Penn State plans to use versatility on defense to maximize players' potential

Penn State football long has prided itself on high-level defenses, and that hasn’t changed in the five years with defensive coordinator Brent Pry leading the way.

The program frequently produces top-end talent — including two first-round picks in the 2021 NFL Draft — and finds its way near the top of many defensive rankings by the season’s end.

Those elite defenses typically have been led by big-time talents who have the ability to wreck a game for an opponent. This year, while the unit does have a few high-level talents who will play in the NFL, versatility reigns supreme and could open up the defense in ways not seen since Pry took over as coordinator.

The versatility will be enabled by having multiple players who can play multiple positions, including a few players in new spots this season. Jonathan Sutherland is playing safety and some SAM linebacker, Jesse Luketa is playing defensive end and linebacker, and Keaton Ellis is playing both safety spots, along with having the ability to move back to cornerback if necessary.

That adaptability will allow for more movement at all three levels of the defense, but the question will be whether there’s any drop-off in play. When it comes to Ellis, Pry says that won’t be the case.

“Keaton’s a guy we feel like we need to train at either (safety position), boundary or free,” Pry said at Penn State media day. “We’ve got a lot of respect for Keaton. We’re excited about his abilities at the position. He’s a guy that if we need to are comfortable putting back at corner. This wasn’t about him not being good enough at corner. It was about his best position potentially being safety.”

Ellis’ move to safety allows someone such as Sutherland to move to the second level of the defense. Sutherland has excelled against the run at Penn State but hasn’t been as adept in coverage.

The move down a level should allow him to focus more on the running game and rushing the quarterback as a blitzer, rather than trying to make plays in the open field as a safety. It also allows Luketa to move to defensive end, a position where he will be able to use his athleticism and length more so than at linebacker.

Both Sutherland and Luketa should benefit greatly from the chance to try new positions this season and could find more success than they’ve previously had in their careers.

Pry said the need to put players in a position to succeed as the main reason for making some position changes.

“It’s our job as coaches to maximize guys’ abilities and minimize their liabilities,” he said. “We addressed a lot of that as spring unfolded, discussed it some more in the summer, and now there’s a plan of action for a bunch of guys.”

While moving Ellis to safety helps the numbers at the position with Sutherland playing more linebacker, it also impacts the 11th position on the field when the team is gearing up to face the pass.

The Nittany Lions have called their nickel defensive back, the defender who replaces the third linebacker in passing situations, the “Star” position. That player has generally come from either the safety room or the cornerback room, depending on where the depth lies in the secondary.

While it’s not yet clear who will fill that role this year, the ability to move Ellis from corner to safety shows how much talent is in the cornerback room, where cornerbacks coach Terry Smith says the star position will probably come from.

“We’ve got six guys that can legitimately go out on the football field and play,” Smith said. “It’s real competitive. … It gives us an opportunity to play more guys. It allows us to build our depth for the future. We’re talented on the back end.”

Smith and his fellow coach in the secondary, defensive backs coach Anthony Poindexter, said the versatility in their rooms and across the defense will create opportunities that might not have been there without the position switches. That is especially true about star safety Jaquan Brisker, who excels against the run and the pass and can play both safety spots to go with the already versatile room.

“We’ve got a special player,” Poindexter said about Brisker. “He allows Coach Pry to call the game a certain way. We can get certain matchups that we want because he’s a safety that has corner skills. … In the safety room, we’ve got depth. Guys can move around, and we can move pieces around. It just allows us to be comfortable calling any defense that we want when the situation dictates it.”

No matter who lines up where for Penn State, Pry and his defensive assistants will have options this season and could look very different at certain positions. Those players and their versatility could be the key that unlocks yet another high-level defense for the Nittany Lions.