Tag: Arnold Ebiketie

Arnold Ebiketie’s pass rush win rate is second among rookies in 2022

#Falcons LB Arnold Ebiketie has the NFL’s second-highest pass rush win rate among rookies this season

It feels like forever since the Atlanta Falcons last had a productive edge rusher. When the team hired head coach Arthur Smith and general manager Terry Fontenot back in 2021, the top edge rushers on the team were Dante Fowler and Steven Means.

After two drafts under Smith and Fontenot, it looks like the Falcons have found a good one in rookie Arnold Ebiketie. Drafted in the second round out of Penn State, Ebiketie has been a welcome addition to the defense.

After 12 weeks, he is second in pass rush win rate among all rookies. Ebiketie’s 12.6 percent average only trails Giants rookie Kayvon Thibodeaux.

Ebiketie’s three sacks are also tied for second with Jacksonville’s Travon Walker. Lions rookie Aidan Hutchinson leads the 2022 draft class with six sacks.

But while Ebiketie’s win rate is impressive, the rookie still has considerable work to do if he wants to become an impact player in the NFL. When looking at the entire league and not just the rookie class, Ebiketie is rated 42nd among players with at least 300 snaps this season in win rate.

One thing the rookie linebacker must work on is wrapping up when tackling. Ebiketie has a missed tackle percentage of 20, which is third highest among rookie edge rushers who have played at least 200 snaps in 2022. Improving in this area would likely lead to higher sack numbers.

Nonetheless, Ebiketie is a good potential building block who’s already shown enough to be apart of the team’s long-term future. Below are a couple of examples where Ebiketie uses his athletic ability to break free from the opposing offensive line and disrupt the play.

Ebiketie still has a long way to go before he’s an elite pass rusher, but the rookie is among the most promising players in the 2022 draft class. His continued progression will go a long way in turning this defense around.

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Ji’Ayir Brown accepts Senior Bowl invitation

Ji’Ayir Brown will have a great opportunity to improve his draft stock in the Senior Bowl

The Senior Bowl has long been one of the best tools for college players looking to make the jump to the NFL to make an impact on their draft stock. Over the 75-plus year history of the game there have been 128 Penn State players to represent the Nittany Lions in Mobile, Alabama and this year they are adding another.

[autotag]Ji’Ayir Brown[/autotag] is officially going to Mobile, Alabama in January and into February to perform in front of 32 NFL teams as he looks to prove why he is worth the investment from a team. On Sunday, the Senior Bowl announced Brown had accepted his invitation to the 2023 Senior Bowl.

Upon coming to State College as a JUCO transfer, expectations weren’t really set for the incoming junior. It was the heart of COVID-19 in 2020 when he made the transfer but that didn’t stop him from making adjustments and making an impact right away.

His second year on the team in 2021 saw his biggest impact. Brown would end up being tied for the lead in interceptions with five and would be a member of the All-Big Ten team.

Brown would follow that up with strong final season in State College where he would emerge as an overall player making plays both in the run and pass game. He would end up totaling 145 tackles, 7.5 TFL, 3 sacks, and nine interceptions.

Brown now heads to Mobile as the first of potentially many Nittany Lions to be named to the Senior Bowl roster. Last year the team sent [autotag]Tariq Castro-Fields[/autotag], [autotag]Arnold Ebiketie[/autotag], [autotag]Jesse Luketa[/autotag], and [autotag]Jordan Stout[/autotag]. All four players would end up hearing their name called during the 2022 NFL Draft and the same can be said for Brown heading into the 2023 NFL Draft season.

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PSU in NFL: Week 11 moments from former Penn State players

Here are the top NFL moments from former Penn State players from Week 11.

