Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1547542
D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 6 13 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M R edshirt junior linebacker Tony Ro- jas has been a steadying force on an up-and-down Penn State defense this season. Heading into the Nittany Lions' game against Minnesota on Nov. 14, Rojas was leading the team in tackles (66), tack- les for loss (11.5) and sacks (5), and he was tied for the team lead in interceptions (2). That work has not gone unnoticed. Looking ahead to next year's NFL Draft, several prominent analysts have placed Rojas among the leading prospects at his position. ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. ranked Rojas fourth among linebackers in his Oct. 31 update, while Mike Renner of CBS Sports agreed with that position rank and had him as the No. 58 overall 2027 prospect. In the NFL Mock Draft Database, Rojas jumped from No. 299 prior to the start of the season to No. 84 through the Nit- tany Lions' first eight games. One reason for his dramatic rise was that Rojas was coming off a season-ending knee injury in 2025, and analysts were waiting to see whether he was fully recovered. Prior to the start of the season, Renner assigned Rojas a Day 2 grade, projecting him as a second- or third-round choice. The CBS Sports analyst noted that the linebacker had demonstrated top-75 potential during the first four games of Penn State's 2025 campaign before he suffered a torn ACL in practice. Describing Rojas as a "do-it-all mid- dle linebacker," Renner cited a reported 4.37-second 40-yard dash during on- campus testing in the spring of his soph- omore year. Dane Brugler of The Athletic ranked Rojas fourth among linebackers in his summer evaluation, identifying range as his strongest attribute. He pointed to the Oregon film as evidence that the athletic testing translated into useful football skills. "Penn State is known for producing freakish athletes, and Rojas belongs in that conversation," Brugler wrote. "You can see his athletic traits against a fast offense on the Oregon tape. … Rojas doesn't look outmatched when asked to turn and run in coverage with Kenyon Sadiq and his 4.3 speed." Rojas has done nothing to contradict that assessment this fall. In October, he was named a second-team Midseason All-American by the Associated Press, and he's also a semifinalist for the But- kus Award. Going into the homestretch of the 2026 season, he said he felt like he was "playing at a good level." "I'm kind of hard on myself. I know I have a lot to improve on," he said. "Dur- ing the bye week and going forward, just watching film, I know I could be better at things, like getting off blocks against the O-line." Rojas is not the only Penn State draft prospect who has been garnering at- tention lately. Kiper's Oct. 31 rankings also placed redshirt junior Andrew Rap- pleyea fourth among tight ends, giving the Nittany Lions another player in a positional top five. Rappleyea did not appear in CBS Sports' rankings, but he was listed No. 143 overall in the Mock Draft Database. In addition, redshirt senior cornerback Audavion Collins has also been putting together a solid draft résumé, winning first-team Midseason All-America hon- ors from Sports Illustrated. Collins was listed No. 74 overall by MDDB and No. 44 by CBS Sports, coming in sixth among cornerbacks in the latter's positional rankings. Head coach Matt Campbell recently described Collins as "the standard bearer of what this program should look like," citing his defensive performance as well as his involvement on offense as a re- ceiver specializing in jet sweeps. ■ Rojas Makes Positive Impression On Draft Analysts M A T T H E R B | M AT T. H E R B @ O N 3 . C O M Coming back strong from a season-ending injury last fall, Rojas has been Penn State's top tackler with 66 stops through nine games this season. PHOTO BY FRANK HYATT