Keaton Ellis
Measurables: 5’11” / 189 lbs.
Year: Redshirt Senior
Expected Role: Starting Strong Safety
[autotag]Keaton Ellis[/autotag] was the starter last season and is expected to hold onto this role coming into the year. He had an interesting season in 2022-23 and didn’t play up to his previous standard. Ellis had a grade of 61.4, which put him 574th out of 783 safeties.
He recorded 24 total tackles and seven passes defended. There is an expectation that the safety position will be a platooned role in 2023 like it was last year. Multiple players are expected to rotate in and out of the field. But there has to be one starter and Ellis is expected to be that guy.
Kevin Winston
Measurables: 6’2″ / 200 lbs.
Year: Sophomore
Expected Role: Starting Free Safety
Coming into Penn State, [autotag]Kevin Winston[/autotag] had some high expectations about what he could become. He was a four-star recruit according to 247Sports with great athleticism and size.
Winston wasn’t used a lot his freshman year outside of special teams. It will be interesting to see if he can make the leap to full time safety considering his lack of live reps on the field. Since the safety position will most likely have multiple players rotating in and out during games, that will help Winston ease into the role. This is definitely a position to keep an eye on during the spring and summer to see who gets the official starting nod.