Contrary to the offseason narrative, Penn State senior cornerback Daequan Hardy’s 2022 numbers suggest it might not take much to return to form.
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After punctuating a pleasantly-surprising junior campaign with a cinematic pick-6 at Michigan State, piercing the sheets of snowflakes in his road all-whites as the blizzard raged on, it was expected Daequan Hardy would take another giant step forward last season.
Well, that didn’t really happen.
While secondary teammates Kalen King and Johnny Dixon took to new defensive coordinator Manny Diaz’s system like ants to a picnic, Hardy failed to feast – a disappointing year-to-year regression that sort of slid under the radar thanks to the Nittany Lions overall statistical dominance on defense.