Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1276571
bound as a senior and put together the best season of his career. "He's a good cover corner," Smith said, "but now it's time… to go make plays as a cover corner – get the ball back, make interceptions, force fumbles, make big, game-chang- ing plays and [give] the ball back to our o=ense so those guys can go down and score touchdowns. "Tariq, not to put pressure on him, needs to have a great year for us. We need a lockdown corner who can handle the best receiver of whoever our oppo- nent is. We expect Tariq to be that guy." At the opposite cornerback spot, there are as many as ;ve players vying to re- place Reid. Johnson, a redshirt junior, is the oldest of those players, but he needs to get healthy, stay healthy and compete consistently. He missed all but two games last season, playing just 26 snaps. If he's not the answer at that po- sition, the Lions will most likely turn to someone from last year's freshman class. Wilson and Ellis saw extensive action last fall and are getting set for their sophomore years. Hardy and Porter redshirted but reportedly im- pressed in practice. Porter has the po- tential "to be phenomenal," we've been told. As for the nickel spot, Smith explained that Johnson, Ellis and Hardy all could end up seeing action there, but Wade has the most experience and was listed atop the depth chart in the spring. Of course, Wade's primary role will be as one of the starting safeties. He started all 13 games at the ;eld safety spot last season and will be looking to use his ;nal season as a springboard to the NFL. "Lamont is super smart. He's very motivated," safeties coach Tim Banks said. "He de;nitely wants to be the best version of himself he could possibly be. It's been great to see how well he's adapted to learning the position – the total position, not necessarily just his position. He also understands the boundary safety. He obviously has a sig- ni;cant role as our nickel back. So he's done a truly good job that way." At the opposite spot, it looks as though Penn State will turn to Brisker, who spent his first season on campus as Wade's backup. The juco transfer from Lackawanna College played in 13 games, making 32 tackles and grabbing two interceptions. He received a defen- sive grade of 81.9 from Pro Football Focus, finishing third on Penn State's team behind only Micah Parsons (91.5) and Yetur Gross-Matos (84.7). More important, his pass coverage grade of 85.4 was the team's best by a wide mar- gin. That skill ;gures to bene;t the Nit- tany Lions this season, as Brisker is poised to slide from the ;eld to the boundary. Banks said he's excited about the senior's potential at the opposite spot. "He's really taken it upon himself to try to not just learn the position that he was playing in the fall, which was predominantly to our ;eld side, but now he's learning the boundary side, as well as some of our nickel movements," Banks said. "He's just trying to learn and get a better grasp of the total de- fense and not just necessarily his re- sponsibility." The Lions' defense, then, will most likely feature Wade at ;eld safety and Brisker on the boundary. And when Wade is at the nickel spot, Brisker will slide over to ;eld safety, where he played last year, while Sutherland will be the boundary safety. Depth is expected to come from Rudolph and converted cornerback Trent Gordon. Both have generated some buzz this o=-season. Banks said Gordon "just brings an element from a cornerback perspective. He's been trained to cover. He has the size and speed to be able to ;t in the box as a safety." –NATE BAUER CORNERBACK NO NAME HT WT YEAR 5 Tariq Castro-Fields 6-0 195 Sr./Sr. 2 Keaton Ellis 5-11 189 So./So. 25 Daequan Hardy 5-9 166 So./Fr. BOUNDARY SAFETY 1 Jaquan Brisker 6-1 210 Sr./Sr. 26 Jonathan Sutherland 5-11 199 Sr./Jr. 15 Enzo Jennings 6-1 200 Fr./Fr. FIELD SAFETY 38 Lamont Wade 5-9 187 Sr./Sr. 21 Tyler Rudolph 6-0 204 So./Fr. 19 Trent Gordon 5-11 200 Jr./So. CORNERBACK 3 Donovan Johnson 5-9 180 Sr./Jr. 8 Marquis Wilson 5-11 166 So./So. 9 Joey Porter Jr. 6-2 198 So./Fr. 17 Joseph Johnson III 6-2 174 Fr./Fr. P H I L ' S T A K E Penn State's secondary struggled last season, particularly in the team's ;nal six games. The Nittany Lions ;nished 13th in the Big Ten in pass defense, as opponents averaged 251.5 yards per game. On a more positive note, the Lions allowed only 10 passing touchdowns. But even so, it's fair to say that they didn't come close to meeting preseason expectations in this area. Tariq Castro- Fields returns to his boundary cornerback position this year, where he will be backed up by Keaton Ellis and Daequan Hardy. At the ;eld CB position, Dono- van Johnson will battle Marquis Wilson, Joey Porter Jr. and January enrollee Joseph Johnson III. By November of last year, Wilson just might have been Penn State's top cornerback. Lamont Wade will be the starter at the ;eld safety posi- tion, where he will most likely be backed up by Tyler Rudolph and Trent Gor- don. Jaquan Brisker is expected to take over the starting boundary safety spot, backed up by Jonathan Sutherland, January enrollee Enzo Jennings and juco transfer Ji'Ayir Brown. I'm projecting the secondary to be Penn State's most improved position group this season. ■ OR OR OR OR