Penn State Football: Top-25 players of the James Franklin Era
By Brad Weiss
Penn State Football: Top-25 players of the James Franklin Era
player. 806. . Linebacker. Nittany Lions . Micah Parsons. 7
When it comes to the linebacker position, they were very few players in the history of the program who had the kind of impact that Micah Parsons did in such a short period of time. Penn State fans got their first real look at this dominant linebacker in 2018, as Parsons racked up 82 tackles for the Nittany Lions while posting 1.5 sacks.
However, it was his work as a sophomore that lands him on our list, as he put together one of the more productive seasons on defense that we have seen in a long time. During the 2019 campaign, Parsons racked up 109 tackles, and five sacks, and became the first sophomore in conference history to win the Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year Award. Also, he was named an All-American and was the Defensive Most Valuable Player of the Cotton Bowl, where he had 14 tackles and two sacks to go along with two forced fumbles.
Moving Parsons from the defensive end, where he played in high school, to the linebacker position proved to be a stroke of genius for James Franklin. Parsons sat out the 2020 campaign due to the pandemic, but many expect him to be the first linebacker off the board in April, which is a capper to a career that saw him become must-see TV from his linebacker spot.