Success of Penn State freshmen Marquis Wilson, Keaton Ellis offering a glimpse at future of CBs
Two of Penn State’s true freshmen, cornerbacks Keaton Ellis and Marquis Wilson, have already earned key roles on this defense — and the coaching staff remains excited about both athletes’ futures.
Ellis, a local product out of State College, has played in 21 percent of Penn State’s defensive snaps, the fourth-most among all corners. Wilson, a prospect from Connecticut, has especially come on strong late and even out-snapped Ellis in the last game. He played in critical situations against Michigan.
Color fifth-year corner John Reid impressed.
“Keaton, he’s improving each week and more and more in his technique,” Reid said. “He has natural talent to find the ball — just like how Marquis does.”
Ellis entered the season as the more-polished cornerback, a mature freshman who his position coach said had the “best corner film in the country.” He was never expected to redshirt and, according to the blog Roar Lions Roar, he’s had at least 10 defensive snaps every game.
Wilson is more of a late bloomer. Although the staff said it never doubted his potential, Wilson did not play in the first three games of the season — and he saw his most snaps (18) against Michigan.
But both head coach James Franklin and cornerbacks coach Terry Smith said earlier this week Wilson will play moving forward. He’s earned it.
“He may be the most confident DB we have,” Franklin said after practice Wednesday night. “He may be the guy that is the most comfortable with the ball in the air; he’s a guy I think could play wide receiver for us.”
Wilson was a multi-sport athlete — one that could dunk — and an all-state receiver in high school. Ellis was no different. The State High product excelled at basketball and started both ways in football, earning all-state honors at CB and all-conference honors at WR. He caught 15 touchdown passes as a senior.
But, unlike Wilson, Ellis has gone through some struggles as the season has progressed. Franklin acknowledged he hit the freshman “wall,” a few weeks ago — but Smith said Thursday that Ellis has already powered past that point.
“Keaton, like all freshmen, they reach that point where all of a sudden things are moving a mile a minute and he hit the wall for maybe about a week or so, and he embraced it,” Smith said. “I sat him down, and we had a nice little talk and he’s a very mature kid, so he’s past that now.
“He played a really nice game last week against Michigan and had a really good week so far, and you can just see his development and his maturity really kicking in. I’m really excited to see how he finishes the rest of the season.”
The play of both rookie cornerbacks is critical this season, especially with the Nittany Lions’ current injury situation. Redshirt sophomore Donovan Johnson has not played since the Pitt game, and redshirt freshman Trent Gordon missed the last game due to injury — and it’s not known when he’ll return.
Because of that, outside of starters Tariq Castro-Fields and John Reid, no other cornerbacks besides Ellis and Wilson played Saturday against Michigan. (True freshman Daequan Hardy will redshirt, Smith said, and fellow freshman Joey Porter Jr. will likely redshirt unless Penn State’s health grows more dire.)
But both Franklin and Smith emphasized there’s no panic among the staff. They’re confident in the two competing true freshmen.
“Keaton Ellis is having a really, really good freshman season,” Smith said. “He’s really reliable, dependable. He’s a good tackler. He’s tough. He’s physical. He’s mentally sharp. I really like the progress he’s making.”
Added Franklin, about Wilson: “He’s done a nice job the last couple weeks. We put him in some critical situations, and he’s handled that really well. So we’re going to use him the rest of the season, on special teams and on defense.”
So far this season, Ellis leads the defense with two forced fumbles. He also boasts a fumble recovery and two pass breakups. Wilson has just one tackle so far on the stat sheet but, again, he saw limited time early in the season.
Wilson and Ellis will compete for starting spots in the future. But, for now, they’re busy playing critical roles on this defense. Wilson played 18 snaps to Ellis’ 16 against the Wolverines — but that doesn’t mean Ellis is any less valuable.
“He’s a guy that we’re depending on,” Smith added. “We need him to play valuable minutes for us and contribute this year.”
Ditto for Wilson. The cornerback room is young, but it’s deep. And the Nittany Lions’ talented two true freshmen are offering a glimpse of what’s in store for later.
“The future of the room is very bright,” Smith said.
