Penn State Two-A-Days: Tight end and cornerback

It’s time for Penn State football two-a-days where we break down two positions on the roster. Today, we’re focusing on the cornerbacks and tight ends.

Penn State tight ends need to stay healthy

More than anything, health has been the only thing holding the Penn State tight ends back from reaching superstar status. Theo Johnson missed the first part of 2022, and once he returned to the lineup, his teammate Tyler Warren left with an injury of his own.

Finally, midway through the season, Johnson caught fire. While you can’t say that offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich featured the tight ends in every game, they were the team’s most dangerous weapon weekly. Johnson operated as the team’s deep threat through the final half of the season and put up some absurd numbers.

Johnson had a perfect passer rating on balls thrown to him. He also was near the top of college football in several categories, including yards per catch, explosive plays from a tight end, and average depth of target. Between Johnson and Warren, the Penn State tight ends shredded the middle of the field against multiple opponents.

Young players under the spotlight

With both players entering the spring with some “bumps and bruises,” as Penn State head coach James Franklin described it, the focus now shifts to the younger players.

“Theo and Tyler Warren got some bumps and bruises. And in some ways, it’s a blessing in disguise because [Khalil] Dinkins and [Jerry] Cross and Joey [Schlaffer] and Mathias [Barnwell] will get a ton of reps this spring.

So I think it’s it’s really valuable because, in some ways, we know who Theo and Tyler are. One of the things I do really like about this group is we got a chance to have more depth where last year, you know if we had an injury or two at tight end, we had to get away from some of our packages.

I think these guys are going to allow us to have the depth that we’re not really worried about losing a package based on not having enough, you know, proven versatile tight ends,” Franklin said.

The question for this group is who will take over for former tight end Brenton Strange? The long-time starter did the dirty work for the tight end group, lining up all over the field, lead blocking, setting the edge, and catching passes underneath. He was also a consistent target on play-action passes.

Realistically, Warren will get the first shot to fill that role, but Dinkins and freshman Andrew Rappleyea are also players to watch. However, Rappleyea won’t arrive until after the spring. The team is stacked for short- and long-term position depth with players like Mega Barnwell and Joey Schlaffer who are most likely taking the year to redshirt.

Penn State’s dominance at tight end isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Penn State cornerbacks have special skills

What can we say about the Penn State cornerbacks? They’re really, really good. Junior Kalen King ascends to the throne of CB1 with the departure of Joey Porter Jr. While fans may know that King is good, they might not understand how good the Michigan native is.

King was targeted 32 times in man coverage last season; that’s tied for 14th most in the country. He also forced an incompletion on 41% of those targets. That’s second among players with at least 20 targets in man coverage. If all of that sounded confusing, let me put it this way.

Don’t throw at King in man coverage.

With another strong season, there’s a great chance we’ll discuss King as Penn State’s next first-round cornerback prospect a year from now.

Opposite King is Johnny Dixon. Dixon will likely split starting reps again this year, with transfer Storm Duck. But Dixon has value outside of playing outside cornerback. The Nittany Lion defensive back is critical to defensive coordinator Manny Diaz’s defensive sub-packages. Dixon plays a healthy amount of slot cornerback for Penn State and turned into one of the better blitzers on the team last year.

Dixon brings versatility

While you don’t usually think of cornerbacks as pass rushers, Dixon tallied three sacks last season in Diaz’s pressure packages, making him a valuable piece of the puzzle this season. He’s also got the flexibility to play in slot coverage as well.

Duck joins the Nittany Lions to provide veteran experience and depth behind Dixon and King. Expect to see him play plenty this spring as he integrates into the defense.

Youth is short on the Penn State roster, but the promising players behind the trio of starters stand out. Cam Miller impressed the staff enough to burn his redshirt last season and has continued to put himself in position for playing time on defense and special teams this spring.

Freshman Elliot Washington is as physically mature of a player as Penn State has had at the position so early in his career. At 200 pounds, he’s bigger than some of the team’s safeties. If he can show enough mental growth within the system, he could see playing time like Miller did last year.