Penn State commit Jameial Lyons Film Review: T-Frank's film room

On Friday, Penn State struck their first blow in the defensive line class of 2023 when four-star edge defender Jamieal Lyons committed to the Nittany Lions. The 6-4, 255-pound product of Roman Catholic High school in Philadelphia chose Penn State over Pitt and West Virginia but listed Illinois and Cincinnati in his top five. 

Lyons is an under-the-radar player in a loaded cycle for 2023, but he was still a high-priority target for the Nittany Lions. Next, we’ll get into some of the strengths that make him such a target.

Jameial Lyons: Strengths

Length/Frame: Lyons has the perfect build for a college edge defender. He’s thick throughout his frame, with long, powerful limbs and room to grow. His pad level in a three-point stance is also impressive, showing good flexibility and mobility throughout his frame. That size and body type is rare and makes up a good bit of his potential.

His arms, somewhere north of 33 inches, are the perfect weapons for stacking and shedding blocks. On top of that, he looks like he comfortably maintains somewhere around 250 pounds already. So with the opportunity to develop physically, he could potentially play anywhere from this current weight up to 270-pounds. 

Power/Run defense: Not only that, but Lyons uses all of that size and length. Lyons plays with great physicality and control in the run game. He can stack and shed blocks to get to the ball carrier for short or no gain. He also has a knack for cleaning up blown plays on the high school level. 

When you combine his effort with this frame and his temperament, Lyons has the potential to be a high-level run defender in the future. 

First Step: While I don’t think that Lyons is the Odafe Oweh, Adisa Isaac type of rusher, he has a great first step and good speed. His play-style reminds me of former Penn State defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos in that he’s long, fluid, and quick. He consistently uses a good burst off the line of scrimmage to threaten the edge of the pocket and commands double-teams thanks to his overwhelming length and tenacity. 

Effort: There is very little fear or caution in Lyons’ game. He is willing to throw himself into any pile, chase down any play, and do so from any distance. That sort of effort is eventually rewarded. 

Areas of Development

Pass Rushing Plan: Ultimately, there isn’t much to dissect or diagnose with Lyons because outside of his first step, there’s not much…anything. Lyons doesn’t have a go-to move, a counter, or refinement in his hand fighting. He should be dominating players at his level with his length and athleticism. While he’s a handful and gets a significant amount of attention in the form of double-teams, he does not produce at the level you’d like. 

9 things to know about new Penn State football commit Jameial Lyons

General Hand Usage: Lyons’ inability to take advantage of his length is possibly more frustrating. On his best reps, he wins first contact and commands the block by locking out linemen and tossing them aside. The problem is that too often he’ll give a forearm shiver to the chest plate of the blocker and try to get through with brute force. He may be compensating for a hand or forearm injury, but it’s tough to evaluate without that information. The result is more shoving and less disengaging from blocks to chase plays down and a run defender as a pass rusher. 

Pad level consistency: Effort never lacks for Lyons, but sometimes his fatigue from playing hard results in poor reps. His overall body lean prevents terrible pad level at any point, but he will too readily give up his chest on certain plays. There are enough plays on tape of good pad level to prevent this from being a serious concern, but it underpins his lack of polish as a player. 

Projection at Penn State

Strongside DE: Jameial Lyons is a quality prospect with many excellent traits. His frame, work ethic, and physical tools make for tremendous upside. That work ethic will give him a great chance to achieve that upside as long as he commits himself to focus on the details of his craft. The rawness of his game makes him a project that will need some seasoning before he can see the field at Penn State. The more work he does in that aspect before he gets to Happy Valley, the shorter that curve is.