Micah Parsons and Abdul Carter are outlier athletes, but their positional versatility isn’t especially unique. Parsons remained at off-ball linebacker during his brief stint in Happy Valley, only moving to the edge in the NFL. James Franklin didn’t make the same mistake with Carter, expediting his transition in his final season as a Nittany Lion, in which he dominated as a defensive end.
Now, with a new coaching staff in place, Penn State has a linebacker making a similar transition: Iowa State transfer Caleb Bacon.
Bacon, an All-Big 12 honorable mention in 2025, has been working almost exclusively along the defensive line at fall camp. Bacon played outside linebacker in Jon Heacock’s 3-3-5 defensive scheme at Iowa State, but after Matt Campbell’s longtime defensive coordinator retired this offseason and Campbell hired D’Anton Lynn this offseason, Penn State’s former Cyclones were forced to adapt to a 4-2-5 structure.
Matt Campbell is starting Caleb Bacon off at EDGE in fall camp
In his first press conference of fall camp on Friday, Campbell spoke about Bacon’s transition, and while it won’t be all he does, it sounds like it’s going to stick.
“As we got through spring, we kind of felt like we’d be missing the boat not to add his multiplicity. He’s a great edge player. He certainly has the ability to slide back and play MIKE or WILL linebacker at times… We felt like we gave him so many reps in the spring at linebacker we’d be missing the boat not to start him off in fall camp on the edge.”
Campbell and his staff imported much of their Iowa State defense from the transfer portal. However, with Lynn taking over, it can’t be a one-to-one transition. Tony Rojas and Kooper Ebel figure to command a majority of the snaps at off-ball linebacker. And that's not to mention Alex Tatsch and Cael Brezina, who will be pushing for playing time.
Without a linebacker third spot in base defense, it makes sense to find a unique way to get Bacon, who is a huge linebacker at 6-foot-4, 242 pounds, onto the field. And, as Campbell highlighted, he does have some experience on the edge.
The outside linebackers in a 3-3-5 defense have unique responsibilities. They’re often counted on as overhang defenders into the strong side of the offensive formation, which accounts for Bacon’s 124 snaps in the slot last season, and other times they’re asked to walk down and set an edge to present an even front, as Bacon did on 134 of his 652 snaps.
Looking closer, 110 of his snaps were spent as a pass-rusher, though not necessarily all on the edge. Of those reps, Bacon posted 16 QB pressures and three sacks with a 10.3% pass-rush win rate. His true prowess on the edge, though, appears when you dissect the 52 pass-rush reps on true pass-sets, late-down situations when he could truly pin his ears back.
On those plays, he had a 22.6% pass-rush win, which ranked No. 2 in the country among linebackers, behind only Ohio State’s Arvell Reese, and was top 10 overall in the Big 12 among players with at least 100 pass-rush snaps (per PFF).
In his final year as a linebacker at Penn State in 2023, Carter posted a 27.7% pass-rush win on true pass sets and 23.2% overall. In 2019, before sitting out in 2020, Parsons posted a 27% pass-rush win on true pass sets and 20% on all pass-rush snaps.
Caleb Bacon working at defensive end changes the outlook for D’Anton Lynn’s defense
Granted, he was playing in a different role, but Carter was a different level of player. Bacon will not become the best defensive player in the country with this move. It will, however, allow a talented and versatile defensive player to sidestep a positional logjam and add real value to the unit.
Barring injury, Bacon won’t be needed much at linebacker, especially assuming Tatsch returns to 100% by the start of the regular season. So, his move, however permanent, clarifies that position group with Rojas and Ebel as the top two, and Tatsch and Brezina to back them up.
As for how this impacts the defensive end group? It’s still unclear. Max Granville, Yvan Kemajou, Ikenna Ezeogu, and Alexander McPherson are expected to be in the rotation. Like Bacon, Ezeogu is moving to edge after playing a different role at Iowa State, though he was an interior defensive lineman at 6-foot-5, 273 pounds.
The pecking order may be murky, but options are a good thing for a coaching staff to have. Bacon’s move presents multiple, not just on a given play with his versatility, but in two important position rooms.
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