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FLASH FORWARD Versatile OLB Curtis Jacobs has been on the fast track ever since arriving at Penn State last summer. His next step will be the boldest of his collegiate career ife comes at you pretty fast some- times, but Curtis Jacobs doesn't mind. Truth is, Jacobs comes at you pretty fast himself. Last year, the Rivals.com four-star prospect was a new enrollee at Penn State, an early-summer arrival in the Nittany Lions' 2020 recruiting class. A little over 12 months later, he's a projected starter and one of the key players in a partially recon- figured linebacker corps. That might seem like an unusually speedy rise, even with Jacobs having been hailed as the top prospect in a class that ranked 15th nationally. But the young linebacker prospect was unfazed. "I'm a guy who has always thought of himself as being prepared," he said. "I feel like it did happen fast, but I'm as ready as I can be. I put in the work. I'm continuing to put in the work every day, so I feel like that will be big for me coming into this season." Jacobs is poised to move into the starting lineup at the Sam outside linebacker spot this fall, following a freshman season in which he played in eight games and fin- ished with nine tackles, an assisted tackle for loss and a pass breakup. To make room for him, the Nittany Lions are sliding Bran- don Smith from the Sam to the Will spot, which is seemingly a better fit for his skill set, while Jesse Luketa is moving from Will to a slightly less-defined role in which he will likely share the middle linebacker po- sition with Ellis Brooks while maybe get- ting some snaps at defensive end, too. Those are some big changes, and they've been made possible by Jacobs' emergence. At 6-foot-1, 229 pounds, he brings an array of positive attributes to the Sam OLB spot. The most important of those attributes? "Athleticism," Jacobs said. "I can do things that a lot of guys my size can't. I feel like that's a big advantage for me. Cover- age-wise, that's a big help. And even com- ing up and being physical in the box, it'll be a big help." Jacobs' honed his athletic ability at the McDonogh School just outside of Balti- more, where he played a variety of posi- tions on offense and defense, from wide receiver to defensive end. He displayed so much versatility in high school that he was recruited at four different positions. During his recruitment, Jacobs attended a summer football camp at Penn State in which he got to talk to Brent Pry, the Nittany Lions' defensive coordinator. Although he was best known at the time as a wide re- ceiver prospect, having caught 46 passes for | L FAST FACTS LETTERMEN RETURNING 4 (Ellis Brooks, Curtis Jacobs, Jesse Luketa, Brandon Smith) LETTERMEN LOST 1 (Lance Dixon) STARTERS RETURNING 3 (Brooks, Luketa, Smith) STARTERS LOST None OTHERS WITH STARTING EXPERIENCE None WHAT THEY'RE SAYING COACHING STAFF "We view both [Brooks and Luketa] as starters for us. ... There are also some discussions that we've had with Jesse about playing some other positions as well that we think he has the ability to play, which I think is not only going to help our defense, but it's also going to help Jesse in his future at the next level." James Franklin // "Brandon [Smith] has got a great work ethic and, to be honest, has worked through some challenges and I think is turning the corner. You're going to see him flash and do some nice things, and you're still going to see some areas where he's still got to grow and be better. But I see improvement in him every week and that's what I'm looking for from everybody when we eval- uate the guys." Brent Pry PRESEASON MAGS "Pry said more than once that he was not satisfied with the play at line- backer last year after All-American Micah Parsons opted out of the season." Lindy's // "The Lions re- turn all three starters, but this unit struggled in 2020." Athlon >> S P O T L I G H T L I N E B A C K E R S >>

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