Penn State practice report: Defense notes and observations ahead of Delaware
Penn State opened its doors for a brief window on Wednesday afternoon for the weekly open portion of practice. Here are some observations from the defensive side of the field.
– Just one of the three defensive players who missed the game against West Virginia on Saturday were spotted during the open portion. Amin Vanover seemed to draw scout team duty, though. Neither Coziah Izzard nor Daequan Hardy were with their respective position groups. Vanover did not go through defensive line drills with the rest of the defensive ends.
– Numbers remained thin at both end and tackle. Mason Robinson was called up to the travel squad and was sporting his familiar No. 42 instead of a scout team number. He was clearly learning on the fly compared to the other ends who are used to going through the appropriate motions. Robinson missed a bit of time in August with an injury, but he did dress on Saturday and went through drills today. Classmate Jameial Lyons looks as if he’s getting ready for an increased workload this week. He took a particularly aggressive rep in a tackling drills.
– Curiously, Penn State didn’t pull Kaleb Artis or Davon Townley up to go through drills with the defensive tackles. That left the group that we saw on Saturday — Hakeem Beamon, Zane Durant, D’Von Ellies and Jordan van den Berg — going through drills with Deion Barnes. It was a small group.
– All the linebackers were present and accounted for. Abdul Carter, who made headlines earlier on Wednesday, was a part of drills. Kavieon Keys and Ta’Mere Robinson were both in scout team numbers.
More on the Penn State defense
– The reps for the safeties and corners replicated what we saw on Saturday night. Jaylen Reed and KJ Winston were the first teamers at safety followed by Keaton Ellis and Zakee Wheatley. Wheatley made a pretty ridiculous and also nonchalant one-handed interception in drills. The ball skills are real. At corner, without Hardy present, the line went as expected. Kalen King, Johnny Dixon, Cam Miller, Zion Tracy and Elliot Washington led the way.
– We were privy to a few O-Line/D-Line one-on-ones before our time was up on the field.
– Caedan Wallace beat Dani Dennis-Sutton with a pretty solid rep.
– Dennis-Sutton came back on the rematch and got inside with a spin move.
– Sal Wormley stoned a Zane Durant bull rush for a win.
– Addison Penn, playing center, beat a scout team defensive lineman wearing No. 55, likely Sam Siafa.
– Zuriah Fisher took a pair of reps from freshman guard Anthony Donkoh, including an impressive swim win on the second.
– Olu Fashanu had one of the better one-on-one reps you’ll see at left tackle in a win over Chop Robinson. Robinson’s helmet came off in the process.
– Drew Shelton won the last rep we saw against Amin Vanover.
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