Jim Nagy highlights Adisa Isaac as Penn State defender to watch vs. Ohio State
The critical mass of attention in college football will turn to Columbus, Ohio, at noon on Saturday as Ohio State hosts Penn State in an undefeated matchup. No shortage of that attention will be from scouts, including Reese’s Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy.
Speaking with On3’s Andy Staples on Tuesday, Nagy discussed a litany of matchups and players to keep an eye out for on Saturday in the Horseshoe. And on the vaunted Penn State defense, Nagy picked out a perhaps unsung Nittany Lion defender to keep an eye out for: Edge rusher Adisa Isaac.
“I’ve had a lot of scouts call and be like, ‘Is Chop Robinson eligible to play in your game?’ And I’m like ‘Nah.’ They’re like, ‘Gosh he’s a good player.’ I haven’t watched much of him but I know he’s good just based on what the scout feedback is. The guy opposite him, Adisa Isaac had a really — another strong game. He’s played well all season but I think statistically broke through, had two or three sacks this past week,” Nagy said.
The fifth-year edge rusher had a highly-productive game against UMass as Penn State came out of the bye week with a tune up before a massive road game. Isaac had 2.5 sacks and an additional tackle for loss against the Minutemen.
Isaac now has five sacks in six games and 2.5 more tackles for loss, plus a fumble recovery, and has been a constant thorn in the side of opposing protection and run schemes.
“I would say right now that Adisa Isaac is a guy that, in what right now looks like it’s going to be a thinner edge class than maybe we’ve had the last couple years — he’s a guy that certainly helped himself so far,” Nagy said.
Along with Isaac, two other veteran Penn State defenders are on the radar for Nagy, the man in charge of stocking the Senior Bowl rosters: Linebacker Curtis Jacobs and cornerback Johnny Dixon.
Jacobs leads the Nittany Lions in sacks and Dixon, opposite lockdown corner Kalen King, has two passes defensed and an interception, likely helping his stock. A strong performance against Ohio State’s receiver cadre of former four- and five-star recruits could be a boon to Dixon going forward.
“Curtis Jacobs, leading them in tackles. Johnny Dixon at corner is a guy who we feel like has had a better year this year than last year. He’s taken a nice jump,” Nagy said.