Penn State Sports Magazine
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2 0 1 9 S E A S O N P R E V I E W OUTLOOK The Nittany Lions may be re- placing two starters at this position group, but they still look to be in very good shape, particularly at defensive end. James Franklin said this past spring that Penn State had assembled "one of the better defen- sive end groups in the country." The Lions de=- nitely have a playmaker in Gross-Matos. The 6-5, 265-pound junior is coming o? a break- through season in 2018. Replacing Buchholz, who announced just before the season that he was giving up football due to recurring back problems, Gross-Matos enjoyed a spectacular year, =nish- ing with eight sacks and 20 tackles for loss. If he's able to build on that per- formance this coming fall, he'll likely =nd himself in contention for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors. The opposite defensive end spot is open following Miller's early exit, but the Lions have options. The most likely starter is Toney, a redshirt junior who has seen ac- tion in 25 games over the past two sea- sons. He's still a bit undersized at 6-3, 236 pounds, but he's been able to use his quickness to great e?ect at times. Against Indiana last year, Toney tied a PSU single- game record with four sacks, all of them in the fourth quarter when the Hoosiers were trying to engineer a comeback. The Lions are also bringing back Sim- mons, but the redshirt junior played in only eight games last season due to an injury and was forced to sit out this spring as well. If he isn't ready to go in the fall, Penn State could end up turning to one or two of its up-and-comers. Oweh, as noted above, has been on the rise since his arrival on campus last year, and Isaac is said to have impressed this spring a@er enrolling in January. Joseph and/or Tarburton could be factors, as well. In short, there's a lot of reason to believe that Franklin wasn't exaggerat- ing when he o?ered his glowing assess- ment of the team's DEs this past spring. At defensive tackle, the Lions must replace Givens, a 12- game starter last year, but they came out of spring practice feeling pretty good about where they stand. Shelton, a 6- 2, 308-pound redshirt junior "has really taken the next step" in his de- velopment, defensive line coach Sean Spencer said, making him a solid contender for the vacant position. In addition, Mustipher showed great promise as a freshman and figures to challenge for the first-team spot. At nose guard, Windsor is returning after an ex- cellent junior campaign in which he finished with 7.5 sacks and 11 tackles for loss and received honorable mention All-Big Ten honors. What's more, the Lions have built some depth in the inte- rior of their line. Hansard was back in action this spring after suffering a sea- son-ending leg injury last October, Barber appears to be in the mix for playing time, and Culpepper and Hawkins are coming off redshirt years. "I thought we had a great spring," Spencer said. "We looked fast. We've eliminated the mental errors. That was a big emphasis for us, and any time you've got younger guys stepping into a new role, you always worry about how they function when the bullets are >ying. So I thought they've done a great job of that, in particular." –M.H. DEFENSIVE END NO NAME HT WT YEAR 99 Yetur Gross-Matos 6-5 265 Jr./Jr. 49 Daniel Joseph 6-3 254 Sr./Jr. 46 Nick Tarburton 6-3 260 So./Fr. 3-TECHNIQUE DEFENSIVE TACKLE 55 Antonio Shelton 6-2 308 Sr./Jr. 93 P.J. Mustipher 6-4 300 So./So. 90 Damion Barber 6-3 287 Jr./So. 88 Judge Culpepper 6-4 286 So./Fr. 27 Aeneas Hawkins 6-2 274 So./Fr. 1-TECHNIQUE DEFENSIVE TACKLE 54 Robert Windsor 6-4 289 Sr./Sr. 53 Fred Hansard 6-3 309 Jr./So. 55 Antonio Shelton 6-2 308 Sr./Jr. DEFENSIVE END 18 Shaka Toney 6-3 236 Sr./Jr. 28 Jayson Oweh 6-5 250 So./Fr. 34 Shane Simmons 6-3 250 Sr./Jr. 20 Adisa Isaac 6-4 232 Fr./Fr. P H I L ' S T A K E The play of the starting line (DEs Shareef Miller and Yetur Gross-Matos, DTs Robert Windsor and Kevin Givens) was the most overlooked aspect of Penn State's defense last season. Gross-Matos, Miller, Windsor and Givens combined for 56.5 tackles for loss and 28 sacks. Miller and Givens are gone, but I believe the defensive line has the potential to perform at an even higher level this fall. James Franklin has said his defensive end group is the best he's had in his coaching career. It's led by an All-America candidate in Gross-Matos, with Shaka Toney the projected starter at the weakside DE position and redshirt freshman Jayson Oweh possibly serving as his backup depending on the health of Shane Simmons. Oweh stands 6-foot-5, 250 pounds and recently told re- porters that he turned in a 4.3-second 40-yard time. That's a stunning testa- ment to his athleticism. At the one-technique tackle spot, Windsor is the projected starter a@er an outstanding 2018 season in which he totaled 11 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks. And at the three-technique position, Shelton may end up battling P.J. Mustipher. Judge Culpepper, Aeneas Hawkins and Damion Barber provide depth here. Incoming freshmen Joseph Darkwa, D'Von Ellies and Ha- keem Beamon will almost certainly redshirt this fall. ■ OR OR OR OR SHAKA TONEY Steve Manuel