Blue White Illustrated

Tangelo, who began his college career at Duke, was the top defensive tackle in the transfer portal against the run. He's the projected starter this coming fall at the three-technique spot. As a senior at Duke last year, Tangelo totaled 40 tack- les, four tackles for loss and two sacks, and he forced three fumbles to lead the team in that department. Rated the 67h-best defensive tackle in the At- lantic Coast Conference by Pro Football Focus, he totaled 131 tackles in his four seasons with the Blue Devils. Penn State will enter the 2021 season with 10 scholarship defensive tackles. P.J. Mustipher is the projected starter at the one-technique position, backed up by Fred Hansard, Dvon Ellies and Cole Brevard. At the three-technique spot, Tangelo will be backed up by Hakeem Beamon, who totaled seven tackles in eight games last year, Ellies, Coziah Iz- zard, Joseph Appiah Darkwa and Fa- torma Mulbah. The Lions' depth at defensive tackle should be outstanding in 2021. But with Tangelo gone a7er this coming season, and Mustipher and Hansard also possi- bly leaving, I expect Penn State to at- tempt to sign as many as two defensive tackles in 2022, at least one of whom should be one-technique DTs. LINEBACKER SIGNEES Jamari Buddin, Kobe King ANALYSIS With Parsons gone, Penn State's linebacker unit never developed any chemistry or consistency in 2020. Even though Ellis Brooks was the team's leading tackler with 60 stops, he didn't consistently perform up to the standard he had set during the 2019 season. Jesse Luketa, who 6nished second to Brooks with 59 stops, had trouble playing and tackling in space at the Will OLB posi- tion. And Brandon Smith seemed out of place at the Sam spot. Now, with Dixon having entered the transfer portal in late January, Penn State's linebacker corps looks like it might be the biggest question mark on the defense going into the 2021 season. With Dixon gone, the Lions only have eight linebackers returning from last year. And compounding that personnel shortage, Penn State was able to sign only two linebackers in its Class of 2021: Buddin and King, with the former projected to play the Sam OLB position and the latter fitting in at middle line- backer. That leaves Penn State with serious depth concerns at the Sam OLB spot. The projected starter is Curtis Jacobs, who saw signi6cant action last year as a true fresh- man, playing in eight games and 6nishing with nine tackles. Behind Ja- cobs is Charlie Katshir, who has struggled with injuries during his college career. As for Buddin, he will have to be ready to contribute, because he will almost certainly make the three-deep depth chart at the Sam position this fall. In the middle, Brooks is returning but may have to 6ght to reclaim his starting job, with Luketa said to be moving inside from the Will OLB position. Tyler Els- don and possibly King will supply depth at the MLB spot. Smith is expected to move from Sam to Will this spring, where his list of poten- tial backups includes Katshir and Fisher. However, as noted above, Fisher might end up practicing at the weakside defen- sive end position this spring. With Brooks and Luketa potentially leaving a7er the 2021 season, it's essen- tial for Penn State to recruit at least one box linebacker in 2022 and possibly three total linebackers – athletic OLBs capable of 6tting in at either the Sam or MIDDLE MAN Kobe King, a Janu- ary enrollee, is ex- pected to find a home at middle linebacker with the Nittany Lions. Photo courtesy of Rivals.com

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