Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1276571
as any position on our team. You think about having Parsons and Katshir. That's going to be a really nice combina- tion if that's how it plays out at the Will linebacker spot," James Franklin told BWI this spring. "Brooks and Luketa at the Mike linebacker spot, we feel damn good about those two guys. And then at the =eld backer, the Sam, you talk about Smith and Dixon. That's a really good group that we feel good about. "And then that doesn't even take into consideration Fisher, Elsdon, Jacobs, and some of the other guys. So we feel really good about the returning two- deep we have, and then feel really good about the injection of some of the guys we recruited." The conversation here begins with Parsons. In his =rst season as a full-time starter, he led the team with 109 tackles, including 14 tackles for loss and =ve sacks. He was at his best in the Nittany Lions' 53-39 win over Memphis in the Cotton Bowl, =nishing with a pair of sacks, three TFL, two pass breakups, two forced fumbles, and a quarterback hurry. According to Pro Football Focus, Parsons was not just the Nittany Lions' best run- stu>er last season; he was the best line- backer in the entire Football Bowl Subdivision vs. the run, receiving a grade of 94.8. While Parsons will be the headliner this season, as well as the Nittany Lions' only returning starter in the linebacker corps, they have a number of other high-impact players, some of whom will be called on to provide leadership. "That's one of the things I love about the room," defensive coordinator Brent Pry said. "There are some strong-willed, high-character guys who have a lot of maturity. A guy like Jesse Luketa has got outstanding respect on our football team. I think back to a guy like Von Walker. Von was never a premier line- backer. He ended up =nding a niche as a special teams guy, but he was a leader in my room and on our team and wasn't the guy who made all the plays. So I don't know how that will shake out. I do be- lieve Micah will lead in some really im- portant way. He'll lead our football team, but I think there are going to be some other guys on our defense who are also ready to lead, maybe in some ways that Micah can but in some areas maybe that Micah can't." Brooks will vie with Luketa for the starting Mike linebacker spot. Last sea- son, the two players more or less split reps, with Brooks getting 292 and Luketa 202. At the Sam position, Smith is poised to slide into Brown's vacated starting spot a?er getting 130 snaps in 13 games during his debut season. He'll face competition from Dixon, who took a redshirt a?er playing in three games and making two tackles. Katshir is also in line to see his pro- duction increase from a 2019 campaign in which he played in 12 games, mostly on special teams units. One his his best attributes is his versatility. We're told that the coaches expect Katshir to be able to play all three positions. Should all the pieces come together, Pry is anticipating a group that can rival some of the best in the program's storied his- tory at the position. "I think there's some development that has to happen with Brandon, with Lance. I think Charlie Kat- shir is ready to open some eyes and show people he can play linebacker at this level," Pry said. "I think we've got a heck of a competition with Jesse and Ellis, to see who can take that Mike spot, at least initially. And then we're all excited to see what Micah does in year three. So it's got a chance to be a really, really nice group, more than likely the best I've been around as a linebacker guy." –N.B. P H I L ' S T A K E Penn State has lost two starters from last season: middle linebacker Jan John- son, who was the Nittany Lions' =?h-leading tackler with 64 stops, and Sam outside linebacker Cam Brown, who ranked third with 72 stops. But even so, I'm convinced that PSU will enter the upcoming season with the No. 1 starting line- backer unit in the Big Ten and quite possibly one of the top three units in the country. The leader of this position group is the No. 1 linebacker in the country, Micah Parsons. Last year, Parsons became the =rst sophomore to be named Big Ten Linebacker of the Year, and he could become Penn State's third Butkus Award winner and sixth two-time All-America linebacker. In the middle, PSU returns Ellis Brooks, who shared the spot with Johnson last year, making 39 tackles, four tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. He'll battle Jesse Luketa for the start- ing position, with January enrollee Tyler Elsdon supplying depth. At the Sam spot, Brandon Smith and Lance Dixon are battling to replace Brown. The Lions have additional depth with Charlie Katshir most likely backing up Parsons, and Zuriah Fisher and Curtis Jacobs joining Elsdon in the freshman class. Jacobs is good enough to see action this fall at either the Will or Sam OLB spot. Penn State has amassed a lot of talent at this position group. Parsons was a =ve-star prospect according to Rivals.com, and while Smith and Dixon received four- star ratings from Rivals, I view them as =ve-star talents. Brooks, Luketa and Ja- cobs all received four-star ratings. ■ SAM OUTSIDE LINEBACKER NO NAME HT WT YEAR 12 Brandon Smith 6-3 237 So./So. 10 Lance Dixon 6-2 210 So./Fr. MIDDLE LINEBACKER 13 Ellis Brooks 6-1 241 Sr./Jr. 40 Jesse Luketa 6-3 241 Jr./Jr. 43 Tyler Elsdon 6-2 230 Fr./Fr. 50 Max Chizmar 6-2 233 Sr./Jr. WILL OUTSIDE LINEBACKER 11 Micah Parsons 6-3 245 Jr./Jr. 45 Charlie Katshir 6-3 230 Jr./So. OR OR OR