We are through 11 weeks of the NFL regular season. With some former Penn State players on bye weeks, we still saw plenty of exciting games from the ones that did play this week.
With some key teams coming out on top in the NFC East, that division just got a lot more interesting to finish off the regular season.
[autotag]Adrian Amos[/autotag] continues to be one of the most productive players on the Packers defense. However, the team continues to struggle, and at the rate they’re playing right now, this will likely be the first time the Packers have missed the playoffs under head coach Matt LaFleur since hiring him after the 2018 season.
We also saw some productive games from key Penn State rookies like [autotag]Jaquan Brisker[/autotag] and [autotag]Arnold Ebiketie[/autotag].
Another struggling team is the Rams. With Cooper Kupp out for the season, they turn to veterans like [autotag]Allen Robinson II[/autotag].
It was another productive week for former Penn State players.
Here are the top moments from former Nittany Lions from Week 11 of the NFL regular season.

PSU in NFL: Week 10 NFL recap from former Nittany Lions

Here are the top standout former Penn State players from Week 10 of the NFL season.

We are through 10 weeks of the NFL season. That’s pretty crazy to think about. We are seeing some teams, like the Green Bay Packers, trying to keep their playoff hopes alive after an overtime win on Sunday over the Dallas Cowboys.

Other former Penn State players, like [autotag]Saquon Barkley[/autotag], continue to impress, playing their way into a contract extension.

In general, it was a pretty exciting week of NFL football. We started with the wild ending to the Vikings–Bills game.

Then, we made our way to Green Bay, where the Packers snapped their five-game losing streak, beating the Cowboys 31-28 in overtime. It was a game where rookie receiver Christian Watson had three touchdown receptions. However, this has also been a season for the Packers where the production of former Penn State safety [autotag]Adrian Amos[/autotag] has not gone unnoticed.

So, how did the rest of the former Nittany Lions do this week? Let’s take a look.

PSU in NFL: Week 6 moments from former Penn State players

Here are the top Week 6 moments from former Penn State players.

We are through six weeks of the NFL season, and former Nittany Lions are continuing to show out. It’s not just the veterans, but the rookies like [autotag]Jaquan Brisker[/autotag] for the Chicago Bears are also performing well.

Sure, we have seen the struggles from certain players. But those, like Allen Robinson and even [autotag]Mike Gesicki[/autotag], were a part of their team’s offensive success in Week 6. Yes, the Dolphins did lose to the Vikings.

We also have two former Nittany Lions running backs in the top five rushing category. Those two are [autotag]Saquon Barkley[/autotag] and [autotag]Miles Sanders[/autotag]. What makes it interesting is that both are under their final years of their contract.

Others like rookie wide receiver [autotag]Jahan Dotson[/autotag] did not play this week against the Bears due to an injury.

So, let’s a more in-depth look at some of the former Penn State standouts.

Here are the top moment from former Penn State players from Week 6 of the NFL season.

PSU in NFL: Week 3 NFL recap from former Nittany Lions

Here is a look at how former Nittany Lions did in the NFL in Week 3.

Week 3 of the NFL regular season has concluded and Week 4 is already nearly upon us.

It was still a very solid week for former Penn State players. [autotag]Saquon Barkley[/autotag] continues to shine. Not only that, but he was able to experience white out in a Giants uniform once again.

He was also able to go up against a former Nittany Lion in Micah Parsons.

It was also a bit of a quiet week for some of the rookies, which we will get to. But again, they are rookies. You shouldn’t expect stand-out weeks from them every week.

However, overall, it was still a good one. Let’s not discredit the amount of success Penn State players have put out over the years.

Despite the quiet weeks from some players, it was still a solid week overall.

Let’s take a look at some of the top moments from former Penn State players from Week 3 of the NFL season.

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PSU in NFL: Week 2 moments from former Penn State players

Here are the top NFL Week 2 moments from former Penn State players.

We are through another week of the NFL season, and it was another good week for not just veterans/former Nittany Lions, but for the rookies as well. Everywhere you look around the NFL, you are bound to see a former Penn State player making some big plays around the league. This past weekend was no exception to that concept.

