How Penn State football’s safeties can set the tone for an elite defense this season

Tom Allen has an unenviable task ahead of him. Penn State has consistently had a strong — and usually elite — defense under head coach James Franklin, and last season was no different.

Former defensive coordinator Manny Diaz led a unit that finished No. 12 in 2022 and No. 4 in 2023 in ESPN’s Bill Connelly’s SP+, a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency. But now Diaz is Duke’s head coach, with Allen taking over in December as the new Nittany Lion defensive coordinator.

It is going to be difficult for Allen to replicate that success in his first season. But he has the schematic chops — and Penn State has the personnel — for him to do it.

The Nittany Lions are loaded at defensive end with Dani Dennis-Sutton and Abdul Carter, have a blossoming star at linebacker in Tony Rojas and plenty of depth at cornerback. But the position that may dictate the unit’s success will be responsible for the deepest part of the field more often than not.

Penn State’s top three safeties — and how Allen uses them — are the players that could help the program have an elite defense once again this season.

The safeties in question — K.J. Winston, Jaylen Reed and Zakee Wheatley — should all see the field plenty this season. And Allen has already sung their praises.

“I think those three young men are as good of three safeties as you’re going to have in the country,” he said.

And the new defensive coordinator will get all three on the field at the same time.

In Allen’s defense, the team will be deploying five defensive backs frequently, with the fifth being a versatile player, rather than just a cornerback like many teams use. Allen said in the spring that Reed was the player who will likely fill that role for Penn State this year — a position he now calls the “lion” after calling it the “husky” at Indiana.

Part of the reasoning for employing a safety at the position is about creating more flexibility for the defense.

“It’s flexibility to keep a certain group of guys on the field to match up against a variety of offenses,” Allen said. “And that’s important because if teams have position flexibility with their tight ends, they can really create a lot of issues or if they have a running back that can do multiple things. If you can’t match that, then you’re at a disadvantage. It gives us, I think, with all of the teams like that — and the number of those teams are growing — that gives you the advantage.”

But it’s not limited to being a safety. Reed is one of the players at the spot — and so is safety Tyrece Mills — but cornerback Cam Miller is also getting work there.

Reed emphasized the versatility of the role when he explained how it will operate within the defense.

“I feel like the lion position can be played by any (defensive back),” Reed said. “...I feel like it’s somebody that has to be good in the run, good in the pass and good in man coverage at the same time. I’ll be in that position a lot this year. Me, Tyrece Mills and Cam Miller are gonna be in that position a lot. We’re the type of guys that have a lot of versatility, so we’re going to step up to the plate and handle that position.”

WIth Reed playing closer to the line of scrimmage, it will allow Wheatley to see the field even more than he did last year when he rotated in at safety.

That’s going to give the Nittany Lions an opportunity to have their best players on the field — and in their best positions. Reed excels at attacking downhill and can be utilized more as a blitzer. Wheatley has been praised for his ability to force turnovers, especially in coverage, and will have the chance to play more in coverage. Winston, who is projected as a potential first round pick in next year’s NFL Draft, is one of the best safeties in the country. He isn’t afraid to mix it up in the running game, but has the coverage skills and instincts to be elite in the passing game.

And while their strengths aren’t all the same, they do have one thing in common — all three are more than capable in all aspects of playing safety. That’s a point of pride for the group heading into the year.

“Our safety room is real competitive every single day,” Wheatley said. “We push each other. All of us, we just push each other every day. It makes a lot of dogs in the room. And the fact that we’re gonna have three of us on the field at the same time, I love that and I think it’s gonna be really good for the defense.”

All of the competition hasn’t impacted how they operate, though. Co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Anthony Poindexter said the group sets the standard for the rest of the room with how they go about their business.

More importantly, it hasn’t created any dissonance among them.

“They’re all really close — really good friends,” Poindexter said. “They really root on each other to make plays and have success. They know there’s enough plays for everybody to get their shine. ... They just really work good together. They really do a good job of showing the standard to the young guys and telling them how they do business and how things work around here and how we play defense here. They’re almost like coaches on the field for me.”

The competition should lead to a group playing its best this season — one with three potential draft picks that can be at the forefront for the Nittany Lion defense in 2024.

And if that’s the case, it’s a defense that will once again rank among the the elite of college football.