LaVar Arrington II suffered a knee injury during fall camp and was forced to undergo a “cleanup” surgery that held him out for the first seven games of Penn State’s season. However, heading into the Nittany Lions’ Week 9 matchup with Purdue on Saturday, Arrington was absent from a very crowded Wednesday night availability report.
Initial availability reports for Penn State and Purdue. Pretty stark difference in amount of players. pic.twitter.com/1loxNJq6xY
— Joel Haas (@Joel_Haas1) October 29, 2026
Arrington represents potential reinforcements for an edge rusher group that has massively underwhelmed this season and has dealt with other injuries, most notably Max Granville, who is out for the year.
However, having yet to play a defensive snap in his college career, the sophomore won’t be the salve defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn desperately needs up front, especially as other injuries pile up.
While Arrington was off the availability report for the first time this season, Alexander McPherson, a Colorado transfer who led the edge group in snaps against Michigan in Week 7, was listed as questionable, and Yvan Kemajou, who is tied for first on the defense in QB pressures with Ikenna Ezeogu, was listed as probable.
Arrington’s return alone adds intrigue to an defensive end rotation that has so far has not included true freshman Jackson Ford as it searches for anybody with some juice off the edge. Still, his most likely role is on special teams, so he doesn’t offset the spectre of McPherson and Kemajou’s potential absences against the Boilermakers.
There’s no risk to D’Anton Lynn trying out young pieces on defense
McPherson’s emergence as the snaps leader at defensive end against Michigan was born out of the defensive staff’s desperation to find any solution to the lack of pass rush. He at least accounted for the team’s lone QB pressure against the Wolverines, but this defense cannot get after the quarterback at all.
To that end, it might be worth trialing Arrington, as he eases back from injury, and Ford in that role. McPherson is a big-bodied pocket-pusher, as are Kemajou and Ezeogu. Largely that’s the style of defensive linemen that Lynn wants to build around, but you need some speed element to threat offensive tackles.
With Granville out, maybe the other young homegrown recruits can provide it. We know the transfer class can’t.
Still, the expectations for Arrington should remain low. Not only is he a coming off an injury, but he’s still listed at 220 pounds, which is undersized for a defensive end pretty much any way you slice it. The former linebacker needs time to transition to the position, but as an athletic big body, he should be a plus on special teams, as he was as a true freshman in 2025.
Penn State injuries keep piling up
Playing the young guys could also be a necessity if McPherson and Kemajou can’t go. It’s likely that at least Kemajou will but behind those two, Ezeogu and Bacon, Ty Blanding, a 6-foot-1 defensive tackle played the next most snaps on the edge in Week 7, so there’s clearly not a ton of depth.
Overall, there’s not much depth on a roster that was hastily put together after a long and messy head coaching search, so having 19 players on the Week 9 availability report to Purdue’s four, as both programs are coming off their lone bye of the season, is potentially problematic.
Campbell hasn’t acted as though he’s ready for a full-scale youth movement with an eye to the future, but if the injuries keep piling up, he may not have any other choice.
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