Penn State has officially named six captains for its 2023 team. The Nittany Lions selected two captains each on offense, on defense and for the special teams.<\/p>\n
The Nittany Lions have turned to star offensive tackle Olu Fashanu and tight end Theo Johnson as their leaders on the offensive side of the ball this season. Fashanu passed up millions in the NFL Draft last year to return for another season in blue and white. He\u2019s already been named the the watch lists for the Outland Trophy, Walter Camp and Lombardi Awards.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s still developing, he\u2019s still getting better,\u201d head coach James Franklin told reporters of Fashanu last week. \u201cFrom everything that I know and I\u2019ve talked to, he was being projected as a first rounder. I want to do everything we can to help him become a top 10 pick, which I think he is in terms of not only a player but a franchise guy in terms of how he goes about his business. The guy wants to be great in everything he does.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson is hoping to fill the void left by second-round pick Brenton Strange and he certainly has the ability. He missed the spring in part due to an off-field altercation, but Franklin has lauded his leadership skills in the past.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, having him back as a player? There\u2019s a ton of value in that,\u201d Franklin said. \u201cWhen you talk about leadership, it\u2019s very obvious to us right now, as a staff and the players<\/a>, that it\u2019s really important for Theo to have a significant leadership role this year. You can see him trying to take on that role, being more vocal compared to how he\u2019s been in the past. And how his teammates are receiving that information<\/a>, the impact he\u2019s having on others.\u201d<\/p>\n The Nittany Lions will turn to a pair of veterans as their defensive captains for the season. State College native and projected starting safety Keaton Ellis will team with senior defensive end Adisa Isaac to lead the way on Manny Diaz\u2019s explosive defense. Along with Fashanu, Ellis and Isaac represented Penn State at Big Ten Media Days last month.<\/p>\n \u201cMy leadership style is just lead by example,\u201d Ellis said earlier this year. \u201cShow everybody, and especially the younger players, what it means to be a part of this team, and what it takes, and your work ethic at practice. I think a step that I took is just speaking up when needed to speak up in some aspects. I\u2019m not the most super outgoing and talkative person and don\u2019t have a huge personality. So, that\u2019s not my forte.<\/p>\n \u201cBut if it\u2019s at the end of practice, talking to my safeties, or at the end of practice with the defense, making sure to just give it a few words, whatever needs to be said.\u201d<\/p>\n A Brooklyn native, Isaac overcame an Achilles injury that cost him the 2021 season and led the Nittany Lions in tackles for loss in 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to get out of character, because I\u2019m not the most vocal guy, but I definitely lead by example,\u201d Isaac said this summer. \u201cI talk when it\u2019s necessary and guys listen. They know I\u2019m not here to attack them at all. They know I\u2019m here to help them in every way possible. So when I talk, my words go a long way.\u201d<\/p>\n Penn State carried on its strong special teams coverage last season thanks in large part to wide receiver Malick Meiga and linebacker Dom Deluca. The pair have been appointed captains ahead of the 2023 season.<\/p>\n Meiga, a junior from Montreal, made his name as a gunner on punt coverage last season and he\u2019s been a core special teamer for Stacy Collins\u2019 crew.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cJust keep your head down, keep working,\u201d Meiga said this spring of his style. \u201cYou never know when your shot is out there. And you gotta be ready whenever you gotta be on the field. Be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n Deluca went from a walk-on safety to a contributor at both linebacker and on special teams. He earned a scholarship from the Nittany Lions after the Rose Bowl.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cDom\u2019s been awesome,\u201d Collins<\/a> said in December. \u201cIf you look at what he\u2019s done, just consistently, I don\u2019t think a lot of people have gotten a chance to see it. He\u2019s been elite running down on our kickoff units. I mean elite. [On] the opening kickoff of Michigan State he splits a double and makes a tackle inside the 20.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA workmanlike dude. I get the opportunity to be in the room with him, but I can\u2019t say enough good things about Dom Deluca. He certainly fits into that role with [Tyler Warren<\/a>] as leaders of the team, and I would add Malick Meiga<\/a> to that as well. You look at the amount of reps that they\u2019ve played on special teams and the production that he\u2019s played, especially from our coverage unit standpoint. He\u2019s blocked a punt for us this year and it\u2019s been great.\u201d<\/p>\n The post Meet Penn State football\u2019s 2023 season captains<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Penn State has officially named six captains for its 2023 team. The Nittany Lions selected…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14119\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Penn State\u2019s Defensive Captains<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Penn State\u2019s Special Teams Captains<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n