What young Penn State defensive players are primed to break out? Vets weigh in ahead of bowl
Saturday’s Peach Bowl will be a last hurrah for what could go down as one of the best defenses in Penn State football history. That defense, which possessed both high-end talent and high-end play all season long, will look much different next year.
Defensive ends Adisa Isaac and Chop Robinson have declared for the NFL draft. Cornerback Daequan Hardy has done the same, with position mate Kalen King expected to make the same decision soon, while cornerback Johnny Dixon and safety Keaton Ellis are out of eligibility. Linebacker Curtis Jacobs announced he’s off to the NFL, and defensive tackle Dvon Ellies could make the same decision following the Peach Bowl.
Despite that, there’s reason to believe the Nittany Lions can once again be elite in 2024 on defense thanks to the next wave of talent coming through.
Dani Dennis-Sutton and Tony Rojas are set to take over major roles next season with the former stepping in at defensive end and the latter at linebacker, and both have already impressed their teammates.
“[Dennis-Sutton] came in very talented. Very talented,” Isaac said. “Physically and mentally. Just his mindset, the way he approaches everything, and physically the way he attacks every workout and how seriously he takes it. That right there sets him up with a good foundation to be successful on the field.”
Jacobs added on Rojas: “I’ve seen a lot of growth through the ups and downs. You see it all your freshman year, especially when you’re in that position. I feel like it’s been really good for him to develop this year. That’s something I wish I had a little bit more of my freshman year. I just think he’s ready to take over. He’s been a really athletic guy all year; he plays fast all the time. I think he just is ready to take that next step.”
The compliments didn’t end there either. Defensive end Jameial Lyons drew praise from teammates, and Jacobs commented on a sequence in a scrimmage when he had a pass breakup, a tackle for loss and a strip sack in three straight plays.
The departing linebacker went as far to say that the freshman is a future first-round pick.
“I just see those type of plays, those type of high motor, high-effort plays, and I think that’s what’s going to take him,” Jacobs said. “He just has to keep pushing and keep doing it.”
Jacobs’ fellow starting linebacker, Abdul Carter, will likely be one of the centerpieces of the unit next year, and Jacobs didn’t mince words with what he thinks his position mate can accomplish.
“Being the best linebacker in the country,” Jacobs said. “I know he has the ability to do it.”
Making a coaching transition
The change in the defense won’t just be about the players, either. Manny Diaz coordinated the unit so well over the last two seasons that he parlayed it into the head coaching job at Duke. He’ll be replaced next year by Tom Allen, who was hired as the defensive coordinator and has spent his time with the Nittany Lions getting acclimated to the program and the players.
He’s been able to do that because co-defensive coordinator/safeties coach Anthony Poindexter is the co-interim coordinator alongside analyst Robb Smith. Poindexter said Thursday that his plan for this month has been to maintain consistency with how things were done all season.
“We ended up being the No. 1 defense in the country,” he said. “So we want to try to keep everything as consistent for our kids and how we operated for 12 weeks, for the 13th week. ... We lost Coach Manny, but we had a blueprint that he had left in how we prepare our team, get our team ready to play, and we tried to stick to it as close as we could.”
Poindexter has more than enough familiarity with Allen. During the first four years of Allen’s tenure as Indiana head coach, Poindexter served on the Purdue staff and prepared for the Hoosiers every season — although he was preparing for the IU offense rather than Allen’s defense.
Still, his experience at Purdue, under now-Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm, shed light on how good Allen can be.
“Indiana, obviously, was our rival,” Poindexter said. “I had seen Coach Allen’s defense. I was coaching defense but we had so many crossover games and, being in the same state, you always saw them play. Excellent defensive coordinator. Excellent defensive mind. Coach Brohm is a really good offensive coordinator; I know he always gave him much respect on the schemes and stuff that he ran.”
Allen’s viewpoint will be the primary one for the defense next year when he’s leading the unit. But right now he’s still working through the transition before taking over after the Peach Bowl.
That doesn’t mean he’s not involved, though, and Poindexter said he’s done well with balancing giving input while respecting the coaches who have been on staff all season as the team prepares for its Saturday matchup against Ole Miss.
“He’s sitting in the meetings,” Poindexter said. “I said ‘Coach, wherever you can lend a hand, lend a hand.’ We don’t have egos that way. ... It’s been great.”
That is especially true for Poindexter, who previously said he had conversations about the defensive coordinator position after Diaz left. That can create an awkward situation, with him remaining on staff under someone who got the job over him. Poindexter, however, said that isn’t an issue.
“Look, I got into coaching to help kids,” he said. “... I don’t have to be in charge. I don’t have to be the guy. I done had those moments in my life. I just want to work with a really good organization, with really good people and win games. ... I just like to come to work and have a good time and coach football. That’s just me.”
Quick hitters
LB Curtis Jacobs said he isn’t sure what his snap count will look like in the Peach Bowl, while DE Adisa Isaac said he expects to play the first half “for sure,” but he might slow down after halftime.
CB Johnny Dixon was not seen at the team’s portions of practice that were open to the media this week. When asked if he was here, Poindexter deferred to head coach James Franklin, who was not made available Thursday.
