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. . Edge. Nittany Lions . Shaka Toney. 21
When it comes to the definition of a player who got better every season, and worked tremendously hard to accomplish his goal, you have to look no further than Shaka Toney. A team captain this past season, Toney worked his way not only into the starting lineup during his time in Happy Valley but into the record books, finishing eighth all-time in program history in sacks.
Toney is a player who steadily got better each season, showing flashes early by racking up 3.5 sacks back in 2017, and then seeing his totals increase to five in 2018, and then 6.5 in 2019. During that 2019 season, Toney would go on to be named second-team All-Big Ten, an honor he surpassed this past season, as he and Jayson Oweh became the first defensive teammates at Penn State to both be named first-team All-Big Ten since Courtney Brown and Brad Scioli back in 1998.
There have been so many big memories of Toney, most importantly back in 2018, when he racked up four sacks against Indiana, all in the fourth quarter, to tie a Penn State football record. As he leaves Penn State, Toney is considered a Day 2 NFL Draft pick, and with his excellent first step, high football IQ, and bull-rush mentality, he is going to have quite a career at the next level.