A season in the books, Jacobs better prepared for bigger opportunity in '21
Last year at this time, Curtis Jacobs was a new enrollee at Penn State, an early-summer arrival in the Nittany Lions’ 2020 recruiting class.
Now, just 12 months later, he’s a projected starter and one of the key players in a largely reconfigured linebacker corps.
That might seem like an instance of life coming at you fast, but Jacobs is pretty quick himself, and he’s unfazed by the speed of his ascent.
“I’m a guy who has always thought of himself as being prepared,” he said recently. “I feel like it did happen fast, but I’m as ready as I can be. I put in the work. I’m continuing to put in the work every day, so I feel like that will be big for me coming into this season.”
Jacobs is poised to move into the starting lineup at the Sam outside linebacker spot this fall, following a freshman season in which he played in eight games and finished with nine tackles, an assisted tackle for loss and a pass breakup. To make room for him, the Nittany Lions are sliding Brandon Smith from the Sam to the Will spot, which is seemingly a better fit for his skill set, while Jesse Luketa is moving from Will to a slightly less-defined role in which he will likely share the middle linebacker position with Ellis Brooks while maybe getting some snaps at defensive end, too.
Those are some big changes, and they’ve been made possible by Jacobs’ emergence. At 6-foot-1, 229 pounds, he brings an array of positive attributes to the Sam OLB spot. The most important of those attributes?
“Athleticism,” Jacobs said. “I can do things that a lot of guys my size can’t. I feel like that’s a big advantage for me. Coverage-wise, that’s a big help. And even coming up and being physical in the box, it’ll be a big help.”
Jacobs’ honed his athletic ability at the McDonogh School just outside of Baltimore, where he played a variety of positions on offense and defense, from wide receiver to defensive end. He displayed so much versatility in high school that he was recruited at four different positions.
Because of his ability to fit in just about anywhere, Jacobs fully expected to see action as a true freshman at Penn State. A Rivals.com four-star recruit, he knew he would have a role on special teams as part of the kick-coverage units. But he envisioned a prominent spot for himself on defense, too. Even though outside linebacker was one of the few positions where he didn’t see much action in high school, he came to Penn State thinking there was an opportunity just waiting to be seized. It’s the way he approaches the game.
“I have high expectations for myself,” Jacobs said. “I really came in with the mindset that I was trying to start last year. That didn’t really go how I planned it. I took it as adversity and took it on the chin and kept going. I played a fairly good amount. I liked the amount that I played. I felt like it gave me an opportunity to show what I can do.”
It took a few games before Jacobs started to feel comfortable last season, partly due to the unusual off-season and the disjointed nature of the team’s practices and meetings during a season in which COVID protocols disrupted everyone’s routine.
“For a long time, I was uncomfortable because I didn’t really have the structure I needed to learn the position last year with the way things went,” he said.
Despite all that, the coaching staff was pleased with Jacobs’ progress throughout the season – progress that continued into the team’s recently concluded spring practice sessions. Coach James Franklin said this spring that the sophomore looked like a veteran.
“Right now, he’s playing like a confident guy who gained some valuable experience last year,” Franklin said. “We’ve been pleased with his athleticism in space, and he seems to continue to get more confident out there on the field. I’ve been very, very pleased with him.”
Defensive coordinator Brent Pry also has been impressed with Jacobs’ growth and sees him as a difference-maker this fall.
“I think Curtis brings some things to the Sam position that we didn’t have,” Pry said. “Athletically, he’s a very fluid, good space player. He was a wide receiver at times in high school. He’s got great ball skills. Then Brandon, putting him in the boundary at Micah [Parsons’] spot, he’s very long and physical. I just think those two guys are owning those spots, and I think we’re improved in both areas.”
As evidenced by his high expectations going into last season, Jacobs is confident in his abilities and in how he figures into the big picture. But the big picture is really just a composite of many small pictures, and one of the keys to his future will be to harness that sense of self-assurance and use it to his advantage on a play-by-play basis. No one knows that better than Jacobs himself.
“Confidence, that’s the biggest thing for me,” he said. “This spring really showed me that when I’m playing confidently, you see the results. I just want to be able to go out there, play as confident as I can, show my stuff and make plays.”
*******
• Talk about this article inside The Lions Den
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue-White Illustrated
• Follow us on Twitter: @BWIonRivals, @NateBauerBWI, @RivalsSnyder, @DavidEckert98
• Follow us on Instagram
• Like us on Facebook