Penn State Football: The 2023 Safety Room is Loaded with Talent

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Keaton Ellis

STATE COLLEGE, PA – OCTOBER 22: Keaton Ellis #2 of the Penn State Nittany Lions looks on against the Minnesota Golden Gophers during the first half at Beaver Stadium on October 22, 2022 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

Keaton Ellis announced back on January 13th that he will return to the Penn State football team for his senior year.

Job’s not finished. @ Happy Valley https://t.co/v3So5wpyxt
— Keaton Ellis (@keaton2ellis) January 13, 2023

Then, following the Blue-White game James Franklin announced the first three captains for the 2023 team. Ellis was made the captain of the defense for this upcoming season.

"We did name three captains today and we will wait until we get through training camp and then possibly add three more," James Franklin said.

Penn State's captains? Keaton Ellis (defense), Olu Fashanu (offense), Dom DeLuca (special teams).
— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) April 15, 2023

It’s huge to have a player like Ellis back for the 2023 season as the room is very talented but with Ji’Ayir Brown off to the NFL they needed a leader to emerge. It’s nice to see Ellis take this role on as he is from State College, PA, and played his high school football here. Being at Penn State means more to him than to the average player.

In 2022, he started all 13 games where he made 24 tackles, had 2 tackles for loss, and 7 pass breakups. Ellis started his Penn State career at the cornerback position and then transitioned to safety before the 2021 season.

Ellis will certainly be a starter in 2023, he has proven himself in both pass coverage and tackling but this year a new opportunity is on his plate. To step up and lead this young group of safeties, a task I think he will handle very well.

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