Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1543434
M A R C H 2 0 2 6 4 9 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / N E W D E F E N S E / / / / / / / In 2023, UCLA's best pass rusher, Laiatu Latu, lined up as an interior player or head up on the tackle 70 times. While that was far from a plurality of his snaps, it was a meaningful amount for the 6-5, 265-pound edge rusher. Consider that Penn State's Dani Dennis-Sutton was sta- tioned head up or inside the tackles for just 36 of his 641 defensive snaps in 2025. The main takeaway here is that Penn State's edge rushers will be asked to play the run and be more involved in the plan under Lynn than they were in previous years. As a result, the team needs physi- cal defenders on the edge. Alexander McPherson, a sophomore transfer from Colorado, is listed at 6-6, 240 pounds. Redshirt sophomore returnee Max Gran- ville stands 6-3, 248. They'll need to play as standup outside linebackers on one play, but then line up inside the tackle to stop the run on the next. Depending on the call, they'll also need to drop into coverage on zone blitzes. The Biggest Mystery The front sets the plan for the second- ary by determining how many defensive backs are available on any given play to create coverage shells. It's the opposite of the previous plan. Under Knowles, the defense made the admission that it didn't plan on playing certain fronts because that would take too many players away from coverage. In a pass-happy era, the decision to make the nickel defender into a full safety makes sense. However, it leaves you vul- nerable to run plays unless you have an elite defensive line that can control the game's flow. Going forward, Penn State will oper- ate with a fifth defensive back on an as- needed basis. Expect to see a lot of senior nickel back Zion Tracy when the Nittany Lions play pass-first spread teams. But Tracy will mostly be a cornerback, not a true safety. That will allow Lynn to play more fronts and add players into the box from traditional alignments. Of course, nothing is cost-free. If you play a five-man defensive line, you have fewer coverage players on the back end. Predicting how Lynn will deploy his cov- erage unit in 2026 is tricky because it de- pends on the skills of those players. Do you have elite cover corners who can man up and take away passing threats? Lynn tried that at USC last season. Do you have zone corners who can read and react to route combinations and then attack them from off-coverage? UCLA used that plan in 2023. For now, the Nittany Lions have a mix. The starters who have been retained — Tracy, redshirt senior cornerback Auda- vion Collins and sophomore cornerback Daryus Dixson — are primarily man cov- erage players, although Dixson showed during his true freshman season that he can do both at a high level. The four Iowa State defensive backs who transferred to PSU are all zone players who lack either the elite speed or hips to turn and run with receivers. The Lions will play both man and zone coverages this year. Yet it matters what Lynn views as the dominant philosophy because players with those skills will have an advantage in the competition for play- ing time. For example, in a zone-heavy system, redshirt senior Jeremiah Coo- per could play much more nickel or even cornerback, putting pressure on Tracy, Dixson and Collins for playing time. In a man coverage system, Cooper makes more sense as a free safety and would slot in ahead of senior Jamison Patton. Hybrid Theory In his three seasons as a defensive coor- dinator, Lynn has used unique body types and skill sets to create problems for of- fenses. We've already mentioned Latu, but the more interesting player in 2023 was "edge rusher" Carl Jones Jr. Jones played primarily as a defensive end at 6-2, 230 pounds. While he rushed the passer on 185 snaps, he also dropped into coverage 125 times, making him the true definition of a "tweener." Jones was much stronger than his weight would in- dicate and played the run reasonably well while proving effective in zone coverage. He wasn't elite in either area, but more than any other player, he helped the de- fense truly morph from play to play. At USC last season, Lynn centered his hybridization project around 6-6, 225-pound linebacker Eric Gentry. Gen- try played 462 snaps as a box linebacker for the Trojans, but also had 95 snaps as a defensive lineman and 110 snaps in the slot. He was a better pass rusher than cov- erage player, tallying 11 pressures and 5 quarterback hits on 57 rushes. In cover- age, he allowed an 80 percent completion rate and a 102.9 passer rating but created some havoc and denied enough passes to still be an asset while dropping. The biggest weakness of Lynn's defense in his two seasons at USC was the passing game. When you put five players on the defensive line, there's much more pres- sure on the second and third levels of the defense. One mistake can lead to big plays in space. While USC was just about average in allowing explosive plays last year, it gave up the most yards after the catch of any Big Ten team at 1,633. That worked out to 6.2 yards after the catch per play (16th). UCLA had similar difficulties in 2023. It was still in the Pac-12 at the time, but it would have ranked 16th out of the 18 cur- rent Big Ten teams with 1,574 yards al- lowed after the catch. Logically, it makes sense, right? If the quarterback gets the ball off and com- pletes a pass, one missed tackle leads to lots of YAC because there are fewer players in coverage to make up for a mistake. ■ Playing primarily as a nickel safety, Zion Tracy started nine games last year and finished with 32 tackles. PHOTO BY FRANK HYATT