Penn State’s offense may be the bigger question for the Nittany Lions this season, but the defense has a few things to figure out this season as well. After the departure of Manny Diaz to be a head coach at Duke, Penn State brought in former Indiana head coach Tom Allen to take over as defensive coordinator. Allen’s reputation as a defensive mind is well-regarded, and he has some good players to work with this season.
Allen has a defense that sees a key player make a notable position change, a rising star at linebacker, and another stud in the making in the secondary to carry on Penn State’s recent line of success in the defensive backfield.
Here are our predictions for Penn State’s defensive MVP in 2024.
Brad Wakai: Tony Rojas
While all the attention is on Abdul Carter moving to edge rusher, it’s going to be tackling machine Tony Rojas who racks up stats and stops the run, allowing Penn State’s pass rushers to wreak havoc like they have done so often.
Charlie Strella: Tony Rojas
The smart pick is Abdul Carter and he rightfully is the best player on PSU’s defense, but this is “Linebacker U” after all so I’m going with the up and coming sophomore Tony Rojas. The next NFL caliber linebacker to come out of Happy Valley. He very well could end up leading the team in tackles and is already emerging as a leader of defense.
Shayne Kubas: Kevin Winston Jr
It’s tempting to go with the explosive Abdul Carter with this pick, but nobody was more consistent on Penn State’s defense last season than Kevin Winston Jr. He is the glue that should keep a new-look secondary together, and there could be a potential top-50 NFL draft pick with his name on it next April.
Kevin McGuire: Abdul Carter
So nobody wants to take Abdul Carter? Then I suppose I will!
The move from linebacker to the edge of the line is a fascinating one and I do believe it will lead to Carter being one of the top edge rusher sin the Big Ten. The explosiveness I expect Carter to bring to the line will create some huge plays in the backfield this season and just his presence alone up front will help others on the line make some plays as well. I think we are in for a monster season from Carter.