Penn State Football: excluding any QB or offensive lineman, who are the most important players in 2022?

Joey Porter Jr. – cornerback

Not only will Joey Porter Jr. be one of the best players for Penn State Football in 2022, but he will also be one of their most important.

The Nittany Lions will face a number of outstanding wideouts in the upcoming campaign, and Porter will be tasked with having to try to slow them down.

Right off the bat in game one, the Purdue Boilermakers will lean heavily on their passing attack which is led by veteran quarterback Aidan O’Connell – one of the Big Ten’s best passers. Even though one of their top targets in Milton Wright has been ruled ineligible for the season, the Boilermakers always have some talented wideouts, which should give Penn State’s fourth-year corner a good early-season test.

Some other notable receivers that the Nittany Lions will face across the Big Ten in 2022 include Michigan State’s Jayden Reed who was a 1,000-yard receiver for the Spartans a year ago, as well as Maryland’s Dontay Demus and Michigan’s Ronnie Bell. Both Demus and Bell would have been among the conference’s best wideouts in 2021 had they not suffered injuries, but they’ll be back this season and be hungry to make up for lost time.

Many of the Big Ten’s best quarterbacks also reside in the east, such as Taulia Tagovailoa from Maryland, Payton Thorne from Michigan State, and Cade McNamara from Michigan.

Then there’s the elephant in the room, or should I say the Buckeyes in the room.

Each and every season, the Ohio State matchup is the biggest game on Penn State’s schedule and often times can decide the fate of their season. This season will be no different, and the Buckeyes will be led by undoubtedly the best quarterback in the conference (and maybe even the best in the country) in CJ Stroud, as well as arguably college football’s best wideout: Jaxson Smith-Njigba. Ohio State also features plenty of other excellent pass-catchers, such as Marvin Harrison Jr.

All that being said, Joey Porter Jr. is going to have to meet the first-round caliber expectations that have been put on him if Penn State hopes to be successful in slowing down all these outstanding quarterbacks and receivers.

The Nittany Lions will face good (or great) passing attacks in many of their biggest games in 2022, making Joey Porter Jr. a very important piece to the puzzle.