Penn State Potential: Defense/Special Teams- The Really Good

In part one of the three-part series we previewed how Penn State’s offense could be really good, today it’s the defense and special teams. Right off the bat you notice some guys missing from last year’s unit; Austin Johnson, Carl Nassib, and Anthony Zettel are all off to the NFL as they accounted for 26 of Penn State’s 46 sacks on the season. Nassib having 15.5 of those sacks. The back end of the defense is strong as most starters return including Nyeem Wartman-White who is coming off a torn ACL suffered in the first game of the 2015 season. The secondary loses key pieces in Jordan Lucas and Trevor Williams but they have great, young talent to make up for those two loses. Here is how the defense/special teams can be really good.

We start with the really good:

• Having a dynamic player on defense is almost as important as having a dynamic player on offense. Penn State is looking for that dynamic playmaker and he could be lurking in the secondary at safety. Marcus Allen enters his junior season with considerable hype. It’s not the Saquon Barkley’s hype, but the 6’2”, 205-pound hard-hitting safety, who has drawn comparisons from teammates to Seattle Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor, looks to become the leader of a defense that gave up 21.6 PPG a season ago. Joining Allen in the secondary is sophomore John Reid who came on strong last season with 2 interceptions and 3 passes broken up. Opposite Reid will be running back turned corner back, Nick Scott. Scott is a bigger corner at 5’11”, 200-pounds. Grant Haley is another corner who can become a game changer.
• Ideal Situation: Allen turns out an All-Big Ten performance with multiple game-changing plays. Reid is Penn State’s lockdown corner.

• Having to replace three guys who are now in the NFL is hard enough but when they are all from the defensive line it adds to the difficulty. The defensive line as been the teams strong suit for a good part for 15 years but this year could be different. This year might be weakest unit they've had in that 15-year span. You most likely don’t know the names Evan Schwan, Garret Sickels, Torrence Brown, Parker Conthran, or Antoine White, but by seasons end there is a chance one if not two of those names will be well-known. And quite frankly, they’re going to have to be.
• Ideal Situation: One of those names, or someone else, has a breakout season having 8.5 sacks or more and leads the front seven.

• Penn State is ‘Linebacker U’, plain and simple. Other schools will make claims to that but when it comes down to it Penn State wears the crown. With that said, this year they could add another name to the long list of linebackers who have put their stamp on the program. When you have names like Ham, Conlin, Arrington, Posluszny, Connor, Lee, Bowman, Mauti, just to name a few, you need to do something special to be added to that list. Brandon Bell, Nyeeem Wartman-White, and Jason Cabinda are the guys this year who will anchor a linebacking core that doesn’t have experience aside from those three. Wartman-White is coming off a torn ACL suffered against Temple last year so his health will be a topic of discussion. Cabinda led the team in tackles last season with 100 and seems to be the one getting all the attention as the next linebacker at Penn State to be great. But don’t sleep on Bell to make his impact.
• Ideal Situation: One of these guys becomes that Penn State linebacker and has an All-Big Ten/All-American type of season (100+ tackles, 6 TFL, 4 sacks, 2 INT).

• Penn State’s special teams have been anything but special over the years. They haven’t had a punt return for a touchdown since 2007 (Derrick Williams), and haven’t had a kickoff return for a touchdown since 2011 (Chaz Powell). That stat must change. I’m not saying they need a returner who will return every kickoff or punt for a touchdown, but someone who will change field position. For example: if a punt is fielded at the 25-yard line, they need someone who can get it out to the 40-yard line. That's all I ask. DeAndre Thompkins was returning punts for most of the season but had issues with drops. He also had an issue with a 7.74 return average. Koa Farmer, Nick Scott, and Brandon Polk were the guys who returned kickoffs, all with an average of 20 yards or more. But no touchdowns. That’s got to change.
• Ideal Situation: SOMEONE RETURNS A PUNT OR KICKOFF FOR A TOUCHDOWN. PLEASE.

This is a new Penn State defense we're going to be seeing and it's filled with a lot of speed and athleticism. In today's college game you need to have that. Let's hope it can turn out a top defense.