Penn State Top 25 Players for 2022: Curtis Jacobs
Penn State’s roster for the 2022 season has a good mix of returning veterans and experience and fresh new faces expected to jump in and contribute this fall. Nittany Lions Wire will be taking a look at 25 of the most important players on the roster for the 2022 season all throughout the month of July by profiling one player each day.
One of the biggest questions for the Penn State defense this season comes at the school’s signature position of linebacker. After losing a pair of starters to the NFL, Curtis Jacobs looks to be the provider of stability for a unit in some transition this fall. After getting a good amount of starting experience last season, Jacobs appears ready to be an anchor for the defense and prove he is ready to be a defensive leader that will give opposing offenses nightmares.
2021 in Review
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Alongside a pair of veteran linebackers, Curtis Jacobs emerged as a force to be reckoned with in the Penn State defense. In what has been classified as his freshman season by Penn State, Jacobs started in 11 of Penn State’s 13 games played in 2021, in which he recorded 61 tackles and seven tackles for a loss with three sacks and an interception.
Jacobs proved to be a consistent contributor throughout the season with [autotag]Brandon Smith[/autotag] and [autotag]Ellis Brooks[/autotag] leading the way at the linebacker position last fall. But with the two veterans opting out of the Outback Bowl to begin preparing for their respective NFL futures, Jacobs was called on to step up his game in the bowl season as the defense looked to replace a number of key contributors. Jacobs did his part by recording a career-high 10 tackles against Arkansas, including eight solo tackles and a sack. Penn State may have lost the game but Jacobs was a bright spot providing some positivity for the defense going into the offseason and preparing for 2022.
Biggest question for 2022
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As far as Penn State’s linebackers in 2022 are concerned, Curtis Jacobs has the fewest questions to answer. Jacobs is now an experienced starter at the position and the player Penn State should have the most ocnfidence in within the posiiton group going into the 2022 season.
So the biggest question may be whether or not he is capable or ready to take on a leading role on the defense. It’s one thing to have experience, but it is another to be the spiritual leader of the group. Fortunately, Jacobs does not have to take on this burden all by himself. Moving [autotag]Jonathan Sutherland[/autotag] to a linebacker position from safety this season gives the Nittany Lions a team captain within the linebacking corp, which should take some pressure off of Jacobs and allow him to continue to grow and evolve into that kind of a leading force.
This is not to suggest Jacobs is incapable of being that now, but it may be something asked of him moving forward.
2022 will be a success if...
Syndicated photo: The Columbus Dispatch
Jacobs is the team’s second-leading tackler returning in 2022 behind only safety Ji’Ayir Brown. After losing four of its top six tacklers from last season, Jacobs will be the one gobbling up a bunch more tackle opportunities for the Penn State defense.
Penn State’s two NFL-bound linebackers from last season, [autotag]Ellis Brooks[/autotag] and [autotag]Brandon Smith[/autotag], were the team’s two leading tacklers in 2021 with 100 and 81 tackles, respectively. Jacobs was sixth on the team with 61 tackles, so we are expecting a healthy jump in the total tackle count for Jacobs this season. Flirting with 100 tackles would be ideal for Jacobs and a true sign of a very successful season.
2022 will be a disappointment if...
AP Photo/Barry Reeger
It would be a letdown if Jacobs doesn’t have the kind of impact many expect him to have on the defense in 2022. Many times the tackle count can be impacted by how an offense is running the football. If offenses are avoiding Jacobs’s side of the field, the tackle count could be negatively impacted. But even taking into that into account, not being able to improve on his numbers given the roster turnover would be a disappointment.
If Jacobs is averaging fewer than five tackles a game, then he will not be having the kind of impact Penn State needs him to have this season. He averaged 5.08 tackles per game in 2021, while Brooks and Smith each averaged at least 6.75 tackles per game.
Realistic outlook for 2022
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Curtis Jacobs may not hit triple-digits in total tackles and he may not have more than four sacks this season. But Penn State doesn’t necessarily need him to hit those marks to have a successful season on defense. As long as Jacobs stays on the track he has been on, he will turn in a respectable season that contributes to a strong showing for the entire defense this season under new defensive coordinator [autotag]Manny Diaz[/autotag].
Getting at least 80 tackles with a handful of sacks thrown in would be the realistic goal for Jacobs as there is plenty of talent and potential around the rest of the defense to be one of the Big Ten’s best defenses once again in 2022.
Penn State Top 25 Players in 2022
KeAndre Lambert-Smith
