Pwn The Portal: Transfer DB John(ny) Dixon

With TCF Sticking Around, Cornerback Isn’t a Position of Need for the Nittany Lions, but the South Carolina Transfer Possesses Traits That Can’t Be Ignored

John(ny) Dixon – I’ve seen fluctuating accounts of what he likes to be called, John or Johnny, so he’ll forever be John(ny) on this blog – is the answer to a question we no longer have to ask.

Who’s going to take over/provide depth when Tariq Castro-Fields leaves for the NFL?

Dixon, the sophomore corner from Tampa, entered the Transfer Portal two days before Christmas – part of the mass exodus of Gamecocks after the 2020 season mercifully ended – and picked Penn State (a program that recruited him out of high school) presumably expecting TCF’s departure would free up an opportunity for immediate playing time. 

But that didn’t happen.

TCF (wisely) pushed the play-for-pay portion of his football career back a year, thus strengthening an already deep corps of corners. TCF is back and lock starter. Future All-Big Ten selection Joey Porter, Jr. is back and 99.9 percent a lock to start. Keaton Ellis is back. Marquis Wilson is back.  Daequan Hardy is back. Collectively, those 5 corners have played 78 games at Penn State. 

On paper, that level of depth and experience would normally relegate Dixon (who has three years of eligibility left) to “odd man out” status in 2021, leaving the SEC defector no recourse other than to wait his turn…

…then we watched him play football. 

Frankly, Dixon is too good keep in the cupboard. 

Specifically, we scouted South Carolina’s 2020 blowout loss to Florida and the Gamecocks’ upset of then-ranked Auburn.  The latter is a fascinating sampler-platter examination of EVERY facet of Dixon’s football acumen since usual starter Israel Mukuamu’s aggravated groin injury kept Dixon on the field for all 83 Auburn snaps.

First thing that stands out on pirated digital tape, Dixon can run-run (as Deion would say) with anyone. Quick turn. Fluid hips. Not physical, but strong enough not to get bullied. Here’s a montage of Dixon staying glued to receivers big and tall/short and speedy…the last clip he’s shadowing 5-star supernova Justin Shorter with ease.

A twice-fired angry apple that fell off the Saban coaching tree, then-South Carolina coach Will Muschamp ran a complex defensive scheme upfront that put a lot of pressure on the corners to perform. Ton of man coverage, a lot of it press-man. Brent Pry’s defense, on the other hand, is approximately 50-50 man/zone and doesn’t throw DBs in the deep end to see if they sink or swim like Muschamp’s defense. 

Quite simply, Dixon doesn’t have the reps playing zone that fellow Penn State juniors Porter Jr., Ellis and Wilson do. Doesn’t mean he can’t do it…just means it’s a little foreign to him at this point. 

On this play, South Carolina is in a Cover 3 zone – Dixon is at the top of the screen and bails at the snap to his assigned area. Dixon’s eyes are in the backfield the whole play – locked on Florida QB Kyle Trask – which enables him to break quick on the ball and attack this POGO route (post-and-go) run by Florida freshman 3-Xzavier Henderson.  The issue is – perhaps because of Dixon’s lack of experience playing zone – he either A) slightly mistimes his leap B) doesn’t have real good spatial awareness or C) Both A and B.  Ref throws a flag. DPI. 

Upon first glance, this seemed like a BS call, but upon further review…well, it’s still a bit of a BS call, but I can see why the zebra littered the field in yellow. Reason we clipped it is because there aren’t a ton of Dixon-targeted-in-zone-coverage examples to show. 

Last Florida clip…in the immediate aftermath of Dixon’s decision to come to Penn State, a few speculative threads sprouted on various message boards wondering if Franklin and Co. planned to convert Dixon into a safety. Again, small sample size (two games) but from the little football we scouted, we’re not sure Dixon really has a “safety’s mindset.” 

Flipping him to “fill a need” might be a cool short-term fix, but Big Picture it also devalues Dixon’s worth as a cover corner. The transfer market is a recruiting annex that Penn State refuses to ignore anymore, so the last thing the program needs while mining this New Frontier of Football is to get Scarlett-Lettered as a place where What’s Best for the Team > What’s Best for the Transfer – as messed up as that reads. Penn State must cultivate a transfer-friendly reputation with this inaugural four-man class. So unless Dixon was cool with switching positions before signing at PSU (probably a terrible sales pitch), he’s likely staying at corner.

OK…Auburn. Loved analyzing this game because Offensive Sorcerer Gus Malzahn threw the kitchen sink and whatever stray appliances one can find on front lawns around Auburn’s campus right at Dixon from the start. And you know what? Dixon was up for the challenge. This three-play montage bombardment upon Dixon all occurred on Auburn’s initial possession. 

The first two are just misses by the QB/WR, but on the third, Dixon is pretty much step-for-step with the receiver leaving a minuscule landing pad for 10-Bo Nix’s toss – which he misses by a mile.

Malzahn didn’t waste any time testing Dixon’s toughness/willingness to shed blocks when outweighed by 60 or so pounds, either…and once again, on the first drive, Dixon passed the test. Here’s a 3rd– and-11 screen to Auburn WR 1-Anthony Schwartz – the Tigers fastest playmaker. 

On first glance, this play call appears to have a decent shot at moving the sticks. We can’t see Dixon at the bottom of the screen because ESPN is reminding us that a human being is fighting an actual Zombie in the Octagon later that evening (surprised this wasn’t bigger news…although the government admitted UFOs are real and no one gave a crap, so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised).  

The play progresses…hey, there’s Dixon! No. 22 has beaten the block of Auburn tight end 47-John Samuel Shenker, thus blowing up the conservative call. Dixon makes friends with the sideline and forces Schwartz wide. Does Dixon get the tackle? Well, no…but he does juuust enough to slow down/widen Schwartz so the cavalry can catch up and force a field goal. 

In total, Auburn targeted Dixon 12 times this game – including this failed 2-point attempt (below) Dixon batted away from 18-Seth Williams — and only completed four passes for 26 yards. Somehow, Dixon’s seemingly impressive outing translated to a 54.9  PFF coverage grade – the sophomore’s third-lowest of 2020 – which once again reaffirms we have no clue how those football hermits quantify things. 

CONCLUSION: You know, of the four Penn State incoming transfers, it feels like Dixon isn’t getting the hype you’d expect. The guy freaking started the 2019 season opener vs. North Carolina as a true freshman! So what gives? Perhaps Dixon’s modest recruiting profile – 3-Star, Top 500 player nationally – has something to do with it. I’d counter by telling you to ignore the easy-to-manipulate star ranking and look at the list of schools who offered Dixon:

Alabama. Ohio State. Auburn. Oregon. Miami. Penn State.

Those aren’t 3-star programs, folks. Alabama and Ohio State, star snobs who take a flyer on one, maybe two, 3-star recruits per signing class felt Dixon was worthy of a spot. Do I think Dixon will unseat TCF or JPJ next season? Obviously not. But I think there’s a strong possibility Dixon is a big potential upgrade over 25-Daequan Hardy when Penn State goes Nickel and his arrival affords the coaching staff the option to perhaps convert a different corner (Ellis?) to safety.