[autotag]Micah Parsons[/autotag] once again showed why he is such a valuable asset to the Dallas Cowboys on defense, and rookie [autotag]Jaquan Brisker[/autotag] had an active afternoon against the Green Bay Packers. A handful of former Nittany Lions reached the end zone as well, including [autotag]Jahan Dotson[/autotag] and [autotag]Allen Robinson[/autotag], two of the best wide receivers in program history.

It was an eventful weekend of NFL football for these former Nittany Lions, and things are just warming up.

Here are the top NFL Week 2 moments from former Penn State Nittany Lions players.

Who are the experts picking in Penn State’s matchup at Auburn?

The experts seem to agree on who will be winning this weekend’s Penn State-Auburn game.

Penn State takes on Auburn for the second year in a row. The Nittany Lions came away with a 28–20 win last year at home for the white out. This year, they’re on the road to take on the Tigers.

So, who are the experts picking for the matchup this time around? Let’s take a look.

To start, ESPN is giving Penn State a 61.7% and Auburn a 38.3% to win the game.

Both teams lost key players to the transfer portal and the NFL.

Let’s start with Auburn. Quarterback TJ Finley was still on the team last year but he was backing up Bo Nix, who is now the starting quarterback at Oregon. The Tigers still have Tank Bigsby, but it’s worth noting he almost transferred from the program over the offseason.

As for Penn State, its biggest piece lost on offense is [autotag]Jahan Dotson[/autotag]. However, it brought in Western Kentucky transfer wide receiver [autotag]Mitchell Tinsley[/autotag]. And you could certainly make the argument that the offense is stronger this year. On defense, the Nittany Lions lost key players [autotag]Arnold Ebiketie[/autotag] and [autotag]Jesse Luketa[/autotag]. This will be another big test to see how well Penn State can adapt to the departure of those players.

Let’s head back to our predictions from experts. Heading over to College Football News, its experts have Penn State winning, 27-23, in another close one.

Lastly, we have the writers over at Athlon Sports. All three of its writers picked the Nittany Lions to defeat the Tigers on Auburn’s home turf.

Even though many of these experts have Penn State winning, they still predicted to be a close game. After all, Auburn only lost by eight points last year at Beaver Stadium. Will we see a similar score or deficit this year? Some of the experts seem to think so.

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PSU in NFL: Week 1 highlights from former Penn State players

Here are the top performances by former Penn State players from Week 1 of the NFL season.

We are through Week 1 of the NFL season and, boy, what a day it was to be a Penn State fan! There were plenty of former Nittany Lions that had impressive days in their first games of the 2022 NFL season.

Here are the top performances by former Penn State players from Week 1 of the NFL season.

Every Penn State player on an NFL opening day roster in 2022

Here is every former Penn State plater on an NFL roster to start the new NFL season in 2022.

The start of a new season in the National Football League is here and there will be a good amount of Penn State flavor throughout the league this season. Penn State will have the eighth most players on an NFL opening day roster this season with 34 players appearing on an NFL team’s 53-man roster to start the season (plus two additional players on injured reserve and another on the physically unable to perform list). In all, Penn State claims 44 players are on NFL rosters to start the year with the inclusion of practice squad players.

That includes nine players who were on the Penn State roster in 2021, including wide receiver [autotag]Jahan Dotson[/autotag], defensive end [autotag]Arnold Ebiketie[/autotag], and safety [autotag]Jaquan Brisker[/autotag]. Dotson is one of four Penn State players on the Washington Commanders, the most of any NFL franchise to start the season.

Former kicker [autotag]Robbie Gould[/autotag] continues to be the elder statesman of the Nittany Lions football family in the NFL. Gould, of the San Francisco 49ers, is entering his 19th season in the NFL.

Here is a look at every Penn State player on either an NFL team’s 53-man roster or practice squad at the start of the 2022 season.