Penn State Nittany Lions

Penn State hoping better depth benefits defensive line

Published Aug. 7, 2015 11:54 a.m. ET

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Marcus Hartman

Penn State defensive coordinator John Shoop knows what he has in starting defensive tackles Anthony Zettel and Austin Johnson. It would stand to reason anyone who watched the Nittany Lions last season does, too. 

But could seeing them a little less this season be a boon to the defense overall? 

"I think there's going to be tremendous gains with Tarow Barney and Parker Cothren," Shoop told reporters in Happy Valley for Penn State's media day on Thursday. "We're really, really excited to watch those guys, and the fact that those guys will give us I think a few more reps during the course of a game will save Anthony and will save Austin and help them become better players in the fourth quarter of games, in two-minute situations maybe when we need them to be at their best, a critical 3rd down, a critical drive late in the game."

Shoop also sounded confident about the readiness of Carl Nassib and Garrett Sickels to step in as new starters at defensive end. 

"Garrett was a highly recruited guy who was explosive in minimal reps, was very productive, and again, had a great spring for us," Shoop said. "Carl is a guy who's waited his turn and is really a great story for college football, a guy who's a walk on, a premed student, was really not a great high school football player who's grown and developed into a 6-foot-7, 270-pound defensive end who bats down passes, rushes the quarterback. And if you did actually productivity per play, he and Garrett might have been as productive as the other guys who played a lot last year for us." 

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