Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1533674
A P R I L 2 0 2 5 31 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M box safety closer to the line of scrim- mage. That's nothing new for Knowles. He was using the scheme as far back as 2019, with a brief spike in 2021, the year that Oklahoma State lost Ford to an injury. However, it wasn't until last year that he began using an extra safety as the frequent replacement for the Leo. Before 2024, Knowles' usage of Cover 2 — which allows the middle safety to play off the ball at six to eight yards — never crested much above 12 percent. Then in 2024, it rose to 18.3 percent. From this depth, the safety can play a linebacker-type role with run fits and responsibilities while still guarding a deep zone. There are several strong candidates for this hybrid position at Penn State. Redshirt senior Zakee Wheatley is the obvious choice, followed by junior King Mack and sophomore Dejuan Lane. At Ohio State last season, Downs was a quasi-linebacker who operated out of the field safety position, likely be- cause it was harder to manipulate him from that spot. The middle safety has the boundary safety to one side and slot safety to the other. Wheatley appears to fit best at the boundary position given the current makeup of Penn State's ros- ter, but he has played the field safety position for his entire career. If Penn State wants to use a safety as its hy- brid player, Wheatley could stay in the field, and Mack could play the bound- ary. Lane is the long-term answer but is still growing as a player. Penn State's Strategy There will definitely be a hybrid player in Penn State's defense this fall, whether it's the Leo or whatever Ohio State called Downs last season. The goal is to confound run fits for the offense and stop running plays with a lighter box count to protect against passing attacks. The innovation that Knowles showed by adapting this idea to safety instead of a defensive end at Ohio State should illustrate why he's such a valu- able addition to Penn State's staff. Knowles is only limited by how much of the plan his players can absorb and the talent he has on the roster. He's shown the creativity to generate win- ning schemes no matter the challenges or restrictions he's faced. Could Penn State play two hybrid po- sitions? With no shackles from a sche- matic perspective, it's entirely possible. However, it's important to consider the practical side of applying these concepts in real life. Penn State needs to build the defense around its best player and its strongest position. On one hand, Fisher is a ready-made Leo, and the Penn State defense has a history of hybrid edge players thriving in a role like this. It would make perfect sense to focus on that position in the first year. But is Fisher the type of player you build a defense around? Just as offenses aim to get the ball in the hands of their top playmakers, Knowles has said he likes to "run plays" for the Leo. If Fisher doesn't get home on a designed pass rush, there's a danger that you get no pass rush. Granville can also fill this role to a degree, and a split-duty situa- tion makes sense, especially on obvious passing downs when you don't have to hide the fact that Granville is going after the quarterback. At safety, Wheatley is more of a cen- terpiece player whom the defense was likely to feature this year anyway. The team also has three strong, viable can- didates to fill this hybrid role. For now, there are more questions than answers, and that's likely to remain the case for a while. There's no reason for Penn State to lay out its plans at this early stage, or at any point before the season kicks off in August. ■ "We're not looking to overtrain this guy. We want to give playmakers a chance to make plays, run or pass. To do that, you can't overcomplicate it." K N O W L E S O N T H E ' L E O ' P O S I T I O N Knowles has been using hybrid players at safety and defensive end since his days as defensive coordinator at Oklahoma State. PHOTO BY GREG PICKEL