Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1533674
A P R I L 2 0 2 5 2 9 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M appearance, Knowles cited a range of positions, plays and concepts that his Leos need to know. Here's an abbrevi- ated list: • Basic blitzer • Spy (three-man rush) • Covert rush to a three-technique pass rusher • Add into overload blitzes • Use d to d e fea t rea d - o p t i o n counter concepts • Traditional read option off the end of the line of scrimmage • Basic zone dropper While Knowles isn't giving that player a checklist of reads on any given play, the Leo must be smart enough to identify each situation, make the correct call and not become confused about his assignment from play to play. "That's a guy who can mix it up both physically and mentally," Knowles said. "It's a guy who I can talk to one- on-one, and I can say, 'OK, if you see this, you go over here.' It's a guy who is really like an eraser. I think it's a great package, particularly if you're undersized." One can see these principles at work during Knowles' previous stops at Oklahoma State and Ohio State. While with the Cowboys in 2019 and '20, he used defensive end Trace Ford as a "full Leo," stationing him as a true off-ball linebacker for 295 snaps across two seasons. When Ford suffered a sea- son-ending injury the following year, the position passed to two players who combined for fewer than 30 snaps at middle linebacker. Most of that usage related to the players' counter-option- defeating alignment in the B gap, two yards off the ball. Knowles headed to Ohio State in 2022 and used the Leo sparingly. Defensive end Jack Sawyer played a grand total of 29 snaps off the ball — seven against Toledo and never more than three in a game after that. The next year, Knowles tried mov- ing safeties and linebackers closer to the box in an apex position, six yards off the center. "Safety" Sonny Styles