Penn State football: Gross-Matos keeping consistent pressure on QBs
Penn State football’s Yetur Gross-Matos earned a starting defensive end job this offseason. He’s run away with it, keeping solid pressure on opposing QBs.
The defensive line for Penn State football received a lot of preseason hype due to the depth and talent. Some of that tailed off with some retirements before the start of the season. Ryan Buchholz and Torrence Brown both were forced to end their football careers due to injuries. The former’s retirement meant a starting spot was opened for competition. With a bevy of young players, Penn State plugged in Yetur Gross-Matos.
Gross-Matos played in all 13 games last year as a true freshman and accounted for 17 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack. His play looked to yield him more reps this year, but with some unseen injuries, he has stepped in and made himself a stud at end. Buchholz was the more run-stuffing end on the team with a bigger frame.
The true sophomore defensive end has taken off and become more than just a strong presence against the run. He’s become a top-tier pass rusher, recording four sacks, good enough for second on the team. Against Indiana, he dominated the line of scrimmage, piling up 10 total tackles and two sacks. Paired up with Shaka Toney and Shareef Miller at the other defensive end spot, this trio has 14 sacks through seven games.
The production and size from Gross-Matos has actually made this defensive line even better at getting to the quarterback. Right now, the defense has recorded 24 total sacks and that’s largely due to Gross-Matos and the rest of the defense. Both losses this year occurred with the back end struggling to stop big plays.
Penn State football’s line certainly hasn’t been the problem. Gross-Matos was ranked as an elite defensive end as well as a strong-side end coming out of high school for a reason. So far, he’s lived up to that hype.
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Toney and Gross-Matos are both rising sophomores that use speed and strength to push around opponents. They’ll both be back for years to come and give the team legitimate, young pass rushers. Miller might not be back because he’s a junior with an NFL future at the end of the year, but should he come back, this defensive line will be stacked with talented linemen.