Penn State targeting pass rusher in transfer portal, James Franklin says
Asked about pass defense, new Penn State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz made his convictions very clear.
“The best coverage is pass rush, and that’s a big point we’ve been trying to make throughout camp,” Diaz said. “We’re trying to get our sack numbers up, our tackles for loss numbers up and our disruption numbers up.”
That message aligns with how Diaz’s defenses typically perform. During his stint as the defensive coordinator and head coach at Miami, Diaz’s defenses finished inside the nation’s top-13 in sacks three times, leading the country in that category in 2017. The Hurricanes never spent a season outside the country’s top-10 in tackles for loss with Diaz on staff.
To help this Penn State defense reach similar pass-rushing heights, head coach James Franklin said the Nittany Lions have turned to the transfer portal.
“We need more consistent edge pressure,” Franklin said Wednesday evening. “So, between developing the guys we have and then obviously we’re looking into the portal a little bit for that as well. Very similar to what we did with [Arnold Ebiketie], we got to find somebody that can come in and help us with edge pressure and affecting the quarterback.”
Penn State found great success with Ebiketie last season. He came into Happy Valley after three seasons at Temple and finished the year as a first-team All-Big Ten edge rusher.
Now, some analysts think he might be worthy of a first-round pick in this year’s NFL Draft.
Outside of Ebiketie, only two Nittany Lions on last season’s team reached the three-sack threshold. One was Curtis Jacobs, a linebacker. Smith Vilbert also hit that mark, getting to the quarterback three times in an Outback Bowl loss to Arkansas.
Evaluating Penn State’s pass-rushing options
Penn State certainly felt the absence of Adisa Isaac, who missed the entirety of last season with an injury.
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Playing in a reserve role through his first two seasons on campus, Isaac totaled three sacks and 4.5 TFLs.
This year, the Nittany Lions are depending on him.
“Adisa’s the one guy that flashes consistently,” Franklin said.
“He just has some things you can’t teach,” Diaz added, “in terms of his athleticism, his ability to bend, turn the corner, his length, the way he can kind of get his hands on offensive linemen. We’re excited to see him grow into this role every day.”
In addition to Isaac, Franklin offered an assessment on two other Penn State defensive ends during Wednesday’s media session.
Smith Vilbert: “Vilbert’s obviously a guy who had three sacks in the bowl game, but it needs to be more consistent.”
Nick Tarburton: “Tarburton is kind of a guy who’s gonna wear people down and do it with effort, do it with motor. And his skills and his technique continue to grow. We probably need to continue to kind of grow his toolbox of moves on the perimeter.”
