Penn State Football: Kevin Givens set to forgo senior season
Penn State football has seen a trend of players leaving early
Wednesday seemed to transform into a day of departures for Penn State football. Just a day after falling to Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl, several Nittany Lions announced their decisions to leave college early and pursue careers in the NFL.
Kevin Givens became the latest Penn State player to forgo his senior season and head to the professional ranks. With the earlier announcement of Shareef Miller leaving for the NFL, the Nittany Lions find themselves down two important starters on the defensive line heading into next season.
A member of the 2015 recruiting class, Givens, from Altoona, was rated as a three-star prospect according to 247Sports. He was the No. 18 recruit from Pennsylvania.
Givens was redshirted during his first season with the Nittany Lions in order to have more time to develop. Recruited officially as a defensive end, Givens bulked up during his time at Penn State and was ultimately moved to defensive tackle. He played both positions during the 2017 campaign.
Starting in 2016, Givens quickly became a key piece of defensive line coach Sean Spencer’s group. During his first season, he finished third in the Big Ten with two fumble recoveries and was named to the All-Big Ten team.
Givens finished his Penn State career with 83 total tackles, including 22 tackles for loss. His ability to clog up holes and create chaos in the opponent’s backfield will be missed by Penn State next season. However, while is departure could hurt the Nittany Lions, he does appear to have a shot at making it in the NFL.
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VBR wishes Kevin the very best in his future plans!