How Penn State football’s Micah Parsons is stepping up to lead a young but talented LB corps
The hype train for Penn State football’s Micah Parsons is rolling full steam ahead with just over two months until the scheduled start of the college football season. Parsons has been ranked as a top-five 2021 NFL prospect, named a preseason All-American and been deemed the top linebacker in college football.
The junior linebacker is set to dominate the 2020 season and lead a fresh group of linebackers who could be the cornerstone of the Nittany Lion defense.
Parsons went from the unit’s youngest starter to its oldest the moment former Nittany Lions Cam Brown and Jan Johnson exhausted their eligibility at the conclusion of the 2019 Cotton Bowl. His transition to the group’s leader couldn’t come at a worse time — amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
With spring ball canceled and players sent home, he was unable to see his fellow position mates or help make sure they’re in shape during the offseason. Nonetheless, he’s excited to get the chance to be the leader moving forward.
“(The circumstances) make everything so much harder,” Parsons said on a conference call with the media Monday afternoon. “You don’t know who’s really paying attention, you don’t know who’s really working out as hard as they possibly can. You don’t know any of those things. It’s hard to really monitor, but we get this chance to come back and get in the flow of things during these voluntary workouts. We’re just going to go from there. ... We’re going to control the things that we can control now and we’re going to get better from it.”
He’s the position group’s only returning starter and will have to take on more responsibility because of it. Some of that responsibility has forced Parsons out of his comfort zone and into a realm he isn’t used to from a leadership standpoint.
“It’s always a challenge when you’re stepping into a bigger role,” he said. “It’s going to be completely different. I went from the guy that never said anything to the guy that’s probably got to speak up more. I’ve got to go outside of my comfort zone a little bit and speak up more and try to be that guy for the younger guys. It’s going to be a challenging year for me, but I think it can’t do nothing but help me grow. It’s a challenge I’ve got to be willing to accept and a challenge I’ve got to be willing to grow into to do what we want to do this year. It’s something I’m really looking forward to and I’m excited about.”
Parsons will be tasked with leading a group short on experience but long on talent. Two former five-star recruits, sophomore Brandon Smith and redshirt freshman Lance Dixon, will have a chance to compete, along with juniors Ellis Brooks and Jesse Luketa, for the starting positions vacated by Brown and Johnson.
Smith played in all 13 games as a true freshman last season and showed the kind of athleticism, upside and instincts that have him in the running to start at such a young age.
Dixon entered his freshman season as a more raw linebacker and was limited to three games, preserving his redshirt status. The young linebacker, like Smith, has plenty of athleticism and upside at the position.
Parsons is eager to see who comes out on top between the four linebackers fighting for the starting jobs.
“It’s gonna be a crazy competitive room,” he said. “I personally can’t wait to see who’s going to win the jobs out of them four. All of them are hardworking guys that are going to come in and compete for the jobs that they want. It’s going to be interesting to see.”
Regardless of who wins the other two starting jobs, Parsons will be the star of the show. He closed out his 2019 with a dominant Cotton Bowl performance, racking up 14 tackles, two forced fumbles and two passes defended.
His performance in the game helped ignite the momentum he’s carrying into his junior season. It would be easy for him to get caught up in that hype and lose his motivation. That isn’t the case with Parsons, who’s trying to focus on helping his team reach its goals.
“I just play a game and just so happen to be good at it,” he said. “I just take every day for what it is, go out there and give 100% and do what I do best. ... I feel like when you add pressure and add all of those other factors, it could alter how you play and perform. I just want to go out there and have fun with the game. That’s what it’s about, just going out there and having fun and being dominant about it.
“There ain’t nothing more to it than just going out there and trying to win championships this year. That’s all it is. I’m just trying to win championships this year.”
This story was originally published June 18, 2020 at 4:18 PM.
