Reloaded DL building experience and depth

Parker Cothren doesn’t want this year’s defensive line to be as good as the ones of his mentors like Austin Johnson, Anthony Zettel, DaQuan Jones, Deion Barnes or C.J. Olaniyan.

A fifth-year senior for the Nittany Lions this year, Cothren is aspiring to see this group be even better.

“Just keep doing what we've been doing in recent years, and even building upon that to be a little better,” said Cothren. “We've had some success in the past years and we're looking to not only continue that, but better ourselves.”

If the Nittany Lions are to do so in the season ahead, it will no doubt include contributions from a roster that is loaded with underclassman depth and talent. Joined by only Curtis Cothran and Tyrell Chavis among the scholarship seniors along the defensive line, the Nittany Lions feature 13 linemen with freshman or sophomore eligibility in the upcoming season.

Gone are experienced defensive ends Garrett Sickels and Evan Schwan, but due to increased playing time in the rotation for younger linemen last season like Shareef Miller, Ryan Buchholz and Torrence Brown, Cothren said he’s confident the Lions can live up to the standard he’d like to meet.

“It's a hard challenge because everyone knows we've done pretty well the last couple of years, but I think with Shareef and Buck and Torrence, Shaka and all them, I think we got some good defensive ends, and with me, Curt, Rob (Windsor), Kevin (Givens) and Chavis, I think we're going to be a tough defensive line honestly.”

Lining up alongside Cothren, Cothran shares a similar confidence.

Specifically, when considering the redshirt freshmen like Buchholz and Miller, Givens and Windsor, all stepping into their third seasons with the program and second year of on-field experience, plus the handful of talented redshirts from a season ago that will now finally see the field, Cothran sees both depth and undeniable opportunity.

“We have a lot of depth on the defensive line,” said Cothran. “There's a lot of guys that have played from last year that are still on the team this year, so a lot of guys are rotating and that's the way that we're able to be effective, especially once we start hitting the fourth quarter. A lot of teams, the defensive line will start to slow down and that's when we start picking up because everybody is warmed up and ready to go.”

This, of course, has not always been the case for the career of either Cothren or Cothran.

Though the Nittany Lion defensive line has consistently sent its products to the NFL including Sickels and Schwan, Johnson, Carl Nassib, Zettel, Jones and Jordan Hill through the sanction-era, Cothren noted the luxury of a bolstered unit.

“It's awesome. Having that depth feels good because a couple of years ago, we didn't have that, we just had a couple of guys at every position, but now it feels like we have four or five guys that could go in and hold their own and produce for the team,” said Cothren.

Certainly, both Cothren and Cothran are going to be expected to be two of the primary Lions filling those roles this season following their performances in 2016.

In 13 games played and started, Cothren produced 26 tackles, 5.5 TFL and had a pair of sacks while Cothran played in 10 games, starting eight, and finished the year with 21 tackles, 4.5 TFL and recorded half a sack.

In fact, according to head coach James Franklin, the interior of Penn State’s defensive line is one that likely isn’t being talked about enough for what it brings to the table this season.

“The nose guard, that guy is double-teamed a lot. Sometimes they're not in the position to make as many plays as a three-technique, but people that I respect and people that really know football, Parker Cothren is invaluable to us,” Franklin told the media in Chicago late last month. “I think he's had a great offseason. He is as healthy and feeling as good as he's ever felt. He's as big and as strong as he's ever been.

“You gotta be strong up the middle. And if you look at Parker at nose and Curtis at the three-technique, and Jason Cabinda at Mike linebacker, that's three pretty good guys in the middle, and then it's magnified when you say Robert Windsor and you say Kevin Givens as well, that's a pretty good combination. Then you're not even talking about the other guys like Ellison Jordan who redshirted and people are excited about him as well. There's a number of guys that we could talk about. So we're starting to build some of that depth and size.”

In Cothran’s mind, that all is likely to combine to allow the Nittany Lion defensive line to make its mark on the 2017 season early and often as it quickly approaches.

Coming off a season in which the Nittany Lions finished 19th nationally in team sacks and seventh in tackles for loss, but No. 48 in rushing defense, it’s an opportunity he can’t wait to get started on.

“We want to have a huge impact,” said Cothran. “We always know it starts up front and we know we set the tone for every game as far as the defense goes. It always starts up front. So if we get on a roll early, then the defense should do well.”