Waiting in the Wings, Defensive Line Freshmen Pushing to Make an Impact
More than midway through Penn State’s 2019 season, the Nittany Lions sent their starters home to rest, recover, and enjoy an extended bye weekend.
In their place, the program held its usual midweek scout team scrimmage.
Players who were redshirting in their first season or backups buried on the depth chart lined up against one another, making for matchups that were entertaining in their own right. As opposed to the typical discrepancies of junior and senior bodies facing off with those of 18- or 19-year olds, the matchups were closer.
Nowhere was that more evident than in the trenches, where offensive line newcomers Caedan Wallace, Anthony Whigan and Sal Wormley battled with defensive line newcomers Hakeem Beamon, Dvon Ellies, Joseph Darkwa and Smith Vilbert. In fact, at one point, Wallace and Darkwa found themselves in a bit of a shoving match.
Catching up this week with Penn State’s veterans along the offensive line, three-year starter, tackle Will Fries and center Michal Menet, the pair offered indications that the redshirting freshman defensive line group from a season ago routinely brought the same energy and enthusiasm to the field.
“We saw them pretty much every day. Most of them helped us with our scout team… throughout the week once we got into the season. I'm really excited for a lot of them,” Menet said. “I think they're all gonna have good years. I think they're all plenty capable to step in and help us out. So yeah, I'm very excited for their future.”
The rest of the program seems to share Menet’s enthusiasm.
Upon the release of Penn State’s “official” spring depth chart in April, none were listed higher than third-team. Beamon appeared third behind P.J. Mustipher and Judge Culpepper at the 3-technique defensive tackle spot, marking his move from end to the interior over the offseason, with Ellies his backup at fourth-team. On the fourth-team listing for the 1-technique, Darkwa appeared behind Antonio Shelton, Fred Hansard and Damion Barber. And Vilbert rounded out the group, listed at third-team end behind Jayson Oweh and Shane Simmons.
If Fries’ comments this week are any indication, taken in context with the offseason praise of strength coach Dwight Galt, among others, the young defensive linemen could find themselves pushing to find the field sooner rather than later.
“Two guys that I faced everyday were Hakeem Beamon and Smith Vilbert. Those guys are extremely talented young players and they're grinding. They give me a challenge every day on scout team and it was a ton of fun to go against them because they made me better every day,” Fries said. “(Hakeem), he's a strong kid. He plays very natural. He just does moves that you wouldn't think he'd be able to do at his age. That's a ton of fun going against him. And Smith is big, tall. He is a kid I look in the eyes. Long kid and he's big and strong for how long he is too, and he's getting better all the time, giving a ton effort on scout team. Both those guys, I can't say enough good things about them.”
Regardless of how preseason competition shakes out as they vie for more prominent backup roles, Menet added that he’s certain their collective impact will be felt in the year ahead.
“I hope we have guys that are just like them that come in this year and kind of help us get those looks because they made us better every single week. They got us ready. They were all very willing to work the moves of the d-linemen we saw that week. That type of stuff,” Menet said. “I guess they really could help us out of this year a ton.”
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