DEFENSIVE LINE
KEY RETURNEES DE: Torrence
Brown, Curtis Cothran, Evan Schwan,
Garrett Sickels; DT: Parker Cothren,
Antoine White
KEY LOSSES DT: Austin Johnson,
Tarow Barney, Anthony Zettel; DE: Carl
Nassib
NEWCOMERS DE: Ryan Buchholz,
Kevin Givens, Daniel Joseph, Shareef
Miller, Shane Simmons; DT: Kamonte
Carter, Michael Dwumfour, Ellison Jor-
dan, Robert Windsor
OUTLOOK After the quarterback spot,
this is Penn State's biggest unknown –
and potentially its biggest liability. The
three starters who are departing – John-
son, Zettel and Nassib – combined to
make 175 tackles, 45.5 tackles for loss
and 26 sacks in 2015. Johnson and Zettel
were three-year starters, while Nassib
was a revelation in his first and only sea-
son as a starting defensive end, leading
the country in sacks with 15.5.
One piece of good news here is that
Penn State returns an up-and-comer in
Sickels. During his redshirt sophomore
year, Sickels started 12 games and had 5.5
tackles for loss and three sacks. He's
listed at 6-4, 258, so he's got the physi-
cal prowess to become a major playmak-
er for the Nittany Lions. Franklin noted
that he's "got a lot of things that you're
looking for in terms of the attitude, in
terms of the body type, in terms of the
athleticism and quickness, and obvious-
ly he's had a great situation in terms of
being able to grow in the program and in
A T T H E 2 0 1 6 N I T T A N Y L I O N S
CHASE SCENE Sick-
els prepares to wrap
up Georgia tailback
Sony Michel in the
TaxSlayer Bowl. Photo
by Steve Manuel
