Maybe the Penn State defensive line won’t be in such rough shape after all in 2025? While still losing its best player early to the NFL draft with Abdul Carter moving on, the players returning for another season has been promising for the Nittany Lions. Following the previous news that Dani Dennis-Sutton and Zane Durant are each coming back for another season, Smith Vilbert took to social media to announce he will also be returning for another year in Happy Valley. The 2025 season will be Vilbert’s seventh season of college football, a true rarity in the game.
Vilbert picked up an extra year of free eligibility from the NCAA for the 2020 season impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. He redshirted his first season on campus in 2019 and was granted a medical redshirt for losing the 2023 season.
Vilbert recorded 12 tackles and 4 TFL with 2 forced fumbles and 1.5 sacks this past season while playing as a second option on the line behind Carter and Dennis-Sutton. With Carter moving to the NFL, Vilbert could become a top candidate to lock down a more prominent role on the defensive line in 2025 beginning this spring.
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