The Ultimate Penn State Defensive Depth Chart: James Franklin Era
This will be the tenth season of Penn State football under head coach James Franklin. In honor of the decade under his tenure, we’ve put together the definitive depth chart for the past ten years. We’ll conclude our look at the last nine years with the defense.
Defensive end
DE
Yetur Gross-Matos
Shaka Toney
The defensive end position was an unbelievably difficult position to sort. We’re also making this hard by only allowing four players on the list to fill out two-deep. Decisions at this position are also frustrated by the reality that some of the most impactful Penn State players and best performers only had one year of production. So we’re trying to ride the line between career production without deferring to it and simply listing the all-time sack leaders.
When you look at advanced metrics that deal with efficiency, Shaka Toney takes a step back from this group. However, it’s not so far behind that his career production, which was still excellent, is ignorable. Yetur Gross-Matos falls into the same category of prolific production but sub-par efficiency. He makes a list because of his composition abilities as a run defender and all-around rusher.
Conversely, we have one-year wonder-type players in Carl Nassib and Arnold Ebiketie. Nassib’s 15.5 sack senior season at Penn State was a breakout performance worthy of inclusion, as was Ebiketie’s incredible 2021 season. Both players were incredibly productive and efficient during their time rushing the passer. Beyond the sack numbers, Nassib accumulated his stats on just 248 pass-rushing snaps. According to PFF, he was also money in obvious passing situations, with 9 of those sacks coming in this situation. Ebiketie put up similar efficiency metrics, winning 34% of his obvious passing situation rushes. That number was good for sixth nationally in 2021.
However, by the middle of 2023, expect Chop Robinson to boot one of the players off this list.
Defensive Tackle
Like Penn State, we’ll take the best players at defensive tackle and figure it out later. Austin Johnson is the team’s clear-nose tackle body type and is still the program standard for run-stuffing under Franklin. We discussed his career stats earlier this week.
After that, there’s a clear separation for Given and Zettle as three-technique pass rushers. Zettle is tied for 9th all-time in sacks at Penn State with 20, and his 38 career tackles for loss rank tenth all-time. Meanwhile, Givens finished second to Robert Windsor in total pressures from the interior. Givens and Windsor were standout run defenders from the past nine years despite making their name as pass rushers. Both players had an all-around performance that put them on the list.
Linebacker
Parsons leads a group of linebackers that is both impressive and deep. While we never got to see the final season of Parsons at Penn State, the 6-3 outside linebacker put together the most impressive two-season stretch under Franklin. He is an elite run defender, pass rusher, and adequate coverage player for his skill set. He led the team in tackles his freshman season, despite not starting and exploded to national recognition his sophomore season. Behind him is the quiet and underrated Bell, a core player on Penn State’s Big Ten championship defense. Despite his injuries, he’s also one of the best coverage players on the list. Per PFF, he leads the group with four interceptions and 86 career defensive stops.
Middle Linebacker
Mike Hull
Jason Cabinda
While only one season of Mike Hull’s career came under Franklin, He tops the list by just a hair over three-year starter Jason Cabinda. Both are in the top ten all-time in tackles, but Hull’s coverage ability and weighted production give him the start. Jan Johnson just misses the list.
Sam Linebacker
Cam Brown
Curtis Jacobs
Finally, we have the Penn State field linebackers, topped by Cam Brown. The 6-5 linebacker spent most of his career, including his final season, out in space and took the crown for production from the position. While one of Jacobs’ seasons at SAM came during 2020, he’s been a standout in run defense from the field and has been productive since his freshman year.
Safety
Field Safety
Tig Brown
Adrian Amos
Boundary
Safety has quietly produced some of Penn State’s best players over the last nine years of Penn State football, especially in recent years. The duo of Brown and Brisker are not only the best tandem of safeties but the best individual players in the Franklin era. Brown’s ten interceptions in two seasons set the mark for production at the position, while Brisker’s all-around game is the standard for versatility and range. Backing up that duo is Adrian Amos, who played very well in his final season in Happy Valley under Franklin. Allen rounds out the quartet over Nick Scott because of his career production. Allen is the only safety in the top five all-time for tackles at Penn State. While you might consider him a linebacker, as he plays in the NFL, his listed position was always safety in college.
Cornerback
Porter Jr. doesn’t have the interception statistics like some of the other players on this list, which should push him down. However, if I’m starting a secondary and I wanted a boundary corner who could play with physicality and match up against most body types. I’d pick him over Oruwariye, who had more of a finesse style of play. You can argue which style is more effective, but Porter Jr’s draft selection 32nd overall is my tiebreaker. Oruwariye has the second-most interceptions at Penn State and equally deserves a starting position.
Slot
While Haley made some of his best plays from the outside corner, he also played the second-most snaps at slot corner over the last nine seasons of Penn State Football. His mark on the program is clear for his work during the 2016 season. While his kick return against Ohio State doesn’t apply to his play at corner, he is undoubtedly among the six best corners in the Franklin era. Hardy has already cemented his place on this list from a production standpoint from the slot, leading in most coverage statistics. Another good year at the position in 2023 should push him past Haley for a starting spot.
Cornerback
King has the chance to top a linear list of best players at cornerback in Penn State history with what we expect from his final season. His work last year was enough to give him the starting nod over former Nittany Lion corner John Reid. Reid’s injury history hampered a quality career with the team, which included four years of starting-level play.
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