Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1544665
1 4 M A Y 2 0 2 6 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Point – Counterpoint Linebacker U Should Live Up To Its Nickname This Fall Greg Pickel: The Nittany Lions had some ups and downs in their first spring under head coach Matt Campbell. A num- ber of players who are expected to occupy rotational roles this coming fall were forced to miss some or all of the team's practice sessions, and even a few major contributors were out of action. Despite being shorthanded, Penn State did make substantial progress in a lot of areas. My biggest takeaway this spring was that the Nittany Lions and their fans should feel very good about the line- backer group this year. That's true even though redshirt junior Tony Ro- jas and sophomore Alex Tatsch were not available for spring ball due to in- juries. The former is said to be ahead of schedule in his recovery, while the latter probably won't be available until sometime closer to the start of the season — and even that might be optimistic. "We're super excited about that group, and we 're n o t eve n ta l k- ing about Alex Tatsch and what I've seen in the video and how I've wa tc h e d h i m wo rk ," C a m p b e l l sa i d . "A n d then to have a guy like Tony Rojas, who's played great football here, who can be an anchor to ev- erybody and the glue [is important]. It's been great to have that room [develop] some great maturity." The Nittany Lions hope to have a healthy Rojas teaming up with a trio of Iowa State transfers — seniors Kooper Ebel and Caleb Bacon and junior Cael Brezina — to lead the way and give position coaches Tyson Veidt and Dan Connor an abundance of talent at the highest levels of the depth chart. The overall numbers — there are only eight linebackers listed and three will start in D'Anton Lynn's defense most games — gave me pause at the start of spring ball. But after watching the new- comers work and hearing about them from coaches and other players, I no longer feel like this is a position group to worry about ahead of preseason camp. Rocco Becht Is The Leader That A Patchwork Team Needs Ryan Snyder: Above all else, we learned what a healthy season from redshirt senior quarterback Rocco Becht could mean for the Penn State football program in 2026 and beyond. While serving as the starting signal-caller at Iowa State last year, Becht played through injuries to both shoulders, one of which required surgery in December. Those setbacks affected his availability this spring, but not as much as might have been expected, and Matt Campbell has assured that he'll be "ready to rock and roll" when the season begins. "The fact that we've gotten this much out of him [in spring practice] — we're way ahead of where we probably thought we would be," Campbell said. "That's really big for him. His leadership out on the football field and in this locker room is critical for us." Campbell's words offer encouragement, but maybe even more important is the leadership I've seen from Becht and that we've heard about from others in the program over the past couple of months. The 2026 roster features a lot of new faces, and that can be a gift or a curse. Given the composition of this year's team, good leader- ship is essential. The Li- ons need to mesh together into a cohesive whole, and Becht has played a key role in making that happen. "What you love about Rocco is that every day you walk past him at 4 o'clock and he's got the entire receiving corps and tight end corps [with him]," Campbell said. "He's meeting with those guys and going over practice. That's what you want to see." We've been around Becht in a few different settings now, and in every one of them, he's represented himself and the program in the exact manner that Penn State fans would want to see. He'll only have one season to wear the blue and white, but if he can bring this team together and rally them to a suc- cessful season, it will set the Nittany Lions up for even more success down the road. What Was Your Most Significant Takeaway From Spring Practice? Tony Rojas is expected to be fully healthy this fall after missing the last nine games of Penn State's 2025 season with an injury. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS On the mend from shoulder surgery, Becht was a more active participant in spring prac- tice than some observers likely expected. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS