Penn State Football 2021: 5 reasons for optimism, 4 reasons to worry

This Penn State football team has many reasons for fans to believe that they will bounce back to reach double digit wins, contend for a Big Ten Championship, and be back in a New Years Six game. Unfortunately, there are also some reasons to believe they won’t take a very big step forward from last season, and will finish with just better than a .500 record.

Penn StateFootball  has some of the best players in the country at positions such as wide receiver and safety, along with possibly the deepest running back room in the country. However, the Nittany Lions also have some question marks at some key positions.

There are a lot of factors that, depending on how they go, could be the difference between 11-1 and 7-5.

Many Penn State Football fans are not sure what to expect out of their Nittany Lions this season, and for good reason.

There are certainly some reasons for Penn State Football fans to worry about this upcoming season, but there are plenty of reasons for optimism too:

Reason to Worry #4 – Unproven at Linebacker

Outside of their top two linebackers, Brandon Smith and Ellis Brooks, this Penn State Football team will rely on a lot of guys who have not yet played a ton of football at the collegiate level.

Smith will likely be the Nittany Lions’ best linebacker in 2021, and he is a freak of nature. However, he has yet to fully prove that he is worthy of the five star rating he received coming out of high school.

Brooks enters his fourth season in blue and white, and although he has played a lot of football, it seems like he still has some untapped potential that could take him to the next level. Brooks will need to continue to improve throughout the season for the linebacker corps to be successful.

Curtis Jacobs will be the third starter at linebacker for Brent Pry’s defense, and although he has a lot of upside, this will be Jacobs’ first season as a starter.

To this point in his career, Jesse Luketa has not quite lived up to what some Penn State Football thought he could be. That, along with a lack of depth at defensive end, is part of the reason Luketa will play a hybrid role between linebacker and defensive end this season.

Two of the primary back ups at linebacker will be Charlie Katshir and Tyler Elsdon. Katshir has been in the program for a few years, but has not played a ton of meaningful snaps, in part due to injury. Elsdon is a redshirt freshman who only appeared in one game last season. Two true freshman in Jamari Buddin and Kobe King will also be in the mix.

So, many of Penn State Football’s linebackers in 2021 have either yet to reach their potential, or have little to no experience at the collegiate level. All in all, that is some reason for concern for this Penn State football team.