Ranking Penn State's best 25 players ahead of '21 by PFF rating: Nos. 21-25

With the 2021 Penn State football season coming into view, Blue White Illustrated is using Pro Football Focus ratings to rank the 25 best players on Penn State's roster. The rankings are based on last season's PFF ratings, and the rankings only include players who played at least 100 snaps least season on offense or defense — with the exception of specialists. Let's get into the rankings, starting with No. 25.

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PFF Special Teams Grade: 61.1

Last season was a tough season for Jake Pinegar, who is the first of two specialists inside the top-25. Pinegar found himself strictly on field goal and extra point duty in 2021, with Jordan Stout handling the majority of the kickoff and punts, as well as the longer field goal attempts. Pinegar went just 9-13 on his field goal attempts in 2021, and connected on 27 of 28 attempted PATs. Two of those missed field goals came in Penn State's season-opening loss to Indiana.

PFF Defense Grade: 62.0

The first incoming transfer to crack this list is cornerback Johnny Dixon, who arrived this offseason from South Carolina, where he started eight games last season. Dixon's best asset according to PFF was his tackling, which earned him a 67.8 grade. He finished the season with 35 total tackles. He finished with three pass breakups and allowed 24 receptions on 42 targets.

PFF Offense Grade: 62.6

John Lovett was another transfer addition for James Franklin and his staff this offseason, brought in to add some veteran experience to a deep-but-young group of Penn State running backs. Lovett played only 168 snaps last season as he dealt with some injury problems at Baylor, emerging with the lowest PFF grade of his career at 62.6. It's certainly not unrealistic to expect a player of his quality and experience to bounce back should he manage to stay healthy in 2021.

PFF Offense Grade: 63.4

Sandwiched in the middle of a trio of running backs to close out our first five players is Caziah Holmes, who surely saw far more action in his freshman season than he would have expected. Holmes's overall grade was dragged down a bit by some difficulties as a blocker. He earned a 48.8 grade from PFF as a pass blocker and a 57.1 on the 50 occasions he was asked to run block. He had plenty of success carrying the ball, though, accumulating 227 yards on the ground on 51 attempts and finding the end zone twice.

PFF Offense Grade: 63.5

Devyn Ford just narrowly edged out the other two running backs in this group to claim the No. 21 spot on this list. Ford didn't seem to make a significant jump in his second year on campus, and the PFF ratings bear that out. His 63.5 overall grade last season came down from a 67.7 effort in 2019. Ford averaged 4.1 yards on 67 carries last season, finding his way into the end zone three times.

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