2023 Penn State football snapshot profile: No. 91 Dvon Ellies
Going into the 2023 football season, Nittany Lions Wire will be looking at each scholarship player listed on the Penn State roster. Over the preseason, each profile will cover where the player is from, how recruiting websites rated them coming out of high school, and what role they will play for James Franklin this season.
Continuing this effort is a look at projected starting defensive tackle Dvon Ellies. Ellies is entering his redshirt senior season and is coming off a 2022 in which he started one game and appeared in all 13 games played. Now his role will likely be elevated as he looks to continue bringing pressure in the trenches this season. Here is a snapshot look at Ellies heading into the 2023 college football season.
Preseason Player Profile
Hometown: Burtonsville, MD
Height: 6-1
Weight: 302
247Sports Composite Ranking
[4-stars] | [No. 6 in Maryland] | [No. 20 overall defensive tackle]
Class of 2019
Class in 2023: Redshirt Senior
It took a little bit more time for Penn State to reach out with a scholarship offer to Ellies than other schools, but the Nittany Lions quickly emerged as a top contender in his recruiting process once they did. By the time Penn State made an offer, Ellies had already visited Florida, North Carolina, and Rutgers and he received offers from all of those plus more, including Ohio State, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Kentucky. Penn State’s offer came in just days after a visit to Florida in July 2018.
Ellies visited Penn State in late September 2018 and followed that with another trip to Florida the following weekend. He made an official visit to Penn State in November, and two weeks later took an official visit to Ohio State and then USC the following week. Ellies finally committed to Penn State at the Polynesian Bowl by choosing Penn State over USC in the final stages of his recruiting process.
Career Stats
Games | Tackles | TFL | Sacks | FF | |
2019 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2020 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
2021 | 13 | 15 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 |
2022 | 13 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Dvon Ellies has played in every game Penn State has played the past two seasons, although he has started just two of those games. That will change in 2023, so his stats should trend upward fairly easily this season. Ellies had 15 tackles in each of the past two seasons with 3.5 TFL and one sack in his role on the defensive line. Ellies played mostly as a backup to PJ Mustipher last season.
Depth Chart Overview
After serving as the primary backup to PJ Mustipher in 2022, Dvon Ellies should be stepping into a starting role on the defensive line in 2023. Ellies is expected to be a starting player on a dangerous defensive line that is highlighted on the edges by Chop Robinson and Adisa Isaac. Ellies will likely be lining up next to Hakeem Beamon to plug the middle of the defensive line.
Penn State’s top backups at defensive tackle will likely be Zane Durant and Coziah Izzard. Other young options to keep an eye out for include Davon Townley, Jordan van den Berg, and Kaleb Artis.
