UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Kobe King and Tyler Elsdon often found themselves in a similar situation last year: observing the game from the sidelines.
With then-redshirt senior linebacker Ellis Brooks manning the middle, both King and Elsdon struggled to crack Penn State’s starting lineup. After graduating, Brooks is now fighting for a roster spot in the Green Bay Packers’ camp, meaning the middle linebacker competition is one of the fiercest in the Nittany Lions’ summer practices.
But even in the middle of a battle that could stretch all the way until the season opens on Sept. 1, King hasn’t lost sight of how far he and Elsdon have come during their time on campus.
“I think our relationship on the field and off the field is pretty good because we talk a lot during practice and out of practice,” King said. “Both of us last year didn’t have a significant role on the team, but we were kind of in the same boat, so we really came up together, building with each other, and we’re both going to be frontrunners now.”
There are some minute differences between King and Elsdon. King has 12 pounds on Elsdon, while the latter is an inch taller.
Elsdon is in his third year with the program, and it’s year No. 2 for King. Statistically speaking, little separates the duo. Elsdon’s piled up seven tackles over the last two seasons, and King had three in his true freshman year.
So, rather than experience or performance serving as the determining factor for who wins the middle linebacker battle, defensive coordinator Manny Diaz said it will come down to who can more consistently command his teammates as the quarterback of the defense.
“Both guys can do it; both guys can play,” Diaz said. “I think they both have the confidence that they can play. They put enough on film through spring, even the first four days of training camp.
“They know they can do it.”
Given the Nittany Lions’ inexperience at middle linebacker, the transfer portal was in play, as it is for every position, Diaz said, but upon reviewing everyone that came through the portal, Diaz said he and the staff did not feel any of the options “would have improved our football team.”
“I think that says a lot about how our guys practiced in the spring,” Diaz said. “Look, these guys all signed to come to Penn State. They all signed to come to LBU. They don’t like being labeled the question of our defense.”
Even so, in James Franklin’s press conference at Penn State’s media day, he called middle linebacker the biggest question mark of the Nittany Lions’ defense. Franklin also mentioned freshman Keon Wylie, a player he called “super smart,” as another potential candidate.
But, similar to Diaz, Franklin has been impressed specifically by Elsdon and King at middle linebacker.
“I think that’s a legitimate competition,” Franklin said. “I think we feel good about how those guys are operating the defense right now.”
King said he, Elsdon and Wylie bring many different attributes to the table. While Elsdon brings finesse with his game and Wylie is athletic and fast, King believes he possesses a different level of physicality.
As he continues to compete for a starting role with Elsdon and Wylie, Kobe has leaned on his twin brother, Kalen, for advice on how to best navigate this situation, which is hardly a new development.
“He knows what I have to do to get better, and I know what he has to do to get better,” Kobe said. “We just kind of bounce back [ideas] off each other, and we are each other’s critics, really.”
Whether it’s King, Elsdon or Wylie who wins out, Diaz believes whoever does so needs to couple their consistency with mental toughness rather than be the best in the weight room or the 40-yard dash. As Diaz said, it’s not his goal for the linebackers to be Penn State’s weakness on defense, especially at a school that has set a high standard over the years like the Nittany Lions have.
Ultimately, whoever wins the job over the next three weeks will have to prove it.
“Right now, it’s potential over performance,” Diaz said. “They are reminded rather daily, in settings like this [press conference] that they’re referred to as the giant question mark. They weren’t recruited to be a giant question mark.”
Andrew Destin: adestin@post-gazette.com and Twitter @AndrewDestin1.
First Published: August 13, 2022, 10:00 a.m.
