Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1539550
2 2 O C T O B E R 2 0 2 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M tive NFL teams. Dennis-Sutton figures to join them next year after doing ev- erything he can to power the Penn State defense this fall. "He's a well-rounded defensive end," Franklin said earlier this year. "There are some guys across the country who are great pass rushers. Some guys are good against the run. He can do both. He's a unique guy, and he's going to have a big year. "I think what separates him is the thing that all of them can do, but very few do — it's his motor. He's always 100 mph from the snap to the whistle. He plays his tail off, and usually when you play hard, good things happen. If you keep running to the ball, you're going to end up making a play, whether it's a tackle for a loss, a sack, a play down the field, where you put it on tape and im- press everybody, or the ball comes out and you're running, you're able to re- cover it. When you play with that type of effort, good things happen. "And he's hungry, he's motivated, he's driven. He wants to be great. A lot of guys say they want to be great. This guy eats, sleeps and dreams football. He wants to be special, and he's been that way since we recruited him. Since he's been on campus, he's just continued to get better." Penn State needs Dennis-Sutton to have a big year, because he leads an in- experienced defensive end group. Super senior Zuriah Fisher is back in action and starts at the opposite edge-rushing spot, but he's been injured for much of his ca- reer; when he took the field against Flor- ida International in Week 2, it was his first game appearance since the 2023 season. After Fisher and Dennis-Sutton, there's not much experience to lean on. Freshman Chaz Coleman headlines the team's youth movement, and his strip sack against FIU demonstrated that he's likely to be a key player for the Lions this fall. Franklin said that the four-star pros- pect from Warren, Ohio, has shown the ability to grow quickly into a key role. "He's only played defensive end for two years," the coach said. "He was a high school quarterback his junior year, so I think he's got a chance to take leaps and bounds each game." Franklin noted that Dennis-Sutton's "tough love" will help speed Coleman's development and added that there are more game reps in his future. "Rather than playing a three-deep [rotation] at defensive end, there will be games where we play a two-deep," Franklin said. "That may mean eight to 12 more reps for him." Redshirt freshmen Jaylen Harvey and Ever since James Franklin became its head coach, Penn State has excelled at preparing pass rushers for the NFL. If you count Micah Parsons, who was listed as a linebacker during his college career, 10 PSU edge rushers have been drafted since Franklin took over the program in 2014. That total includes four first-rounders — Par- sons and Odafe Oweh in 2021, Chop Robinson in 2024 and Abdul Carter this past April. Seven of the 10 PSU edge-rushing draftees are still in the league, and five are still with the teams that selected them. Of those seven, the only players who have moved on from their original teams are Yetur Gross-Matos and Parsons. After starting out in Carolina, Gross-Matos is now in his second season with San Fran- cisco, while Parsons was recently traded to Green Bay after an ac- rimonious contract dispute with Dallas. He recently signed a pact worth $186 million over four years, making him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history. Here's a look at the Penn State edge rushers who have been drafted since 2015, the first year in which Franklin-coached PSU players began entering the league. — Matt Herb James Franklin's Edge-Rushing Draftees Year Player Team Rd. Pick 2016 Carl Nassib Cleveland 3 65 2019 Shareef Miller Philadelphia 4 138 2020 Yetur Gross-Matos Carolina 2 38 2021 Micah Parsons Dallas 1 12 2021 Odafe Oweh Baltimore 1 31 2021 Shaka Toney Washington 7 246 2022 Arnold Ebiketie Atlanta 2 38 2024 Chop Robinson Miami 1 21 2024 Adisa Isaac Baltimore 3 93 2025 Abdul Carter New York Giants 1 3 Penn State Pass Rushers Make Strong Impression On NFL Micah Parsons was a consensus All-American and the Big Ten's Linebacker of the Year in 2019, his second and final season at Penn State. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL