Penn State Football 2021: Keys to success on defense

Penn State Football Key Player – Nick Tarburton (defensive end)

An edge rusher is one of the most important positions on the football field, and Nick Tarburton will be critical this season. He will need to be a great counterpart to Arnold Ebiketie on the defensive front for this Penn State Football team.

Ebiketie has already proven he can be a great pass rusher at the college level, so he is not as much of a question mark. However, Tarburton has only appeared in nine total games in his Penn State Football career, and only has two career tackles. He will see his workload skyrocket this season, so he will need to play well.

Tarburton’s lack of experience is through no fault of his own, as he has battled injury throughout his career. He is plenty talented enough, as he is a former four star recruit, and for the 2018 recruiting class was a top ten player in the state of Pennsylvania according to 247 Sports.

First and foremost, Tarburton will need to stay healthy this season, as the defensive end position lacks for depth already. He says he “feels amazing”, according to the Reading Eagle. They also mention in the article that he will benefit immensely from going against Penn State’s great offensive tackles every day during camp.

If Tarburton can provide pressure along with Arnold Ebiketie and force the quarterback to get the ball out quickly, it will do a lot of good for this defense, including by helping cut down on those deep touchdowns I mentioned earlier.