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said. "There's an identity and a mental- ity at that position. Obviously, they've had fun with the LawnBoyz, the title that they kind of fall under. But yeah, we've got a number of guys there, whether you're talking about Devyn, or whether you're talking about Noah Cain, who did so many significant things for us last year. So those two guys have tremendous experience, and then two guys who we're really excited about be- hind those guys are Caziah and Keyvone. "We do feel like Noah has the ability to carry the load and feel like Devyn has a chance to do that as well. And we'll see how close those two young guys are [to being] ready to play based on how they prepare. … But we feel very confident with Noah and feel very confident with Devyn. And to be honest, Journey has had a huge impact on those guys. He's been great in practice. He's been great in meeting rooms, and I know he'll con- tinue to do that." Luketa echoed his head coach, noting that Brown has stayed positive even though he's been forced to the sideline just as his college career appeared to be taking off. "If you know Journey, he's such a vi- brant person," the junior linebacker said. "That energy is infectious. He hasn't lost that at all. He's still the same J.B. that I knew when I first came to America [from Canada in 2018]. As far as his growth on the field, it's been ex- TARIQ CASTRO-FIELDS CB PENN STATE Castro-Fields thought about coming out early but opted instead to stick around in hope of improving on a junior season in which he was ham- pered by an injury. He and redshirt freshman teammate Joey Porter Jr. 9gure to give Penn State one of the best cornerback tandems in school history. PADDY FISHER LB NORTHWESTERN Fisher is solid at pretty much everything. He's made 318 tackles over the past three seasons, including 20 tackles for loss, and he's also intercepted three passes and forced 10 fumbles. Name a watch list for any major postseason defensive award, and Fisher was probably on it heading into his senior year. AIDAN HUTCHINSON DE MICHIGAN The 6-6, 269-pound Hutchinson just seems to get in the way of opposing passers. He had six passes defended last year, to go along with 4.5 sacks and four QB hurries. He'll be a formidable presence on the Wolverines' defensive line this fall a:er claiming third-team All-Big Ten honors as a sophomore. GEORGE KARLAFTIS DE PURDUE The Boilermakers 9elded one of the league's worst defenses last year, but Karla:is still shined, 9nishing his freshman season with 7.5 sacks and 17.5 tackles for loss. At 6-4, 270 pounds, he's being hailed as a candidate for Big Ten Defensive Player the Year honors. TIAWAN MULLEN CB INDIANA Mullen made quite a debut with the Hoosiers. The former Rivals.com four-star prospect ranked 9rst in the Big Ten and 11th nationally with 13 pass breakups, winning Freshman All-America honors from multiple media outlets. JAYSON OWEH DE PENN STATE We're taking a bit on faith here, because Oweh has only played in 17 games in his career to date. But we made room for him because of his absurdly high ceiling. Oweh is already being hailed as a potential 9rst-round dra: pick, which means that Penn State fans had better enjoy watching him over the next month or two. He might be ap- proaching the end of his college career even though that career only recently began in earnest. KWITY PAYE DE MICHIGAN Penn State will certainly remember Paye; he had a career-best 10 tackles for the Wolverines last year in Beaver Stadium. He's a two-time All-Big Ten per- former who will be looking to improve on a junior season in which he 9nished with 6.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss. JACK SANBORN LB WISCONSIN Sanborn did it all for a Badgers defense that allowed the second-fewest yards in the Big Ten last season. He led the team in tack- les with 80, was tied for 9rst in interceptions with three and also had nine tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. Consequently, he went into the 2020 season as a Butkus Award watch-lister. SHAUN WADE CB OHIO STATE Named a 9rst- team preseason All-American by the AP, Wade is headed for a big junior year a:er choosing to play one more college season rather than leaving early for the dra:. He had eight pass breakups, an intercep- tion and four tackles for loss as a soph- omore. PETE WERNER LB OHIO STATE Really, we could pick any of Ohio State's 9rst- team linebackers for this list; Werner, Tuf Borland and Baron Browning are as formidable as any starting trio in the conference. Werner led the Buckeyes with seven tackles in their season-opening rout of Nebraska. That's not surprising. He was sec- ond on the team in tackles last year with 64. ■ B I G T E N ' S B E S T B Y M A T T H E R B TOP 10 DEFENSIVE PLAYERS KWITY PAYE Patrick Barron/ MGoBlog

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