Penn State Football’s Lance Dixon in transfer portal | How Nittany Lions can replace him

Penn State Football linebacker Lance Dixon has entered the transfer portal, making him the fourth player this offseason to do.

Penn State Football redshirt freshman linebacker Lance Dixon has entered the transfer portal. Dixon is the fourth player this offseason to do so, joining Antonio Shelton, T.J Jones and Judge Culpepper.

The Michigan native totaled 10 tackles, two and a half tackles for loss and a forced fumble last season in somewhat limited action. In 2019 he only appeared in three games, tallying two total tackles.

Dixon is a former four star, top 200 recruit who spurned his home state Wolverines to come to Happy Valley, but also had offers from other big schools such as Ohio State and Texas A&M.

This is a surprising departure for the Nittany Lions, as Dixon figured to have a good shot at starting next fall after the linebacker position was one of the weak spots in defensive coordinator Bren’t Pry’s defense. Pry was critical when speaking to the media last season about linebackers Ellis Brooks and Jesse Luketa and poor tackling, especially in space where they struggled mightily.

Dixon was a former safety in high school who was struggling with putting on the weight to be the prototypical size of a Big Ten linebacker, however his speed and athleticism was promising. 247 sports already has a crystal ball prediction in for Dixon to return home and play for the Michigan Wolverines.

Offseason speculation is that budding star linebacker Brandon Smith will move over to middle linebacker from the outside, keeping him on the field for all three downs as opposed to this past season where he would come off the field on obvious passing downs at times.

Dixon’s departure opens the door for second year freshman linebacker Curtis Jacobs in 2021. Jacobs came to State College as a highly touted four star recruit, ranked as the 36th best player in the nation by 247 sports. The freshman appeared in eight games this past season, making nine total tackles, half a tackle for loss and one bass breakup.

The departure of Dixon is certainly surprising, however Penn State football has recruited very well at linebacker over the past few seasons and has the talent to overcome the loss. Brandon Smith looks primed to have a Micah Parons like breakout season in 2021.