Ranking Penn State football's 25 most important players ahead of spring practice: 21-25
In the leadup to Penn State football’s spring practice, which begins next week, Blue White Illustrated is ranking the 25 most important players on the Nittany Lions’ roster ahead of the 2022 season.
Today, we begin with Nos. 21-25 on our list.
Methodology: This list is our best attempt at ranking the players on Penn State’s roster according to their importance for the 2022 season. It is not a ranking of PSU’s best players, though on-field effectiveness will obviously be taken into account among several other factors.
Penn State’s picture at defensive tackle is far from clear from the outside looking in at this stage. PJ Mustipher is returning for a fifth season, but he suffered a season-ending injury at Iowa and it’s uncertain where he stands with his recovery. The Nittany Lions must replace Derrick Tangelo at the other defensive tackle spot. Coziah Izzard played the second-most snaps of any PSU DT last season. He finished the year with 21 tackles and a pair of sacks. Pro Football Focus, however, did not rate his performances highly, giving him an overall grade of 40.4
Penn State must replace two of its starting linebackers from a season ago. As a result, Jonathan Sutherland is expected to play there more frequently in 2022. A safety for the majority of his Penn State career, Sutherland could slot into the SAM linebacker role in some capacity. A sixth-year player, Sutherland is a respected leader in the Nittany Lion locker room and is also a valuable contributor on special teams for PSU.
It might not be a flashy choice, but we all know how important kickers can be in college football. Pinegar was hampered by injury during the 2021 offseason and eventually lost his place kicking field goals to Jordan Stout. As a result, he attempted only two field goals and two extra points last season. He could get pushed by second-year kicker Sander Sahaydak for his place, but we’ll list him here as the incumbent of sorts for now.
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Defensive end is another place on the field where the Nittany Lions lost some valuable pieces. Arnold Ebiketie is off to the NFL, and could be a top-60 pick. Jesse Luketa made the transition to the pros as well after the 2021 season. While the return of Adisa Isaac and the pending arrival of signee Dani Dennis-Sutton are both exciting, Tarburton should play a key role at defensive end again this season. Playing all 13 games last year, Tarburton contributed 29 tackles, 4.5 TFLs and a sack.
21. The backup quarterback
You might call this a cop-out. We’re going to choose to describe it as efficient. It’s unclear who the No. 2 guy on the Penn State quarterback depth chart will be at the moment following the arrival of talented freshmen Drew Allar and Beau Pribula this winter. Christian Veilleux, who occupied that spot at the conclusion of last season, earned plenty of praise during Penn State’s winter workout sessions. We saw just how important this role is last season after Sean Clifford’s injury. The Nittany Lions need a backup they can rely on.
