Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1542734
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 6 3 7 to see him in action before bringing him to Penn State. Siale Taupake | DT | R-Sr.+ Listed at 6-2, 310 pounds, Taupaki is a run-stuffing tackle who will take up plenty of space in the middle of the defense. He comes to Penn State from UCLA, where he started out as an of- fensive lineman before switching sides in 2024. He had 15 tackles, including 2 for loss and a sack, in 12 games last season. Dallas Vakalahi | DT | Jr. The 6-2, 318-pound defensive tackle transferred to Penn State after playing in 18 games with five starts in two sea- sons at Utah. As a sophomore last year, the Salt Lake City native finished with 9 tackles in 220 snaps. Keanu Williams | DT | R-Sr. Like Taupake, Williams has trans- ferred from UCLA. The two former Bru- ins played for defensive line coach Ikaika Malloe during their time in Los Angeles and decided to follow him when he was hired by Campbell to take charge of the Lions' defensive front. Last year, the 6-5, 320-pound Williams bounced back from an injury that caused him to miss nearly all of the 2024 season, totaling 39 tackles. 2026 LOOK AHEAD DEFENSIVE LINE The Penn State defensive line has undergone a significant trans- formation to align with the team's new multiple-front philosophy. In the middle, the Nittany Lions are no longer chasing the upside of athletic defensive tackles to get upfield and make plays with speed. Instead, the defense will focus on strength and size. That said, PSU doesn't want size for its own sake. Players like Armstrong Nnodim, Keanu Williams and Siale Taupaki all bring their own athletic gifts and boast varying degrees of quickness, agility and explosiveness. The difference from the previous plan is that the staff will clearly sacrifice the highest levels of those traits to find size, power and length on the interior. Defensive tackles often tend to be categorized as either three- technique or one-technique players to describe their positional attributes. However, defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn does not appear to differentiate between the two positions on the depth chart. There may be a general understanding of situational skills, but each player needs to be able to play both positions. The reason comes down to defensive fronts. Generally, there are two main fronts for a defense that operates out of a four-down alignment: the over front and the under front. The defense aligns to the offensive formation and declares what front it's using based on where the defenders line up. However, offenses like to move tight ends pre-snap, changing the front for the defense. Having big physical discrepancies between different types of de- fensive tackles becomes a liability because it requires the tackles to stand up and switch places, complicating the pre-snap align- ment process seconds before they need to execute the play. In Lynn's system, both tackles will need to be able to play one, three, zero, and sometimes five (over the tackle) techniques up front. When you reduce the position down to the most important traits, you cannot have a 285-pound defensive lineman routinely playing nose tackle and expect success. So, the majority of the defensive tackles need to have nose tackle traits. Likewise, the Lions will need multifaceted players at the defen- sive end spots who, along with their traditional assignments, can also play inside the tackles or drop into coverage. Penn State needs an element of speed up front, and right now, Max Granville is that guy. He has the potential to drop in coverage and play a two-way role as a defensive end who can run in the 4.5s. Granville has traits you want in the lineup and is similar to the type of edge rushers Lynn has used in the past. Behind him, we have a totally different body type in Alijah Car- nell. The 6-5, 290-pounder played the three-technique role in Iowa State's defense, which we don't expect to exist in this itera- tion. However, he'll likely still play as a hybrid defensive end who primarily lines up as an outside linebacker but can collapse inside to play as a pass-rushing defensive tackle or as an early-down run defender around the tackle (five- or three-technique). On the other side, Penn State has a similar situation with Yvan Kemajou, a big-bodied power rusher with good run-defense po- tential who fits the system well. Alexander McPherson is 6-6 and looks as if he can add weight to play around 255-265, which was the typical size of Lynn's pass rushers from UCLA in 2023. Of the two, McPherson has the obvious traits to be a power rusher who can line up inside or outside and affect the game. — Thomas Frank Carr 2026 Outlook Defensive tackle Ty Blanding played in all 13 games for the Nittany Lions last season, finishing with 9 tackles, including 2 for loss. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS