The breakout of Micah Parsons is complete.
Following a true freshman season at Penn State in which the first-year linebacker led the team in tackles, the Harrisburg product built on the performance in a big way in 2019. For the effort, Parsons was named Tuesday as the Big Ten's Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year.
For the Nittany Lions' 10-2 regular season, Parsons finished with another team-high of 95 tackles, complemented by his 11.0 tackles for a loss, 3.0 sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
Parsons wasn't alone in being recognized by the conference, however.
Named to the 2019 All-Big Ten Defensive team as a first-team linebacker both for the media and the coaches, Parsons was joined with first-team recognition by junior defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos.
On the media teams, Tariq Castro-Fields was named to the third-team while the coaches also recognized Shaka Toney with a second-team selection, plus Robert Windsor and Cam Brown with third-team selections.
Specialists Blake Gillikin, K.J. Hamler, and Jake Pinegar also were recognized as honorable mention selections for All-Big Ten Special Teams honors.
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