Penn State Football: Is 2020 the year for the Nittany Lions?

No (Micah) Parsons, no problem on defense

Penn State’s defense was the story of 2019, being one of the most dominant defenses in all of college football, and despite the departure of All-American linebacker Micah Parsons, and should still be one of the best defenses in 2020 as well.

Parsons’ talent is obviously going to be hard to replace, but Penn State has always had the “next man up” mentality surrounding their program. Not to mention, their defense, which surprised many by how well they performed in 2019, is returning the majority of its starters.

Now Parsons is not the only person that left some shoes to be filled as defensive linemen Yetur Gross-Matos and cornerback John Reid are both in the NFL now. But the names that will look to keep the Penn State defense at its same level as last year are Lamont Wade and Shaka Toney. Wade, a defensive back, recorded 67 tackles last season and had five pass breakups and three forced fumbles. Toney, a defensive end, finished 2019 with eight tackles for loss and five sacks.

The performance and leadership of these two will set the tone of the Penn State defense.

The name you should get to know now rather than later is Jayson Oweh who will be the one filling in the spot of Gross-Matos, and after recording five sacks and five tackles for loss in 2019, the production from that spot should not decline whatsoever.

And just like Oweh, the rest of the Penn State defense will be looking to maintain production and their level of play from a year ago.