Surprise! A new Penn State name earns first-round mock draft status

Find out which Penn State defensive star is getting some first-round consideration in a brand new mock draft.

It’s week one of college football and we are continuing to see 2023 NFL mock drafts. We have seen a few of [autotag]Parker Washington[/autotag], but the majority of them have featured [autotag]Joey Porter Jr.[/autotag] in the first round.

This week, we have a new Nittany Lion in the first round headed to the Seattle Seahawks with the 24th overall pick. That pick is coming from the Denver Broncos in the Russell Wilson trade. Who might that player be?

That player is Penn State edge rusher Adisa Isaac in a new mock draft from Sports Illustrated.

The 24th pick to Seattle should be familiar to many. That’s because last week we highlighted Joey Porter Jr. to Seattle with the 24th overall pick.

First, let’s break down Isaac as a player. The upside is certainly there, but there is a lot of potential that Penn State may have not unlocked yet. But that could very well be the season where he takes that drastic leap. In terms of the team, this is a total Seattle pick.

Isaac does make sense to Seattle, but one could argue that there are better players at that position out there that Seattle could target like Georgia’s Nolan Smith or Iowa State’s Will McDonald IV.

Does Isaac have the talent to pop off this season? Absolutely. Nittany Lions without both Arnold Ebiketie and Jesse Luketa, as both departed for the NFL. As mentioned earlier, Seattle needs a lot of help on the defensive side of the ball. So a pass rusher would make a lot of sense for them.

As a player, Isaac is both athletic and physical. Something that stood out to Ebiketie’s game was that he had impressive bend off the edge. That is something that Isaac does well with too.

In terms of Seattle’s edge rusher room, they’re not very deep. They did trade for veteran edge rusher Shelby Harris, which will certainly help them. But outside of that, there are quite a bit of question marks. They took LJ Collier in the first round in 2019. He hasn’t really shown enough to be that reliable pass rusher. There were rumors last year that he could’ve even been a trade piece.

So, pass rush would be a perfect position for Seattle to go after. Really anything on their defense. Isaac is an interesting pick.

With both Luketa and Ebiketie gone, this is a perfect opportunity for Isaac to really make that jump in production in 2022.

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