James Franklin kept nearly everybody in town after last year’s College Football Playoff Semifinal, but not quite everybody. Penn State couldn’t hang onto the 2024 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Abdul Carter, after his dominant first season as a full-time pass-rusher.
Unsurprisingly, Carter became the third overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft to the New York Giants, and now Franklin and new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles will need to spend the offseason identifying his replacement along their defensive line. And they better get it right because the Nittany Lions enter the season with national title aspirations, and who will be the team’s second-best edge rusher is one of the only major questions of the offseason. Luckily, there are a few great options.
EDGE1, however, is not in doubt because, despite being draft-eligible, former five-star defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton returned to Happy Valley for his senior season. Rushing opposite Carter, Dennis-Sutton racked up 8.5 sacks, 45 quarterback pressures, and posted a pass-rush win-rate of 14.4%, which ranked 19th in the Big Ten.
He and interior defensive lineman Zane Durant comprise one of the most disruptive defensive line duos in the country. Dennis-Sutton and Durant, as Carter did last season, will draw nearly all of the double-teams. They just need somebody on the other side to take advantage of all the one-on-ones that they create.
Knowles is taking over the defense from Allen, who left for Clemson, but he’s already stated that he’ll stick with Penn State’s traditional four-down front. That defensive structure requires two talented edge rushers to get consistent pressure on the quarterback, but with Carter leaving for the NFL, Amin Vanover’s eligibility waiver getting denied, and Smith Vilbert transferring to North Carolina, three of Penn State’s top four snap leaders on the edge will not be back.
So, Knowles and defensive line coach Deion Barnes will need to construct the depth chart from an unproven group, which won’t be easy.
Penn State EDGE2 Candidates:
Granville was supposed to arrive at Penn State as a member of the 2025 class, but instead reclassified, joined the team early, and redshirted during the 2024 season. Now, he could be ready to step into an increased role this year.
The former four-star played the most edge snaps (52) of the 2024 class, appearing in five games, including the Fiesta Bowl win over Boise State when he replaced the injured Carter in the second half. With that group of veterans out the door, he’s the next in line behind Dennis-Sutton, as long as an incoming transfer doesn’t jump him. Regardless of who ultimately wins the starting job, you can expect to see plenty of No. 18 next season.
The Philadelphia product joined Texas A&M’s legendary 2022 recruiting class as a highly-touted four-star, but his career never got off the ground in College Station. White’s last two seasons were derailed by a knee injury, and he’s played just 136 snaps across three seasons. Still, with a 6-foot-5 frame and elite pedigree, there’s a lot to be excited about with his return to Pennsylvania.
White isn’t much more experienced than Granville, but now that he’s healthy, he could certainly win the job and deliver on the potential that he showed when he was coming out of Imhotep Institute three years ago.
While Granville has created the most buzz from the 2024 edge rusher class, Harvey isn’t too far behind. He also appeared in five games, playing 33 snaps, but unlike Granville, he did not record a QB pressure. Granville had two.
While Granville has gotten off to a better start and has age on his side as a reclassified redshirt freshman, Harvey has an entire summer to impress the coaching staff and his new defensive coordinator.