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Penn State defenders Abdul Carter, Kalen King, and Chop Robinson land on Nagurski Trophy watch list

Greg Pickelby:Greg Pickel•08/01/23•

GregPickel

Kalen King
Kalen King celebrates during a game this season against Wisconsin (Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

Penn State is expected to have a stout defense in 2023. So, it should come as no surprise that a few Nittany Lions are considered among the best defenders in the country. Three, in particular, made the Bronco Nagurski Trophy preseason watch list on Tuesday. Sophomore linebacker Abdul Carter, junior cornerback Kalen King, and junior defensive end Chop Robinson are joined by roughly 95 other college football players on the early candidates list.

The Charlotte Touchdown Club presents the Nagurski Trophy annually to the best defender in all of college football. A Penn State player has never won it. It was first handed out in 1993.

Head coach James Franklin addressed coordinator Manny Diaz’s side of the ball during his opening statement at Big Ten Media Days last week.

“I think we’ve got a chance to be better up front with our defensive line,” Franklin said. “We are bigger, we are more athletic, [and] we are physical. I think we have a legitimate three deep across the board. Linebacker was a big question mark coming into this season, a lot of unproven players. That is not the case anymore. I feel like we have a veteran linebacker unit that’s experienced and ready to play.

“Obviously the one question mark we have is in the secondary. When you lose a guy like Joey Porter and you lose a guy like [Ji’Ayir Brown], who are tremendous players for us, that’s probably the one area of question marks. But we played a ton of players in the secondary with experience, talent, and depth. So I think we’re going to be in a good position there.”

Penn State preps to start camp as hype builds

Penn State will kick off preseason camp this week. The Nittany Lions are projected as a top 10 team out of the gates. Many people are picking them to win the Big Ten title and qualify for their first College Football Playoff. The list of pundits doing so includes former coach and Big Ten Network analyst Gerry DiNardo.

“Well, they finally built their offensive line,” DiNardo told BWI at Big Ten Media Days. “You know, we go back to when Joe [Paterno] was there, they had all guards, no tackles. Bill [O’Brien] tried to move it along a little bit. He wasn’t there long enough. [James Franklin has] finally got the offensive line. He’s got a talented quarterback. But with the offensive line and the running backs, they can take the pressure off mentally.

“I think Manny Diaz has done a terrific job with the defense. So I think they’re the most complete team.”

More watch list news

Offensively, Olu Fashanu was named to the Outland Trophy watch list on Tuesday. It goes to the nation’s best offensive lineman. On Monday, running back Nicholas Singleton kicked off watch list season when his name was included on the Maxwell Award watch list. It goes to the most outstanding player in college football.

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