Sunday Column: End Game – Can Penn State Keep its DE-to-NFL Pipeline Flowing?

The trouble with consistently recruiting and developing pro talent is that you’re consistently having to replace it.

In a few weeks, Penn State will almost assuredly continue a three-year streak of having at least one defensive end selected in the NFL Draft. Jayson Oweh, last seen making jaws drop at Pro Day, is a possible first-round pick and will almost assuredly go in one of the first two rounds, and if Shaka Toney is also taken, which seems quite likely, it will mark four edge rushers drafted from one program in three years, which puts Penn State on par with anyone in the country.

Though that’s great for Oweh, Toney, Yetur Gross-Matos and Shareef Miller, and also continues a strong tradition for the Nittany Lions at the position that started under the tutelage of Larry Johnson and continued through Sean Spencer and now John Scott Jr., it leaves the current Penn State team in a potential bind at one of the most important positions in the college game.

There are currently 12 players listed as defensive tackles on Penn State’s roster, including veterans P.J. Mustipher and Fred Hansard, promising redshirt freshman Hakeem Beamon and Duke transfer Derrick Tangelo. By contrast, there are only nine defensive ends, including two walk-ons and only one scholarship player, Nick Tarburton, who has been with the program for more than two seasons.

Penn State, which also said goodbye to longtime defensive end Shane Simmons, will have to lean heavily on the trio of Tarburton, Adisa Isaac, and Temple transfer Arnold Ebiketie and/or hope that someone emerges from an even younger group that includes redshirt freshmen Smith Vilbert and Zuriah Fisher, who played in four games and one game, respectively, last fall; redshirt freshman Bryce Mostella, who did not play last season; freshman Rodney McGraw, who enrolled in January, and freshman Devon Townley, who will arrive this summer.

Ebiketie earned second-team All-AAC honors last fall, leading a 1-6 team in sacks (4.0), tackles for loss (8.5) and solo stops (28). Those stats are important when you add up the COMBINED numbers for the other aforementioned ends on the roster in 2020: seven solo tackles (five by Isaac and two by Tarburton) and 1.5 sacks (Isaac)

The question needs to be asked, even during spring ball: When September rolls around, how many ends will be ready to give the Nittany Lions significant reps and production, and who will those players be? Teams can usually get away with playing first- or second-year players at defensive end more than at most positions, but this team will need at least three reliable players in that rotation this fall, and likely more.

Playing defense in college football these days isn’t about forcing three-and-outs as much as it is about making big plays. Few offenses, especially those Penn State sees on a weekly basis in the Big Ten, will be shut down for too long – there are too many elite athletes and too many good coaches. What defenses can do, or at least hope to do, is play tough in the red zone, come up with the occasional takeaway, and above all, be disruptive. Pick up a first-down sack and get a team off-schedule. Make the quarterback throw the ball before he wants to and put him on the ground a few times so that he has to think about it when he drops back later in the game.

All of that starts up front and, with limited exceptions during the past few years, Penn State’s defensive lines have been disruptive. The Nittany Lions led the nation in sacks per game in 2018 and were 7th in 2019 before dropping to 50th last season. That didn’t always save them from other flaws in their defense, and that pass rush wasn’t always consistent from game to game or play to play, but pressure from the edges covers a multitude of defensive sins. Penn State’s secondary should be better this season and so should the linebacker group, but those improvements likely won’t matter much without a dynamic defensive line.

The good news for Scott, Brent Pry and James Franklin is that, as usual, there is talent in the room. Ebiketie has junior eligibility but is a fifth-year player who shouldn’t need much seasoning. Isaac was a top 100 prospect in the Class of 2019 according to the major recruiting services. Tarburton, a former linebacker, is finally healthy this spring after a series of medical setbacks.

The Nittany Lions won’t need any of them to blossom into Day 1 draft picks this fall, but will need a few of them to take advantage of the massive amount of playing time vacated by the latest group of soon-to-be NFL players.