2023 Penn State football snapshot profile: No. 25 Daequan Hardy
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 one of Penn State’s projected starters for the upcoming season, redshirt senior Daequan Hardy. With so much focus on the defensive backfield with a couple of starting jobs to sort out, Hardy helps provide some stability at the nickel position going into 2023.
Preseason Player Profile
Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA
Height: 5-9
Weight: 179
247Sports Composite Ranking
[3-stars] | [No. 26 in Pennsylvania] | [No. 133 overall cornerback]
Class of 2019
Class in 2023: Redshirt senior
Although a few Big Ten programs showed interest in Daequan Hardy in the Class of 2019 recruiting cycle, Penn State emerged as the leading contender at the right possible time. Hardy committed to Penn State in February 2019 for a signing day eve gift for James Franklin. The commitment came with weeks of one final official visit to the campus as Hardy ultimately chose Penn State over offers from Nebraska, Michigan State, Michigan, and more.
Career Stats
Games | Tackles | TFL | INT | PD | FF | ||
2019 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2020 | 9 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
2021 | 13 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 0 |
2022 | 13 | 13 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
Daequan Hardy has had to work for his playing time in Happy Valley, but he has been getting on the field much more regularly for the Nittany Lions secondary as a nickel corner. He appeared in every game played for the past three seasons, giving him plenty of experience to rely on as he enters the 2023 season. In addition to playing defense, Hardy has also been utilized on special teams with a pair of kickoff returns last season. During the 2021 season, Hardy was named the team’s defensive player of the week twice following his performances against Ball State and Indiana.
Depth Chart Overview
Penn State has some big shoes to fill in the defensive secondary with the departures of Joey Porter Jr. and Ji’Ayir Brown to the NFL, but Daequan Hardy is a player that will step right back into a familiar role at the team’s nickel cornerback position this fall.
Hardy is expected to be the team’s starter at the position while the coaching staff focuses on filling the vacancy left at one cornerback position by Porter Jr., and that seems to come down to either Johnny Dixon or perhaps new transfer addition Audavion Collins. Kalen King will anchor one starting job as arguably the top cornerback in the nation returns.
Hardy could be moved to a cornerback spot if needed, although the coaching staff should have enough options to rely on to keep him at nickel.
