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Penn State Football: Projecting Nittany Lions’ spring depth chart

By Lawrence Santa Maria

Sep 27, 2019; College Park, MD, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin leads his team onto the field prior to their game against the Maryland Terrapins at Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 27, 2019; College Park, MD, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin leads his team onto the field prior to their game against the Maryland Terrapins at Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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Penn State Football will put a bow on their first week of spring practice, and as they do we inch closer to a spring depth chart. Let’s project what that might look like for the Nittany Lions 

Depth charts should almost always be taken with a grain of salt, that is especially true when talking about a spring depth chart for Penn State Football’s practices.

Last season, despite not having spring practice or a Blue-White Game due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Penn State Football released one and it had star linebacker Micah Parsons as the starting kick returner.

See why we should take it with a grain of salt?

With that being said, we will get a glimpse into where things stand in the quarterback battle and how head coach James Franklin and staff view the five incoming transfers and how they might fit into the puzzle for this 2021 team.

One noteworthy nugget is that because of the Covid-19 hindered 2020 season not counting towards eligibility, it is a tad confusing on what to call players in terms of their class. For example, players like Parker Washington and Keyvone Lee are yet again freshman, so for this exercise we will refer to them on what their eligibility was going into 2020.

Let’s project what the first spring depth chart might took like for Penn State Football:

Defensive Line 

Defensive End: Arnold Ebiketie (RS JR) – Smith Vilbert (RS FS) – Zuriah Fisher (RS FR)

Defensive Tackle: PJ Mustipher (JR) – Fred Hansard (RS JR) – Coziah Izzard (RS FR)

Defensive Tackle: Derrick Tangelo (RS JR) – Hakeem Beamon (RS FR) – D’Von Ellies (RS FR)

Defensive End: Adisa Isaac (SO) – Nick Tarburton (RS SO) – Amin Vanover (RS FR)

This unit welcomes two transfers this offseason in former Temple defensive end Arnold Ebiketie and former Duke defensive tackle Derrick Tangelo.

Ebiketie will absolutely be a starter at end, arguably the Nittany Lions thinnest position, while Tangelo will battle this spring/summer with Beamon on the inside.

Defensive tackle might be Penn State Football’s deepest position next season, and do not be surprised if Beamon or Ellies kicks out to defensive end on non-passing downs.

Franklin may also not be done looking to the transfer portal at defensive end either, as aside from Ebiketie, the other defensive ends have a combined three sacks.

Isaac is a breakout candidate for the Nittany Lions this year, as this will be his first season as a starter and he was effective as a situational pass rusher last season.

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