Penn State’s defense is not good. Frankly, there is very little good about Penn State’s football team in 2026, and it has done its part in the 0-3 start to Big Ten play. As any self-respecting coaching staff would, first-year head coach Matt Campbell and defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn started tinkering with the unit in the 31-23 Week 6 loss to USC, and they seemingly aren’t done.
The big change for Week 6 was moving Marcus Neal Jr., a highly touted Iowa State safety transfer, to the bench and sliding Zion Tracy, a multi-year starter at nickel, back to safety full-time.
During his Wednesday press conference, Campbell was asked about Tracy’s involvement at safety and confirmed that it will continue, as true freshman Josiah Zayas sees an increase in usage at nickel.
Then, later, he was asked about Neal in conjunction with sophomore linebacker Alex Tatsch’s season-ending injury, which he confirmed, and Campbell sounded open to a positional change for Neal.
"Those are things that I don't think just happen at the snap of a finger. But I think incrementally, he's a guy that can certainly find himself more in the linebacker rotation than just at safety rotation," Campbell said on Wednesday. "So, again, finding Marcus's best traits to put him in the best position to help our football team."
A move to LB for Marcus Neal Jr. is the obvious next move for Campbell and Lynn
At Iowa State last season, 432 of Neal’s team-high 697 defensive snaps came in the box. Technically a safety, the 6-foot-1, 216-pound Kansas City native functioned as an additional linebacker in the team’s 3-3-5 scheme.
Campbell’s longtime defensive coordinator Jon Heacock did not make the trip from Ames to Happy Valley, instead opting to retire, which prompted Campbell to hire Lynn, a former Penn State defensive back, and to transition to Penn State’s traditional 4-2-5 scheme. The change forced many of the defensive Iowa State transfers to play out of position, exposing the athletic limitations that the unique scheme covered up in the Big 12.
MIKE linebacker Kooper Ebel has struggled as a tackler and doesn’t have the sideline-to-sideline speed needed to cover the additional space at the second level. Outside linebacker Caleb Bacon has moved down to the edge. The biggest impact, however, has been on Neal, who went from being Iowa State’s most reliable defender in 2025 to being completely out of Penn State’s safety rotation in 2026.
Neal doesn’t have the coverage ability to play in space at the third level. He needs to be around the line of scrimmage, making an impact in the run game, a requirement of the 3-3-5 defense. A move to linebacker should be more suited to his skill set and could alleviate depth concerns at that position.
Redshirt freshman Cam Smith is likely returning from injury this week. He could serve as a Tatsch replacement and carve into Ebel’s playing time if the senior continues to struggle. If Neal can start to pick up the position, he would also allow Lynn to keep Ebel and backup Cael Brezina off the field as much as possible.
It would be inexperienced and unconventional, but a linebacker rotation of Tony Rojas, Smith, and Neal would undeniably be Penn State’s most athletic group, and the Nittany Lions desperately need to put more Big Ten-caliber athletes on the field.
Add us as a preferred source on Google