss and 2.5 sacks. Behind Brooks is
Luketa, who split time between middle
linebacker and the Will OLB position,
replacing Micah Parsons. Luketa totaled
24 tackles. One other player who is ex-
pected to see practice reps at middle
linebacker is Elsdon, a January enrollee.
Given the experience that Brooks and
Luketa have amassed the past two sea-
sons, middle linebacker should once
again be a team strength in 2020.
OUTSIDE LINEBACKER
CONTENDERS Brandon Smith, Lance
Dixon, Charlie Katshir
ANALYSIS Cam Brown was Penn State's
third-leading tackler last season with 72
stops, but I'd be willing to bet that Brent
Pry feels pretty good about where things
stand at this position. Smith and Katshir
saw limited playing time in 2019, com-
bining
for 19 tackles, while Dixon was
redshirted as a true freshman. But those
three players have the potential to help
Penn State :eld the best group of start-
ing linebackers in the Big Ten for the up-
coming season.
BOUNDARY SAFETY
CONTENDERS Jonathan Sutherland,
Tyler Rudolph, C.J. Holmes, Joey Porter
Jr.
ANALYSIS Garrett Taylor will be one of
the toughest defensive players to replace
a
