Penn State Football: Creating the Best Starting Linebacker Unit

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STATE COLLEGE, PA – SEPTEMBER 8: Linebacker Dan Connor #40 of the Penn State Nittany Lions prepares to make a tackle against the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Beaver Stadium on September 8, 2007 in State College, Pennsylvania. Penn State won 31-10. (Photo by Ned Dishman/Getty Images) /

Inside Linebacker

Dan Connor

To go along with the two athletic outside linebackers, we want a sure tackler and run stopper at the middle position.

This came down to a lot of guys, most notably Paul Posluszny, but Dan Connor’s senior season in 2007 was just too good to pass up. Posluszny did have the better NFL career and won a few more awards in college, but it’s hard to discredit the program’s all-time tackle leader.

That year, Connor recorded 145 tackles with 15 being for loss and 6.5 sacks. For his career, Connor totaled 419 total tackles, the most in program history. These massive numbers led Connor to be a two-time First-Team All-American in 2006 and 2007. He also won the 2007 Bednarik Award.

It wouldn’t be much of a surprise to see Connor in the College Football Hall of Fame one day.

The Mike linebacker position is a bit of a question mark for Penn State Football in 2022, imagine if Connor was there to fill the void.

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