One of Penn State’s top defensive backs is looking to put on a solid showing in front of the eyes of the NFL scouting community this week at the Senior Bowl. [autotag]Johnny Dixon[/autotag] will play his final game against college football players also hoping to catch the eye of the scouts this week when he represents Penn State in the Senior Bowl.
Dixon arrived in Mobile as one of the prospects to keep an eye on as he is one of the players who figured to be in a position to have a make-or-break experience at the Senior Bowl before things move on to the NFL combine later this spring. Dixon is an experienced cornerback that should be on the big board going into the NFL draft, but where he gets projected is up in the air and could be influenced by his performance in Senior Bowl practices and at the combine.
Dixon started his college football career at South Carolina but he transferred to Penn State following the 2020 season. He immediately found playing time in the defensive backfield for the Nittany Lions with appearances in 12 games during the 2021 season and going on to earn honorable mention All-Big Ten honors in 2022 and third-team All-Big Ten honors in 2023.
Dixon started 12 games for Penn State in 2023 but he opted out of the Peach Bowl against Ole Miss. Dixon ended his season with 26 tackles, one interception, a forced fumble, and three pass breakups with 4.5 sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss. In 2023, Dixon led all cornerbacks with 4.5 sacks.
File Johnny Dixon under Senior Bowl prospects I’m most intrigued by. Prototypical frame for the position, uber-physical, and high-level football intelligence. Oh, and he’s totaled 7.5 sacks over the past two seasons. https://t.co/Kp21Cy1r0d
— Andrew DiCecco (@AndrewDiCecco) January 30, 2024
Unfortunately for Dixon, those in attendance this week saw the son of Jerry Rice, USC’s Brendan Rice, make some plays against him in practice.
What a catch through contact by USC’s Brenden Rice against Johnny Dixon. Rice is having a DAY pic.twitter.com/WQYUS6OtHX
— Tyler DeSena (@DeSenaSports) January 30, 2024
How much those highlights come back to haunt Dixon remains to be seen, but this is just a small sample of what Dixon has been able to do this week. His performance in the game could make up for these clips.
The Senior Bowl is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 3.
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