Kyle Golik
Penn State Writer
Since the Blue-White spring game, Penn State has been clamoring for more at linebacker.
It started with head coach James Franklin seeking a veteran piece to fill the role that current Minnesota Vikings linebacker Kobe King left after last season.
Penn State was able to fill that void with North Carolina transfer Amare Campbell.
Campbell, through two games, is Penn State’s leading tackler with 15 tackles (9 solo).
Then many wondered if junior Tony Rojas was healthy again after getting banged up during the College Football Playoffs last season.
Against Florida International (FIU), Rojas was the team’s leading tackler with 10 tackles (6 solo) to go along with a half tackle for loss.
Redshirt senior Dominic DeLuca continues to provide meaningful depth to the linebacker group, as well as on special teams where DeLuca had his third career punt block against FIU.
“We were talking about it all week,” DeLuca said, “you’ve got to have the mindset of ‘you’re going to come free’ and ‘you never know who will come free’ and be able to come off the edge. Getting free is huge.”
Beyond the starters, there were questions about the quality of the depth.
Linebacker coach Dan Connor met with the media on Thursday to discuss linebackers and felt the depth is coming along, especially redshirt junior Keon Wylie and sophomore Anthony Speca.
“They’ve (Wylie, Speca) done a good job getting in there to develop depth. These guys need a million reps, and practice reps are good, but it’s the game reps, you know that you need. You need the pressure on you. So I’m happy with their development and where they’re at, but we still gotta work. We still gotta work at feeling comfortable with the next three guys in the game aside from Tony (Rojas), Amari (Campbell), and Dom (DeLuca), so it’s a process.”
The process has been successful getting Wylie and Speca game reps, each had 11 against FlU, as well as participating in both games this season for Penn State.
If there is one underclassman who has impressed Connor thus far is true freshman Alex Tatsch.
Tatsch was a four-star linebacker from Greater Latrobe (Latrobe, Pennsylvania) where he was the program’s all-time leading tackler.
Connor, who is Penn State’s all-time leading tackler, has raved about where Tatsch is in his development.
“He’s wired the same way I was at that age,” Connor said. “He’s probably a lot more mature than I was, but it’s similar wiring to what Tony (Rojas) has. I was incredibly hard on myself. I was highly competitive. I wanted to be not just the best on the team. I wanted to be the best linebacker in the country, and that was the goal through my whole process. It’s nothing I would say out loud or talk about, but I had my mind set on that. A lot of the guys have that similar trait, but there’s something with Tatsch that does remind me of a younger version of me, aside from the fact he looks like me and acts like me somehow. It’s kinda creepy.”
While Franklin has not given Tatsch the green light, Connor hopes he will receive some reps this season before a likely redshirt.
The headliner in the freshman class is a legacy in LaVar Arrington II, the son of LaVar Arrington, who starred at Penn State from 1997-1999 being named a consensus All-American and Butkus Award winner.
Arrington II also got the fabled No. 11 following Abdul Carter, who was the top defensive player taken in the 2025 NFL Draft.
“Yeah. LaVar, graduating early is is a huge advantage to be able to get those spring reps and and in the new system, and a system like this, a complex system, it’s close to an NFL system, you know, that’s going to take time, um, he has steadily progressed, you know, to be able to play the Mike,” Connor said.
“You know, you’re, you’re playing quarterback of a tough defensive system. He has steadily progressed, and really, over the past three weeks in particular,, it’s been impressive, you know, to watch him operate, you know, he has all the tools. I mean, he’s big, he’s fast, he’s twitchy, he can rush the passer, he can do, pretty much anything. But it’s been really encouraging to see him now operate as a level two linebacker, but not just a level two linebacker, you know, the Mike linebacker, the main communicator.”
Connor feels the progress Arrington II and Tatsch have made of becoming fluent in Jim Knowles complex defense will get each game reps.
If the worry leading into the season was linebacker, the youth has provided results to make everyone feel comfortable there is support beyond Rojas, DeLuca, and Campbell.
Stephen Leonard
Ohio State Writer
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