Advertisement
football Edit

By the numbers: Three stats to know about PSU's five incoming transfers

The presumed NCAA change to grant transfers immediate eligibility has turned Penn State's roster into something like a revolving door.

Plenty of names have gone out, but the Nittany Lions have also brought a handful of players in.

Below we take a look at three key stats for each of Penn State's five inbound scholarship transfers to get a feel for what they bring to the table.

Not a Subscriber? Join us With Our FREE 30-Day Premium Trial

Penn State defensive tackle transfer Derrick Tangelo (right) makes a tackle.
Penn State defensive tackle transfer Derrick Tangelo (right) makes a tackle.
Advertisement

Arnold Ebiketie 

29 — Arnold Ebiketie’s 29 solo tackles were the second most among defensive ends in the American conference last season. Tulane’s Cameron Sample, who had five more, played in five more games than Ebiketie and had nearly 400 more total snaps. Taking that into account, no defensive end in that league was as consistently involved as Ebiketie was a season ago.

88.3 — Pro Football Focus gave Ebiketie a pass rush grade of 88.3 last season — the fourth-best in the American conference among defensive ends. The standard counting stats in this department are impressive for Ebiketie, too. In just six games, he notched four sacks and 14 quarterback hurries.

7 — As impressive as his tackling total is, it’s also worth noting that Ebiketie missed seven tackles in six games this season, which ties him for the fourth-highest total in the American. All three players with more missed tackles played at least nine games, while he played only six.

Johnny Dixon

57.1 — South Carolina cornerback transfer Johnny Dixon allowed receptions on 57.1 percent of his targets last season, according to Pro Football Focus. That’s tied for the 11th-best mark among SEC cornerbacks in 2020 among those who played at least 460 snaps.

5 — Dixon missed 5 tackles a season ago, which is a mark that ties him for the 10th-fewest among the 31 SEC corners who played at least 460 snaps. Dixon also made 32 tackles last season, which places him in the top half of the same sample.

63.5 — Pro Football Focus graded Dixon’s coverage this season at 63.5, the 11th-lowest among SEC cornerbacks who played at least 460 snaps. His overall grade last season was 62.0, which is the 9th-lowest in the same sample.

Derrick Tangelo 

27 — Duke defensive tackle transfer Derrick Tangelo led ACC defensive tackles in STOPs — a metric devised by Pro Football Focus to indicate a “losing” running play for the offense. In other words, PFF is indicating that Tangelo blew up more running plays than any other interior defensive lineman in the conference.

28 — As if that wasn’t good enough, Tangelo also led ACC DTs in solo tackles with 28, assisting on another six.

13 — Tangelo also proved to be pretty effective as a pass rusher last season. His 13 quarterback hurries were tied for the fourth-most among ACC defensive tackles, although he only successfully got to the quarterback twice. PFF gives him a pass-rush grade of 78.6.

John Lovett

125 — Baylor running back transfer John Lovett carried the ball 45 times for 132 yards last season, but, somewhat remarkably, 125 of those yards came after contact. Lovett didn’t achieve nearly as much total production as he did during his first three seasons at Baylor, but he certainly earned the ground he gained.

1,803 — Lovett racked up 1,803 yards rushing during his four seasons at Baylor, which gives him more than a 1,000-yard advantage on any present member of Penn State’s otherwise youthful running back room.

170 — Joining a Penn State running back room that could certainly use a pass-catching threat out of the backfield, the stats indicate that Lovettt doesn’t really fit that bill. He’s been targeted in the passing game 36 times over the course of his four-year career, and has picked up 170 yards through the air.

Eric Wilson

2 — Harvard offensive line transfer Eric Wilson was named second-team all Ivy League by Phil Steele in 2019, and was also named fourth-team all FCS, playing the majority of his snaps at left guard.

651 — The Ivy League chose not to partake in the 2020 football season, and as a result, Wilson will go 651 days without appearing in a competitive game, assuming that the 2021 Penn State season begins as scheduled. He last appeared in a game on November 23, 2019, in a double-overtime loss to Yale.

3,899 — Wilson was part of a Harvard offense that was average in 2019 when it last saw action, accumulating 3,899 yards of total offense that was good enough for fifth in an eight-team Ivy League. Wilson started all 10 of Harvard’s games that season, and also played in all 10 of Harvard’s games during his sophomore season in 2018.

*******

• 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

• Like us on Facebook

Advertisement