Penn State linebacker Jan Johnson emerged as a steady force in 2018, but he’ll have a challenge to keep the job this season. MARK SELDERS / PENN STATE ATHLETICS
Over the next several days, Times Shamrock Penn State football beat writer Donnie Collins will break down the Nittany Lions’ roster, position by position, predicting the depth chart for the Nittany Lions’ opener against Idaho on Aug. 31 along the way.
Today we continue with the middle linebackers.
The contenders
|
No. |
Player |
HT |
WT |
ELIG |
|
13 |
Ellis Brooks |
6’1” |
234 |
rSo |
|
36 |
Jan Johnson |
6’2” |
231 |
Sr |
|
39 |
Robbie Dwyer |
6’1” |
235 |
Fr |
|
40 |
Jesse Luketa |
6’3” |
247 |
So |
|
47 |
Alex Furmanek |
6’2” |
239 |
Fr |
|
50 |
Max Chizmar |
6’2” |
230 |
rSo |
The 2018 results
|
Player |
Tackles |
Sacks |
INT |
FF |
|
Johnson |
72 |
0.5 |
1 |
2 |
|
Brooks |
30 |
0.5 |
1 |
0 |
|
Luketa |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
The names to know
Ellis Brooks makes a stop on tight end Joe Arcangelo during the 2018 Blue-White Game. Brooks will be pushing for a starting spot this season. (Joe Hermitt/PennLive.com via AP)
This is quietly one of the more interesting positions on the Nittany Lions roster, because there’s an established returning starter who will be in a legitimate fight for playing time.
Jan Johnson is a former walk-on who, in a way, was forced into the starting job last summer due to an overall lack of experience surrounding him at the position. That said, he more than earned his job, finishing second on the team in tackles and entrenching himself as a leader of the unit. But there was always plenty of talent at the spot, and now, those young talented-but-inexperienced players from last season have an extra year under their belt.
Sophomore Ellis Brooks looked solid as a backup to Johnson in 2018, recording 30 tackles, and there are some who think he can make a push for the starting job this summer. Same can be said for Jesse Luketa, a former four-star prospect who played mostly on special teams last season but remains one of the most highly regarded young players on the defense. With his speed and sideline-to-sideline tackling ability, he can certainly supplant both of them.
The only other player potentially in this group who appeared in a game last year is walk-on Max Chizmar, who recorded a tackle.
The forecast
|
Starter |
Jan Johnson |
|
Backup |
Ellis Brooks |
|
3 |
Jesse Luketa |
For now, we’ll stick with the depth chart that most expect. Johnson was too productive last year, too good a run stuffer, to expect him to get supplanted in training camp — even though it could happen.
But, Brooks and Luketa are gifted players who will be factors all season long. Penn State might look into working these three into some kind of rotation early on.
Donnie Collins has been a member of The Times-Tribune sports staff for nearly 20 years and has been the Penn State football beat writer for Times-Shamrock Newspapers since 2004. The Penn State Football Blog covers Nittany Lions, Big Ten and big-time college football news from Beaver Stadium to the practice field, the bowl game to National Letter of Intent Signing Day. Contact: dcollins@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5368; @DonnieCollinsTT
