2023 Penn State football snapshot profile: No. 18 Davon Townley
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.
Continuing this effort is a look at one of Penn State’s young players for the upcoming season, redshirt sophomore Davon Townley. Coach Franklin targeted the defensive line position in the spring portal to try and add some depth. After the spring, how does Townley stack up on the defensive line in 2023?
Preseason Player Profile
Hometown: Minneapolis, MN
Height: 6-6
Weight: 267
247Sports Composite Ranking
[4-stars] | [No. 3 in Minnesota] | [No. 40 overall defensive lineman]
Class of 2021
Class in 2023: Redshirt sophomore
As one of the top prospects in the state of Minnesota, Davon Townley had many offers from big named schools across the country and the Big Ten. Penn State first offered Townley in the summer before his senior year of high school. Ultimately, he committed to the Nittany Lions and signed his national letter of intent on the same day in February 2021. He chose Penn State over Tennessee, Oregon, Ole Miss, and Michigan State to name a few.
Career Stats
Games | Tackles | TFL | ||
2021 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2022 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Davon Townley has not had a lot of playing time in his short career at Penn State. He didn’t see any game time his true freshman season, which allowed him to redshirt. He then saw the field in seven games but had a limited number snaps last season.
This actually caused Townley to put his name into the transfer portal at the conclusion of the season. However, he decided to come back to Penn State and could be a player that will have a breakout season when he gets on the field.
Depth Chart Overview
The defensive line is expected to be one of the top units that Penn State has on its entire team. They are loaded at edge rusher and are expecting their returning defensive tackles to have a good season. Despite coach Franklin looking to add depth, there are some talented players already at the defensive tackle position.
As it stands right now, Davon Townley continues to find himself pretty far down on the overall depth chart. Now that he’s three seasons into his time at Penn State, he should be a player that rotates into the defensive front a lot more often this season. This should allow Townley to have his best season since coming to State College.
