Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1545675
A U G U S T 2 0 2 6 71 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / L I N E B A C K E R S / / / / / / / me that it was important for me to stay here. That was a big thing for me. He showed me how valuable I am and how much I can affect our team." In August, the next steps of that jour- ney will become real. That's when the 6-foot-2, 236-pound veteran will re- turn to the practice field and take his place in D'Anton Lynn's defense as a Will linebacker. While no one is more eager for his return than Rojas himself, the Lions' new defensive coordinator is a close second. "You watch him on tape and you can obviously tell he's extremely athletic," Lynn said. "And then I get here, I see him in person, and I had no idea he was that big. He was injured for spring ball, and we didn't get a chance to see him out there. "Then you finally start getting him out here in drills like we have in June. We had seen the movement skills on tape, but until you see it in person, you just don't quite realize how fast he is, how explosive he is, how twitchy he is. He's an extremely good athlete for someone his size. You see it on tape, but to see it in person caught me off-guard. I'm excited about him." The feeling, for Rojas, is mutual. He's coming up on a 2026 season that is full of possibility, both for the Nittany Lions and for himself. "Once camp comes, I think I'm going to feel great," he said. "I'm just very ex- cited to showcase everything I've been holding in all four years and put it all together." ■ 2025 vs. 2026: Stock Up Or Down? Hopes were high with Jim Knowles coming aboard last year to oversee Penn State's defense, but nothing went according to plan for the linebackers. Tony Rojas was lost for the season with a torn ACL just four games in. Amare Campbell, with whom Rojas had been working hand in hand, was rarely able to come off the field, finishing with a team-high 769 of a possible 848 defensive snaps. Rojas' injury forced Dominic DeLuca into a role that did not play to his strengths. The Lions had little choice but to speed the develop- ment of younger linebackers, hoping that Keon Wylie, Anthony Speca and/or Alex Tatsch would be ready for significant playing time. In the end, Wylie, with 215 snaps, was the only member of that trio to top Rojas' four-game total of 176. Like most of PSU's position groups, the linebacker unit has been thoroughly overhauled. Campbell followed Knowles to Tennes- see, while Wylie (Virginia Tech) and Speca (Purdue) also moved on. That leaves only three returnees: Rojas, who will be a redshirt junior, Tatsch, a sophomore, and Cam Smith, a redshirt freshman. To restock the position group, Penn State brought in four lineback- ers from Iowa State — seniors Kooper Ebel, Caleb Bacon and John Klosterman, and junior Cael Brezina — and one from West Virginia in sophomore Chris Fileppo. The former Cyclones are learning to play in a defense with four down linemen after working out of a 3-3-5 base under coordina- tor Jon Heacock, who opted not to follow Matt Campbell to PSU. Adding to the difficulty, Rojas missed all of spring practice while continuing to recover from his knee injury. New Penn State defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn will deploy 4-2-5 and 4-3 base defenses, with more of the latter likely. That should put Rojas and Ebel at the top of the snap sheet by the end of the season. Considering what the new linebackers bring with them from a production and experience standpoint, we'll go stock up for first-year position coach Tyson Veidt's unit. X-Factor Rojas' health is the biggest question the linebackers face this year. When healthy, he's been a force. But for much of his career, he's either been hindered or out of action entirely. He played most of the 2024 season with an upper-body injury, then got hurt in practice prior to the UCLA game last October, bringing his season to an end. The Iowa State newcomers all have had to play in space at times, but none boast the experience, let alone the speed, that has made Rojas such an effective defender against the pass. He also is skilled at diagnosing plays and can clean up mistakes, making him an eraser in Lynn's first Penn State defense. Freshman Outlook A light high school recruiting class combined with a veteran- heavy transfer portal haul has left the Lions with just two fresh- man linebackers — Smith and 2026 signee Keian Kaiser. As a true freshman last year, Smith saw just 1 snap; it came when DeLuca needed to leave the UCLA game for a play after his helmet came off. A former Rivals Industry Ranking four-star recruit, the 6-foot, 222-pound Smith will likely be in developmental mode again this year. He projects as a backup outside linebacker. Kaiser is a three-star recruit out of Sidney (Neb.) High and the only linebacker in PSU's latest class. The 6-4, 215-pound defender was part of Iowa State's class until Campbell headed to State Col- lege. He made 352 tackles during his high school career, including 111 stops as a senior, with 39 for loss. Redshirt senior Caleb Bacon (left) and sophomore Chris Fileppo were two of the line- backers who joined PSU via the transfer portal in January, arriving from Iowa State and West Virginia, respectively. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS